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… Called for Creation of ‘Ogoni State,’ Exoneration of Ogoni 9
By Godwin Chukwumaechi
The United States of America-based chapter of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP-USA) has called on President Bola Tinubu to set up a committee to investigate the three hundred million US dollars ($300,000,000) alleged to have been fraudulently received by Minister of the Federal Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, from the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited NNPC as compensation for Ogoni.
The group indicated that the money was received by the former chief executive of Rivers State during his era as governor, noting that “Wike is not Ogoni and cannot receive or use money meant for Ogoni development”.
The call was contained in an address by the president of MOSOP-USA, Elder Dinebari Augustine Kpuinen during the 31st Ogoni Day celebration on January 4, 2024 at the Ridgeway Assemblies of God Church, Memphis, Tennessee.
The group also called for the compensation of all displaced Ogonis, including rehabilitating all sacked and flattened communities in the Ban-Ogoi special unit.
“As we celebrate Ogoni Day today, we call on President Bola Tinubu to, as a matter of urgency, recognize our inherent rights as Nigerians and contributions to the growth of our nation”, Elder Kpuinen declared.
In addition, he reiterated the call to the federal government to; “Exonerate the Ogoni Nine (9) Ken Saro-Wiwa, Dr. Barinem Kiobel, John B. Kpuinen, Baribor Bera, Paul Levula, Saturday Dobee, Daniel Gbokoo, Nordu Eawo, and Felix Nuate who were wrongly convicted by the Nigerian government and ensure financial settlement of the victims to help alleviate their sufferings”.
He further urged the President to; “Influence the creation of a state for Ogoni where Ogoni can have control of their affairs; Appoint qualified Ogoni people in positions of power; Ensure proper clean-up of Ogoniland and provide Ogoni with an airport and an equipped physical operational or functional university with students and lecturers”.
He added that Ogoni needs equipped medical facilities, including quality health care, constant electricity, clean water supply, and good roads.
He said; “We want to use this opportunity to remind President Tinubu and the people of Nigeria that Ogoni is still an integral part of Nigeria and, as such, should not be continuously denied its right to participate and benefit from the abundant wealth therein.
“Nigeria must act according to its multi-ethnic composition. Nigeria has in the past used resources, including crude oil and other economic products from minority ethnic groups to develop the three majority ethnic groups without any consideration of these minority ethnic nationalities where these resources are found. Ogoni is one of these ethnic groups that have fed Nigeria while dying of hunger. This is a crime against humanity and must be changed if Nigeria wants to remain as one nation”.
He later called on Ogonis in diaspora to close ranks and save the leadership of MOSOP in Nigeria which he said has been hijacked and balkanised by politicians and oil multinationals seeking all underhand means of re-entry into the oil wells of Ogoniland.
Elder Kpuinen urged; “Ogoni has been denied justice, fairness, and equality in Nigeria. Using some robotic brainwashed humans from Ogoni to achieve their aims and objectives will never make them innocent of the charges. Knowing that our representatives at home have been designed or customized to work toward destroying our land and that our people are hypnotized by their tormentors. The strategies used against us are the same kind used in the United States of America: black-on-black crime, Ogoni-on-Ogoni, tribe-on-tribe, to decimate all of us without exception.
“MOSOP USA must obtain every status that will permit her to seek and get justice for the Ogoni people. We need to be more united as our enemies are continuously increasing. Presently, they are using poverty, insecurity, and lack of employment in recruiting our children against the faithful.
“The situation is worse than when the struggle started in the 1990’s in Ogoni. Our oppressors are not relenting somewhat; they constantly renew strategies to ensure Ogoni is extinct. All hope is on MOSOP USA. We must not be stagnant. We must upgrade our resistance and strategies to fight back and win over the support of other nations.
“We in the Western world must salvage our land and people in Nigeria. We will have sympathy and love for our motherland. We will invest in Ogoni and our people. Our obligation to create jobs for the youths, removing them from the streets and transforming them into factories, offices, industries, and warehouses, which will create peace and security in Ogoni, is our responsibility and priority”.
