Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) has told the Federal Government and oil companies to prioritise the development authority before the commencement of oil exploration in Ogoni.
The President of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke, said this during the group’s general congress in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, saying: “We want at least 20 per cent of the resources that comes out of Ogoni to be committed to its development.
Nsuke also added that the commitment will go into a trust fund that will be managed by a third-party asset management firm that will give reports regularly to the people via online on how the money is put to use.
He noted that the Ogoni Bill of Rights mandates MOSOP to make representations on behalf of Ogoni people, as long as injustices continue, adding that the absence of basic amenities like roads, water, housing, hospitals among others, have continued to elude the people.
He said: “We will not accept any option that does not consider the position of the association on oil exploration, given the inputs it has made during the struggle that chased Shell out of the area.”
Nsuke noted that MOSOP wants Ogoni Development Authority to be operationalised, and in the interest of Ogoni in that trust, stressing that any company that is coming to drill oil in Ogoni, that trust must take equity in that company.”
