The people of Ogoni ethnic nationality in Rivers State have decried that none of their sons or daughters has been appointed by the Governor of the state, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, into his cabinet as Commissioner.
The Paramount Ruler of the Baroko Community in the Gokana Local Government Area of the state, Chief Kadilo Kaabari, alleged that the people of Ogoni are marginalized and reduced to modern-day political slaves in their own state.
Kaabari, who spoke at his palace in Barako yesterday when a socio-cultural political group on the platform of Sor Ogoni visited him, regretted that nobody from the two key Ogoni LGAs, namely Gokana and Khana, has been appointed as a Commissioner in the incumbent administration of Fubara.
The monarch called on the leadership of the apex Ogoni socio-cultural group, KAGOTE, (an acronym for Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme) the four LGA’s that make Ogoni land and the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, MOSOP, as well as Ogoni political leaders to wake up from their slumber and agitate for their rights.
He said: “Imagine we the Ogoni people that even the colonial masters could not conquer are now seen as modern day political slaves with no voice due to the antics of some politicians who I prefer to call ‘belleticians’.”
“Imagine that up till now Khana and Gokana have no Commissioner in the Rivers State Executive Council. We cannot see Julius Berger doing internal roads in any part of Ogoni land.
Kaabari further alleged that the Palace of a prominent Ogoni king was being desecrated in the full glare while Ogoni leaders, especially those in elective positions were doing nothing.
He said: “We, even as a Chairman, Supreme Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers, King Godwin Giniwa, and his tool is being desecrated with no one talking.
“Where is KAGOTE, KAGOTE of old? Where is MOSOP? Where are the so-called elected representatives? From this ancient throne of my ancestors, I assure you, Ogoni shall rise again.”
The man said his predecessor, Mene Barikura Kabari, who before his death was also a former executive chairman of Gokana LGA would always be remembered for his role in the struggle for the political emancipation of the Ogoni people.
Kaabari said: “Though few of them still exist, Chief Dr Barikura Kabari represents what I may call the last crop of patriotic fearless and selfless leaders of the Ogoni ethnic extraction.
“He was not just a former Gokana council chairman, but also a renowned medical doctor and educated Paramount Ruler who died standing to be counted in the struggle for our political emancipation as a people as against the kind of leaders we have today.”
However, the National Coordinator of Sor Ogoni, Elder Jude Nwiko, said the visit was to honour the late Mene Barikura Kabari, whose contribution towards the Ogoni political struggle is now a legacy that would stand the taste of history.
Credit: Vanguard
