MOSOP restates call for Ogoni self-rule

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has reiterated its commitment to self-rule to manage its affairs.

MOSOP’s Publicity Secretary, Fegalo Nsuke, who made the call, said the existing agitation for fair and just system was becoming a threat to the country’s stability.

According to him, the agitations were due to the reluctance of the Federal Government to right the wrongs in the country.

Nsuke lamented that the Federal Government was yet to implement the United Nations Environment Programme report on Ogoniland, six years after.

He expressed worry that the immediate response of the authorities had been to ignore the merits of the agitations, by deploying the military in troubled regions, with the usual mandate to restore peace.

He stressed that it was time to allow the Ogoni the right to decide their own future.

He explained that Ogoni still lacks a school, hospital or road, adding that the people also have no right in the country to build their own economy and set standards for the protection of their environment.

“We reiterate our demand for self-determination to manage our own affairs within the Nigerian federal republic. Self-determination is a human right and the only guarantee for our survival as an indigenous community,” he said.

Nsuke described as deceitful, the groundbreaking for the construction of the Integrated Waste Management Centre in Bori by former environment minister, Amina Mohammed.

He urged the government to allow the people the freedom to participate in the country’s democracy, as an indigenous community.

“Re-structuring is inevitable for Nigeria, especially as more voices have risen against the current discriminatory and socially unjust system. To use the words of President Muhammadu Buhari, it is an opportunity, let us take it,” he said.