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The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has said the refusal by the Federal Government to address grievances of ethnic nationalities was encouraging violent agitation.
The group’s factional leader, Fegalo Nsuke, stated that unresolved issues, such as the Ogoni question, “now stand out to threaten the peace, security, unity and future of the country.”
Speaking at the Francis Solanus Casey Center in Detroit, Michigan, United States, Nsuke warned that the future of Nigeria strongly depends on its handling of the non-violent struggle of the Ogoni people.
He called on the Nigerian authorities to encourage peaceful methods by rewarding the non-violent approach of the Ogoni people.
Nsuke implored government to cooperate with the indigenes by honouring their demand for “self-determination rather than encouraging violent tactics adopted by some groups and nationalities in the country.”
The factional chairman reiterated that his people would non-violently continue to pursue their cause for independence as a “distinct ethnic group in Nigeria until the demand is actualised.”
He noted that the struggle was “justifiable on the basis that it is about the fundamental rights of the Ogoni people as a distinct ethnic group in Nigeria and it is in line with the intentions of the founding fathers of the country.”
Nsuke claimed Nigeria was encouraging and rewarding violent agitation at its detriment, and as such, “needs to reverse the trend by discussing to resolve issues peacefully and amicably.”
He cited the despoliation of the Ogoni environment “through the reckless exploitation of the oil mineral resources without any reward for the people” as one of the primary reasons for the struggle.
Nsuke also made reference to the “political marginalisation of the Ogoni people in Nigeria despite their contribution to the general wellbeing of the country.”
The MOSOP leader declared that Ogoni people would sustain their non-violent approach as a core tenet of the struggle for self-determination.
According to him, the people would continually explore peaceful methods to “bring the desired happiness for the Ogoni people in Nigeria.”
He said the “discrimination against the Ogoni people places a huge burden on Nigeria’s claims to being a free society”, adding: “What Nigeria is doing to the Ogoni people today was worse than the Ogoni experience under colonial rule.”
Urging the people to remain committed to non-violence, Nsuke said the agitators should be encouraged by the support the cause “enjoys among men and women of good conscience who believe in upholding the fundamental rights and basic freedom of peoples all over the world.”
