… Unify Ogonis, Address Oil Resumption, NYCOP Issues, OWA tells Wai-Ogosu
By our Reporter
The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) has said that Ogonis have “sufficient capacity” to negotiate the resumption of oil production in their homeland with the Federal Government.
Newly-elected MOSOP President, Engr. Olu Andah Wai-Ogosu, made this known when a delegation of members and BOT of the Ogoni Welfare Association (OWA) paid him a congratulatory visit in his office in Port Harcourt last week.
The Ogoni Welfare Association, led by its chairman, Engr. Nwinmene L. Migah, and general secretary, Samuel Nanu ldodowa, endorsed Wai-Ogosu as the authentic MOSOP President, while urging him to urgently tackle issues militating against the development of Ogoni people.
The MOSOP President, who was highly elated at the endorsement by OWA, thanked the leadership of the association for being very proactive as regards the needs of Ogoni people by building accommodation space and quarters for Youth corpers of Ogoni origin serving in Lagos State.
The foremost Ogoni environmentalist lamented the sheer absence of visible structure and institutions, adding that his leadership would be opting for a truly Ogoni to bid for the mining of oil in Ogoniland as MOSOP gets set to provide a team of experts to negotiate with NPCL.
Engr. Wai-Ogosu and his excecutve, who were elected in March this year, said they will soon embark on extensive stakeholders’ interaction with a retreat planned to take place later in the year, even as he promised to interface with NPCL to ensure that all Ogoni demands are met before oil resumption in Ogoniland.
Against the backdrop of discordant calls for resumption of oil production in Ogoni land, among other issues, the Ogoni Welfare Association (OWA), Lagos, had called on the president of MOSOP, Engr. Olu Andah Wai-Ogosu to urgently unite the Ogoni people.
Chairman of OWA, Engr. Nwinmene L. Migah, and general secretary, Samuel Nanu ldodowa, in an address presented during their visit to the MOSOP president, urged him to take advantage of the “acceptance you have gained,” to swiftly address issues they see as inimical to the development of Ogoni people.
Among the issues that require the MOSOP leader’s attention, Migah and ldodowa said, are the factionalized NYCOP leadership, oil resumption and related visit to the President by chiefs and others, and the “mismanaged $300 million meant for Ogoni development.”
While congratulating Engr. Wai-Ogosu on his emergence as MOSOP President, the OWA leadership said they have “no doubt in our mind that having been part of the struggle for the emancipation of the Ogoni people for a long time that you will succeed.”
The OWA leaders however noted that Ogoni “has gone through a phase that is characterized by insecurity and youth restiveness which has paralyzed the economic, social and political life of the people. It is on this note that we have come to solicit your (Engr. Wai-Ogosu) support to unify all stakeholders in Ogoni to address these issues.
“Recently, there has been a rumor making rounds about a purported $300,000,000 (three hundred million dollar) meant for Ogoni development that have been mismanaged. We also heard in the news of some few Ogoni chiefs and natives who visited the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to discuss oil resumption in Ogoni. There is also the news of a factional NYCOP who is already beating drums of disunity and enmity.
“Ogoni Welfare Assoclation Lagos frowns at these occurrences and call on the MOSOP leadership to rise in urgency, harvest the acceptance you have gained to investigate and nip these in the bud.”
Expressing their commitment to working for the growth and success of MOSOP and the Ogoni cause, OWA proposed the convening of “an Ogoni town hall meeting tagged: The ‘Ilii Sor’ principle, in partnership with MOSOP leadership.
“This special town hall meeting shall attempt to converge all the various groups, NGOs, associations, coalitions, elites and chiefs of Ogoni for a jaw-jaw, heartwarming lecture in favour of brotherhood and to chart the way forward for the Ogoni cause.”
Migah and ldodowa pointed out that the Ogoni Welfare Association (OWA) Lagos “has over the years embarked on various welfare programs for Ogoni indigenes in Lagos and its environs.
“Time may not pemit me to mention all, but the most significant ones are provision of employment opportunities, accommodation of Ogoni corpers, empowement of widows and the less privileged amongst others.
“May we at this point bring to your attention that the Ogoni Welfare Association (OWA) Lagos is the first indigenous organization in diaspora to build her own secretariat of over (300) three hundred sitting capacity, which is situated at ljanikin, Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos.”
