The National Youth Council of the Ogoni People (NYCOP) has resolved to demand the concession of one oil block for the development and promotion of the existing dialogue with the Federal Government, as well as to address decades of crisis in the Ogoni region.

This was contained in resolutions by Theophilus Mbagha, and made available to The Guardian in Abuja, calling on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to exclude all Ogoni oil blocks from ongoing oil license bids, while dialogue with the Office of the National Security Adviser is ongoing.

According to them, the unbundling of OML 11 to separate the Ogoni area from the rest of OML 11, and breaking of the Ogoni area into six or at least four separate oil blocks in compliance with Section 77 (35A), which stipulates that the maximum size for a land asset or shallow water acreages should not exceed 350 Sq Km.

They noted that concessions for Ogoni participation in the field and management operations, with the idea of having an Ogoni-centric consortium or special purpose vehicle (SPV) work in partnership with whichever company or companies will be given the operatorship lease to carry out business within the oil blocks within the Ogoni territory.

“The Ogoni youths condemn the clandestine oil and gas operations going on in the Tumbee/Ledor areas in Tai Local Council of Ogoni and call on the government to halt all oil operations while dialogue with the office of the National Security Adviser goes on.”

They, therefore, appreciated the goodwill so far demonstrated by President Bola Tinubu, advising the Presidency to be wary of those pursuing selfish interests and ensure that inclusivity is cardinal to the dialogue process.