By Mark Lenu
The Tuesday meeting which was held at closed doors between the President, Bola Tinubu, and some Ogoni leaders has been described by the President of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke as not having the backing of the entire Ogoni people.
Mr Nsuke told our correspondent that any meeting that will solve the Ogoni problem would be driven by the interest of the Ogoni people at the grassroots. You recall that Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State led a delegation of some Ogoni leaders to meet with Tinubu over issues relating to the resumption of oil exploration in Ogoniland.
The governor’s delegation includes Senator Lee Maeba, Senator Magnus Abe, Senator Olaka Nwogu, APC chieftain Victor Giadom, Kenneth Kobani, Monsignor Pius Kii, Leedom Mitee, Senator Bennett Birabi, Senator Barry Mpigi, and Prof. B. Fakae, among others.
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Also in attendance were the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed; Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh; Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas; and the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari as well as the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike.
The MOSOP President had repeatedly said that resolving the Ogoni problem would demand that the Nigerian government and the oil industry be fair in the way the Ogoni people are treated. A fair proportion of the profits made from the oil extracted in Ogoniland should be set aside for the development of Ogoni.
At the meeting, Tinubu called for unity and reconciliation, urging the Ogoni people to set aside historical grievances and work together to achieve peace, development, and a clean environment. “We must work together with mutual trust. Go back home, do more consultations, and embrace others.
“We must make this trip worthwhile by bringing peace, development, and a clean environment back to Ogoniland,” Tinubu said. “We cannot in any way rewrite history, but we can correct some anomalies of the past going forward. We cannot heal the wounds if we continue to be angry,” he added.
