Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni (MOSOP) has identified Climate Change as the biggest challenge of the 21st century.
Outgone president of MOSOP Legborsi Pyagbara stated this over the weekend at the Ogoni Day celebration held in Bori, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Pyagbara condemned the attitude of the government on Climate Change and urged communities to actively fight against the sources of the menace.
He declared:
“First is the Climate Change crisis. The Climate Change crisis has presented itself as one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century.
“Climate Change is real. It is a development issue; it is a human rights issue; it is a geographical issue; it is a social issue and it is a food security issue. We cannot continue to pretend as if nothing is wrong.
“The attitude of our government at all levels in this country to this crisis is quite unwholesome. It is time to confront it from our communities before it is too late.”
Speaking on the development of Ogoni, the former MOSOP president said, “I promised that Ogoni natural resources can only be exploited when a proper framework is put in place.
“In furtherance of that objective, we have launched an Ogoni Template for Sustainable Extractive Sector Investment in Ogoniland. We promised to raise MOSOP profile internationally while we served.
“If we truly believe in the Ogoni Bill of Rights, let us not allow ourselves to be used by any government, any oil company and, indeed, any politician against ourselves. Let us forgive one another wherever we may have been wronged and move together as a people with a common destiny. Nobody can love us more than ourselves.
“As I have stated earlier, I want to reiterate that let us resolve from this Ogoni Day to unite in ways that we have never before. Let us decide from this Ogoni Day never to play politics with the issues of Ogoni people, but to subsume our individual interest under the collective interest of Ogoni people.
“Let us resolve to set aside competitions that threaten to tear us apart and make a mockery of the work of redemption of our forebears.”
Earlier, in his opening speech, chairman of the programme, Senator Benneth Birabi, urged the Ogoni people to seek unity and development for the future prosperity of the area.
The highlight of the event was the inauguration of MOSOP Transition Council that would oversee the affairs of the organization in 2020. The Council will hand over to a newly elected executive on January 4, 2021.