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By Godwin Chukwumaechi
National Youth Council of the Ogoni People (NYCOP), an umbrella body for Ogoni youths, has lent it support for the resumption of oil exploration in Ogoniland even as it urged the Federal Government to speed up the process
The youths stressed that the oil wealth will be useful to the people of the area, the state and the Federal Government.
Oil exploration in the vast oil fields in Ogoniland was halted in the early 90s following massive agitations and protests by the people against the Shell Petroleum Development Company SPDC and Federal Government, led by late Ken Saro-Wiwa
But the president of NYCOP, Theophilus Mbagha, who spoke at a youth event hosted by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) at its headquarters in Bori, in Khana Local Government Area, Rivers State, urged the Federal Government to speed up the process for the return of oil exploration in Ogoni.
He said the Federal Government should take measures to develop Ogoniland, in order to prevent a situation where oil is drilled without the people benefiting from the wealth of their land.
Mbagha said that the youths of Ogoni, are in support of MOSOP, led by Fegalo Nsuke, which has come out with a comprehensive plan of economic development through the Ogoni Development Authority (ODA).
He said: “The idea of ODA is not strange to NYCOP, it is hoped and believed to be a pathway to solving the long lasting issues of rocking not only the Ogoni people but the national economy.
“If the Federal Government wants to be objective in their approach to the Ogoni case, they should endorse the ODA. I can boldly state unequivocally that it should be time to resume oil exploration.
“We at NYCOP are watching events as they unfold. Any plan of oil exploration return in Ogoniland must be properly negotiated and the ODA is our benchmark. Nothing more, nothing less.”
In his contribution, the MOSOP president, Fegalo Nsuke, urged Ogoni youths to reject their present conditions of living where graduates cannot find jobs and Ogoni youths are becoming less competitive.
“We need to understand, young people, that we cannot to continue to have an Ogoni where you go to school and wake up in morning and cannot find one company where you can seek a job”
“I am here to tell you today that what we have been pursuing is to address underdevelopment. We must reject the exploitation of the past so we can address underdevelopment. The only way out is that the resources of Ogoni must be committed to Ogoni development. That is where the future lies” he told the Ogoni youths.
“Anybody who tells you that the Ogoni struggle was all about resisting and fighting the government misses it. Our future as Nigerians depend on the decisions the government make and so we need to dialogue with the system”