The title of Legborsi Pyagbara’s diatribe actually acknowledges that things are not straight. Yes, things cannot be straight when Legborsi Pyagbara suddenly decides to become the public relations officer to Wai-Ogosu and exposes himself as a liar with no self esteem.
I should have ordinarily not bothered about responding to Pyagbara’s lies but for the misinformation and the need to help Pyagbara put the records straight. However, I will be minimalist and as precise as possible.
History of the So-Called MOSOP Peace Committee {MPC}
On January 2, 2020, I survived an assassination plot. That attack drew the attention of many including my friend Patrick Naagbanton who went on to arrange a meeting between me and Dr. Owens Wiwa. Dr. Wiwa, who happens to be the younger brother to the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, and I met in his palatial home in Abuja. We had a long late night discussion which centered on the unjust killing of his brother and eight others on November 10, 1995. We spoke sincerely about the need for justice for the victims.
In the morning, we met at breakfast and he threw a question at me: why didn’t you tell me Dr. Bennett Birabi is your uncle? I knew at that point, some external influences were playing out and that’s all they needed to tell him to disabuse his mind. The expression on my face must have given a clear signal and he immediately retraced. We were to meet again on two other occasions and I must also acknowledge that he was nice and friendly.
On Dr. Bennett Birabi, I will repeat the same thing I told Legborsi Pyagbara when he tried to incite me against Birabi while I served as publicity secretary of MOSOP. Bennett is one person the people of Yeghe, my hometown, love. I am from Yeghe and I also love Bennett Birabi. That should be very clear.
My fourth meeting with Owens was at Harmony Estate, Port Harcourt in November 2020. We were to discuss plans for that year’s memorial of the martyrs. At that meeting, Owens told me November 10 is bigger than MOSOP and it was better for me to pursue justice for the Ogoni nine than talk about development.
“This your development thing will not work. Ogoni people killed my brother because they don’t like good thing and they will not see good.”
“November 10 is bigger than MOSOP” he said. I saw that he was being very irrational and I didn’t need to respond to that.
Same day, we met in the office of the present Project Coordinator for the Ogoni cleanup, HYPREP, Professor Neninbarini Zabbey, at a larger meeting in respect of the Ogoni martyrs day. The meeting invitation was circulated by Rev. Williams Probel.
At that meeting, Owens Wiwa introduced the Martyrs Day planning committee to include Dr. Gbenemene Kpae as chair and Rev. Williams Probel as secretary. I recall Mr Bari-ara Kpalap objecting to the idea and said MOSOP should be allowed to handle the memorial activities as usual. Well, I was very clear and stated that November 10 cannot be restricted to just the families of the Ogoni 9 and I said MOSOP will proceed with its planned activites. I further warned against promoting unjust practices in MOSOP. It was the same reason I refused to work with Owens on that day nor did I visit Bane, Saro-Wiwa’s hometown during that event.
While MOSOP proceeded with the usual public events, Owens and his people had a public demonstration against resumption of oil production in Ogoni. My refusal to subsume MOSOP under the Owens Wiwa plans further angered Dr Wiwa and he called to threaten that I will regret it. On the same day, tugs attached to the then khana council chairman attacked youths at our secretariat, who refused to join Owens’ train at Bane and cut 6 people with machetes, right in the presence of the media team of France 24 led by Gomis. I called Owens to tell him he will be remembered for his connivance with the attackers and for this evil done to innocent youths who were mourning his brother and others.
I very well understood Owens Wiwa’s pains. He lost his dear brother but I don’t think all of Ogoni should suffer for that injustice nor should we abandon the Ogoni vision because we lost the captain of the ship at the time. Besides, if the families of Kobani, Badey, Orages and some 4,000 others who lost their loved ones too would bear such grudges and commit to sabotage every good thing, what will the future hold for our people?
Pyagbara lied and it’s unfortunate that he paints himself so awfully when he began his narrative by stating:
“Following the elections crisis that rocked MOSOP in December, 2020, upon the suspension of the electoral process by Chief Gbaranor Deebari Keeper and the subsequent self-declaration by Chief Prince Nuyete Biira, former leaders of MOSOP led by Barrister Ledum Mitee and Dr. Owens Wiwa intervened in the crisis first by dissolving all the factions of MOSOP laying claim to the MOSOP Presidency.”
I want to state that at no time was Ledum Mitee or Owens Wiwa heads of a MOSOP Peace Committee or MOSOP Peace Coordinating Committee.
In fact, like I stated earlier. Owens Wiwa had all these structures prepared to frustrate the Ogoni development plans of MOSOP after the Central Committee passed it on September 27, 2020.
