MOSOP assures Ogoni of fair treatment during clean up
… deepens town hall meetings
President of Ogoni pressure group, Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, has assured his kinsmen of Federal Government’s commitment to implement the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoni land clean up.
“We have reason to believe the government is committed to the implementation of the UNEP report on Ogoni land. All the structures have been set up, and we are now progressing towards implementing the emergency measures, including provision of water, improvement in the health care delivery system and infrastructural development,” Pyagbara said during a town hall meeting at Kegbara Dere in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
As part of its peace building efforts and community sensitisation programme, MOSOP has been conducting town hall meetings in Ogoni communities, especially in the areas to be directly affected by the clean-up exercise. Some of the communities already visited include: Kwawa, Kpean, Buan in Khana Local Government Area; Nornwa, Korokoro, Ban-Ogoi in Tail LGA; Ebubu, Agbi (Nsisiokken), Ogale in Eleme LGA, and Bodo in Gokana LGA. Ogonis have four local government areas: Eleme, Tai, Khana and Gokana.
The MOSOP president noted the peculiar place of the K-Dere people in the clean-up exercise, assuring them of fair treatment during the implementation of the clean-up programme.
K-Dere is said to have one of the worst oil spill records in Nigeria. It was reported the community was the first Ogoni community to experience oil spill site. The MOSOP boss confirmed this, when he said – “the first place I got to know of an oil spill site was in K-Dere.”
MOSOP believes that the benefits of the clean up will get to every Ogoni child, woman and man. “From the clean environment, to job creation, small business development and infrastructural development, the Ogoni clean up will benefit us all,” he said.
On June 2 last year, President Muhammadu Buhari, represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, flagged off the Ogoni clean-up exercise at Bodo, Gokana LGA, which was Federal Government’s first-ever practical commitment in implementing the UNEP report on Ogoni land, since it was submitted in August 2011.
The MOSOP president however calls for co-operation of all Ogonis for the success of the clean-up programme, especially the maintenance of peace in the communities.
Meanwhile, the paramount ruler of K-Dere had assured the MOSOP boss of the community’s support, but quickly urged him to ensure that K-Dere people got a fair treatment during the clean-up exercise.