• KAGOTE raises fresh questions over NSA’s involvement, oil exploration activities

Chairman of the Ogoni Dialogue Committee (ODC), Prof. Don Baridam, has said its goal is to bring Ogoni back to the mainstream of national development and strategically facilitate the resumption of oil production in the Niger Delta region.

However, the apex socio-cultural organisation of the Ogoni people, KAGOTE, has demanded greater transparency in the Ogoni Dialogue process, warning that no individual or organisation should place itself above the collective interests of the people.

KAGOTE’s latest position, in response to the Facilitators of the Ogoni Dialogue Committee (ODC), includes support for the federal government’s renewed engagement with Ogoni and questions about how the process is being managed.

In a statement yesterday, Baridam said that based on available information, there were no oil and gas production activities in Ogoni directly linked to the re-entry programme.

He added that they have collated people’s views into the official ODC Report representing their demands, concerns and aspirations, articulated during the process and duly submitted to the federal government for action.

He warned mischief makers to refrain from issuing statements against or concerning the committee, its facilitators, and the ongoing dialogue between the Ogoni people and the government, as they have consulted the views of the people on the problems.

According to Baridam, “those invited formed what is now known as the ODC to carry out this assignment. A meeting was held with National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, alongside top government officials like then Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Director-General of the Department of State Services.”

He further explained that at that inaugural meeting, the president mandated the NSA to steer and superintend the process. He stressed that the Ogoni stakeholders were appointed to oversee the implementation of immediate confidence-building initiatives, and lead the Ogoni mobilisation, engagement, and dialogue process to receive views from all Ogonis, at home and in the diaspora.

According to him, the identified immediate measures to demonstrate good faith and restore confidence among the people include employment opportunities for qualified sons and daughters, and the establishment of a federal varsity of environmental technology in Ogoni, among others.

The committee also urged the federal government to create Bori State, alongside other related demands, as the creation requires constitutional procedures, and the necessary processes have been set in motion.

Meanwhile, KAGOTE, which is led by Lesi Maol, emphasised that it was neither against President Bola Tinubu’s administration nor Ribadu, but also supports “responsible resumption of oil production in Ogoniland.”

However, it said support for the dialogue cannot mean silence when questions arise over procedure, representation, information and accountability, with representation among what it described as the most consequential issues raised.