The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has called on the Ogoni people to trust the on-going dialogue process coordinated by the office of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, saying that initiative is a golden opportunity to seek a permanent resolution of the Ogoniland problem.

MOSOP President, Fegalo Nsuke who spoke after meeting in Bori, the traditional headquarters of the Ogoni kingdom, said it has been 33 years of a costly resistance against the Nigerian oil industry, and now it is necessary to embrace the dialogue initiative of the federal government.

He explained that the decision of the Presidency to initiate a dialogue with the people was a welcome departure from previous initiatives of the government which were essentially impositions, and condemned attempts by people who benefited from Ogoni crisis to truncate the work of the committee in order to sustain their sponsorship and patronages.

“There is an attempt by people who are outside MOSOP to scuttle the work of the Ogoni Dialogue Committee. And we are saying that we’ve been in for these 33 years and the government has opened discussions with the people at this moment through the Committee,”
Nsuke added.

According to the President, “we are categorically stating that NSA’s is an opportunity, a fine and golden opportunity to graciously resolve this lingering problem and therefore, MOSOP is cooperating with the process because we want an end to this Ogoniland problem.

“We want a solution, we want Ogoni extraction to move forward towards development, proper development. What we are saying and we are calling on the people that it’s time, and issues that began many decades ago must also have an end.”

He therefore maintained, “people who do not will association are attempting to scuttle the dialogue process because they want to continue to exploit the pains of the Ogoni people to keep us in this because it feeds them and their families.”

On the purported leadership crisis, Nsuke stated that a court of competent jurisdiction has ruled that the Wai-Ogosu’s election is nullified, and that nobody should be talking about Wai-Ogosu, emphasizing that the leadership of MOSOP is intact and there is no crisis.

“We were properly elected at the Secretariat on the 19th of December, 2018 and Nsuke remains President. The matter was taken to court and we are now in appeal. Until the court decides the case, or we constitute a proper Steering Committee for elections, I remain President of MOSOP, and that is the fact about it.”

Additionally, he however argued that the Steering Committee of MOSOP has decided that until all legal issues are addressed and elections are conducted, the present executive of will remain in office.