Tinubu receives Ogoni dialogue report, awards posthumous honours to Ogoni four

Tinubu

By JAMIU JAMODU

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to immediately engage the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Ogoni people, and other relevant stakeholders with a view to finalising the modalities for the resumption of oil production in Ogoniland.

President Tinubu issued the directive on Wednesday, following the presentation of the report by the Presidential Committee on the Ogoni Consultations, chaired by Professor Don Baridam, at the State House in Abuja. Governor Siminalayi of Rivers State led the Ogoni delegation to the ceremony.

The President also used the occasion to confer the posthumous national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) on four members of Ogoniland who died in the struggle to ensure environmental protection of their land. They are: Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Albert Bade, Chief Samuel Orage, and Chief Theophilus Orage. In June, President Tinubu conferred national honours on Ken Saro Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists, brutally killed by the Sani Abacha military regime.

While commending the Baridam committee for the dedication and wisdom its members demonstrated in guiding the process, the President urged the Ogoni people to close ranks and engage in dialogue, as the government will do its best to safeguard their environment.

“We are not, as a government, taking lightly the years of pain endured in Ogoniland. We recognise that, otherwise, we would not be here today. The Federal Government truly acknowledges the long suffering of the Ogoni people, and today, we declare with conviction that hope is here and is back with us,” the President said.