MOSOP petitions Tinubu, accuses NSA of Ogoni plan manipulation

The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) has petitioned President Bola Tinubu over the alleged selective approach by the consultative team set up by the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) to interface with all facets of Ogoni society for possible oil resumption.

MOSOP President, Fegalo Nsuke, in a petition signed on Sunday in Abuja, said the team was avoiding the Ogoni Masterplan prescribed by the association, which stated the operationalisation of the Ogoni Development Authority (ODA).

Nsuke accused the NSA’s group, which comprises mainly “political appointees,” of seeking to set aside a unanimous decision of their Central Committee on September 27, 2020, and the Congress decision of November 30, 2024, which endorsed the ODA as the acceptable pathway to resolving the problem before oil resumption.

He added that the team has never discussed development; rather, “they want to manipulate people to achieve a predetermined goal,” saying the NSA’s oil resumption campaigners are politicians who are afraid to speak the truth and are sitting on both sides of the table to bring confusion to the process.

The MOSOP President, therefore, urged Mr. President to intervene in the situation immediately to forestall any conflicts that could arise between the local people and the manipulative tendencies of the allies of the NSA group.

He added, “We want Tinubu to intervene and ensure that the trust of the people is not eroded to the point where they become resistant. So, the President’s intervention is necessary to forestall any possible crises that could trigger and to ensure that the process succeeds with the alignment of the people.

“When people are oppressed, it is absolutely right and natural for them to seek justice and to resist such oppression. However, such resistance must be conducted peacefully. Mr. President, as a father of the nation, deserves the truth at all times.

“However, all of them have an interest in one oil company or the other that they plan to project for oil drilling when the time comes. But Ogoni people will definitely resist them because they don’t have any good plans for the people.”

Nsuke frowned at the current approach of the NSA’s team, describing it as repressive and coercive.

He alleged that some members of the NSA’s team have issued threats against civil society activists, warning that such threats were not healthy for a society that has been the harbinger of human rights struggles.