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From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has warned that there would be no shortcut for Shell and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) Limited to gain access to the Ogoni oil. The body urged the Nigerian government to accept its proposed path to the resolution of the Ogoni problem to allow for development and full economic activities in the area.
MOSOP also alleged that the NPDC was attempting to use some divide-and-conquer tactics and hopes to create internal crises in Ogoni to weaken the Ogoni demands for fairness and equity.
Factional President of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke said in Port Harcourt yesterday that the situation in Ogoni has become very complicated and requires genuine discussions deliberately aimed at addressing all areas of dispute and bringing about the needed compromises, stressing that there would be no shortcut access to the Ogoni oil.
He stated: “MOSOP has proposed the operation of an Ogoni Development Authority as an acceptable path that addresses the concerns of all parties. We believe that a dialogue would drive the process successfully and not the divide-and-conquer tactics of the NPDC, which are obviously against the spirit of our non-violent struggle.” Nsuke further said the situation in Ogoni was very complicated with pervasive poverty, the difficulty of recovering from years of repression allegedly launched by Shell and the government, which caused the death of some 4,000 people. He urged Nigeria not to repeat the genocide under any guise, stating that MOSOP expects the government to accept its proposals for the operation of the Ogoni Development Authority to give room for a new era of cooperation and development.
He noted that the Ogoni struggle was launched by MOSOP in response to the painful state the Ogoni people found themselves in and advised the government to take advantage of MOSOP’s commitment to a negotiated settlement, so that all issues could be permanently resolved.
Nsuke further said avoiding the proposals of MOSOP will amount to engendering a resistance with the usual repressive response of government security forces, noting that MOSOP does not want that to happen.
