An associate of late Ken Saro-Wiwa, Nimo Bassey, has voiced the opposition by environmentalists to the planned resumption of oil exploration in Ogoniland.
The environmentalists insisted that resumption of oil production when the polluted sites in Ogoni were yet to be remediated is inhuman.
Bassey asserted that the planned restart disregards the longstanding environmental destruction, economic hardship, and social injustices endured by the Ogoni people due to decades of exploitative oil operations.
Bassey who is the Director at Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), argued that it is unreasonable to ignore the pollution visited on the area by the extractive sector.
“The polluters ask us to forget past grievances, but continued pollution isn’t a past grievance
“Attempting to reopen the oil wells in Ogoniland is a denial of the gross ecological disaster that oil exploitation and colonial extractivism has wreaked in the territory and the larger Niger Delta.
“With Ororo-1 oil well burning for five years and another burning for over two weeks at Buguma, both in the Niger Delta, opening oil wells in Ogoniland is simply an attempt to reopen old wounds.
“It would compound ecocide and sentence the Ogoni people to misery. This is additional insult coming on the 30th anniversary of the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni leaders,” he observed.
Also in his reaction, Celestine Akpobari from Ogoni, described the move as unacceptable and exacerbating the injuries on Ogonis.
He said: “It is sad that the government of President Tinubu is about reopening old wounds and provoking another round of killings.
“This is at a time the Ogonis were thinking that the government will fast track the remediation of their polluted environment and restoration of lost livelihoods.
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“Why will a government kick -start a clean up programme and open new oil wells at the same time?
“We demand an immediate withdrawal of such thinking and ask President Tinubu to focus on the clean up of the Niger Delta and exonerate Ken Saro-Wiwa and others from the murder charge awarded by a kangaroo military tribunal.”
Elizabeth Bast, Executive Director, Oil Change International, said “resuming oil production in Ogoniland today could repeat the same environmental destruction and human rights violations that led to the execution of the Ogoni 9.
“The Nigerian government’s plans threaten communities that are still dealing with contaminated water, polluted farmlands, and chronic health issues.
“We cannot allow new oil development to inflict more damage. We are steadfast in our solidarity with the Ogoni people and all communities in the Niger Delta who stand up against injustice, exploitation, and environmental destruction.
“Together, we can build a future where justice prevails, and people and the planet are placed above profit.”
