Oil is a curse to the Niger Delta region – this catchphrase used by most commentators on the environmental catastrophe in the Niger Delta region represents a common phenomenon that is prevalent across regions where natural resource extraction take place. It captures the distressing living conditions of the people who are subjected to agonizing conditions for no just cause other than being born in lands that are naturally endowed. This appalling situation leaves the people in perpetual conflict against poverty and exploitation by multinationals.
Ironically, those who control and manage the revenues from oil sales turn out to be those who do not suffer the consequences of the extractive industries. In Nigeria, it turns out that some of them do not know the color of oil because they have never seen an oil spill.
Another very salient reality is that those in whose domain natural resource extraction occur do not really control or manage the decision making process affecting their lives and environment. Late Philip Asiodu, former Nigeria’s petroleum minister captured this reality when he said:
“The non-replaceable natural resources of the minorities were being carted away to develop the replaceable resources of the larger ethnic groups in Nigeria. Unfortunately, given the size of the minorities, they cannot threaten the continuous flow of these resources nor can they threaten the stability of the country”
Asiodu’s predictions worked only for as long as the people were either ignorant of their exploitation or lacking the courage to challenge their tormentors. This theory had been faulted in the Ogoni case where civic education triggered a people’s self motivated revolution leading to an uprising against a multinational drilling giant, Shell, and actually ousting the multinational from the Ogoni fields. The strategy of sustained poverty within the oil producing regions had become a motivator and turned counterproductive for the oppressors.
Within 35 years of active oil mining in Ogoni, Shell has exploited discriminatory and unjust Nigerian petroleum laws and taken away an estimated $30 Billion dollars worth of oil without putting anything back to give hope to the Ogoni people. On the flip side, the response of the Ogoni people hasn’t been friendly. Shell was forced out of Ogoni with a pledge never to let them back.
This pledge has been kept faithfully in the past 31 years and no oil company has been able to break the resolve of the Ogoni people to protect their lands and environment from further degradation, reckless and irresponsible oil exploration.
Obviously, the Ogoni people will never be able to accept Shell back in the land. Apart from the environmental devastation, Shell had been responsible for an appalling brutality leading to the killing of some 4,000 Ogonis between 1990 and 1999 and these are frightening behaviors the Ogoni will never want repeated. One way to eliminate that risk of Shell’s brutality is to ensure that Shell Petroleum Development Company never returns to active production in Ogoni.
The Crux of the Matter
In simple terms, the problem had been the decimation of Ogoni’s natural resources without consideration for the future of the people. The Ogoni environment has been destroyed, the resources had been carted away to build other parts of the country while the Ogoni people have been left without an economy, no electricity, no water, no roads, no hospitals, no life at all.
The Ogoni people have only been left with the disastrous consequences of natural resource extraction. Nigeria’s 36 states share the revenues generated from Ogoni and nothing is left for the Ogoni people. That explains the problem in very simple terms.
The Solution
Again, in very simple terms, the solution is for all parties to accept a compromise that allows the Ogoni people to receive a fair share of their resources to be set aside for Ogoni development.
The desire to address theses terrible living conditions is the driving force behind the call for the operationalization of the Ogoni Development Authority (ODA), a proposal approved by the Central Committee of MOSOP to address the concerns of the Ogoni people and also support the growth of the Nigerian economy.
The ODA is a people based initiative which demands that 25 percent of the resources generated from Ogoni be set aside for Ogoni development.
It does not call for leaders of MOSOP, chiefs or some elites to think that the struggles of the Ogoni people will end in their pockets. It does not demand that chiefs and some few individuals should arrogate the benefits of the Ogoni struggles into their private companies with a false claim that they represent the people.
The ODA is a simple and very clear path to resolve the Ogoni issue. Operationalizing the Ogoni Development Authority gives hope and security for every Ogoni and guarantees the future of the Ogoni people in Nigeria.
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) having championed the Ogoni cause pledges to commit to any process that upholds the ideals of the Ogoni Development Authority and will guarantee that it is the way out and permanent solution to the three-decade Ogoni problem.
The ODA is not just a fine opportunity to resolve the Ogoni problem, it is a win-win for all parties and represents the justice the Ogoni people seek.
Fegalo Nsuke is the President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). He wrote from Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Nsuke can be reached at nsuke.fegalo@gmail.com