For verification purposes, see https://authorityngr.com/2020/11/10/ogoni-martyrs-we-want-justice-not-prison-cemetery-mosop-to-fg/and https://www.theafricancourier.de/news/africa/nigeria-ogoni-leaders-saro-wiwas-exoneration/
That is the true history of Pyagbara’s so-called MPC.
Was The MPC A Peace Committee or Another Tribunal?
It was no surprise to me when the same November 10 planning committee chaired by Dr. Gbenemene Kpae with Williams Probel as secretary metamorphosed into a MOSOP Peace Committee (MPC) and a MOSOP Peace Coordinating Committee (MPCC). The goal of Owens Wiwa was to defeat the Ogoni development plan. Don’t ask me what differentiates the MPC from the MPCC.
The Peace Committees were desperate efforts to find avenues to defeat the MOSOP’s development agenda and ensure that the Ogoni people “do not see good”.
While Pyagbara wanted to give an impression that the MPC was a mediator, it was not. Rather, it was a tribunal set to destroy Nsuke’s led MOSOP and its Ogoni development plans. The MPC and the MPCC were Owens Wiwa’s version of Justice Ibrahim Auta’s tribunal which sentenced Saro-Wiwa and others to death. Those committee(s) are the shame of the Ogoni struggle and particularly a dent on the efforts of Owens Wiwa and Legborsi Pyagbara to stand anywhere to speak against injustice.
A peace committee presupposes the existence of conflict. One will expect that a peace committee will Mediate in the conflict, bring all parties together and try to achieve a settlement. What happened with Owens Wiwa and Legborsi Pyagbara’s MPC and MPCC is the elevation of hate, bitterness, injustice and the desecration of the core tenets of MOSOP.
People like Pyagbara are shamelessly attempting to defend that shame which seeks to defeat the whole essence of MOSOP. I state unequivocally that a MOSOP founded on injustice is permanently stained and will question the personality of the Ogoni people, our struggle and claims to decency and nonviolence.
I warn that allowing prejudice to drive us into disregarding the very values we claim to uphold is to match on a path to self destruction. A path that questions the values for which we have been known and no one in the world will take us seriously anymore for we would have chosen to destroy our own foundation and build a just struggle on injustice.
MOSOP will lose its value and the world will get to know all that we have hidden and kept secret for decades – the internal hate and brutality of Ogonis against fellow Ogonis that has limited us thus far.
My Decision Not to Participate in the MOSOP 2021 Elections
The Central Committee of MOSOP had approved the process to conduct elections in 2021 and I took the decision not to participate. The process was ongoing when at a Central Committee meeting, the legal adviser of MOSOP raised a critical issue regarding ongoing litigation and advised that elections should be put on hold until all court processes are concluded and the cases determined.
The Central Committee, at that point, unanimously, put the election processes on hold and directed all officers to maintain their status until the stage is set for the next elections. Being the highest decision making organ of MOSOP, I had to accept the decision.
My 2018 Elections to the Presidency of MOSOP
At this moment, the status quo is that on December 19, 2018, an election of MOSOP was held at the organisation’s national secretariat and Fegalo Nsuke emerged the president. The election was challenged in the courts and the matter is currently before the court to appeal.
What could be the difference between the election of a Nigerian president and that of the president of MOSOP? If the president loses at the election tribunal, he appeals to the Court of Appeal and if he loses, he further appeals to the Supreme Court. Until the Supreme Court takes a decision, he remains president. I am president of MOSOP until the court decides otherwise.
The So-Called MOSOP Elections of 2024
The so-called MOSOP election of March 2024 declaring Olu Andah Wai-Ogosu as president is a nullity. MOSOP has not conducted its next election and when it decides to, the entire Ogoni will be fully notified.
The secret declaration of Wai-Ogosu in a Port-Harcourt hotel is not a MOSOP election.
Final Words
Ogoni, the land of our birth is the most naturally endowed part of Nigeria. It is a sad irony that the land we walk on has a proven capacity to produce 500,000 barrels of oil daily; estimated at U.S $40 Million.
We cannot have such potential and fail to translate it into wealth as doing so would make our struggle and sacrifices to be in vain.
We have proposed the operationalization of the Ogoni Development Authority. A proposal that seeks a commitment of 25 percent of revenue generated from Ogoni to be invested into its development, build infrastructure, create jobs, provide security, and also improve the overall revenue base of our country.
MOSOP has taken this path of development to give meaning to our struggle. Ogoni Must Survive.
Fegalo Nsuke, President, MOSOP.
