A group in Ogoniland known as the Conscience of Ogoni People, COOP, has warned the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to steer clear of the Ogoni Oil fields as they are fields of blood.
COOP in a letter signed by its national coordinator, Chief Gani Topba, said that the attempt by the state government to dabble into the OML 11 matter is a slap on the faces of Ogonis, especially those who paid the Supreme prize fighting Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, in the area.
Governor Wike had in broadcast on Monday, announced the acquisition of Shell’s 45 percent stake in the OML.
But COOP said that SPDC did not have 45 percent stake in the oil field but 30 percent as Total had 10 Percent stake and Nigerian Agip Oil Company having 5 percent stake.
The group also said that the license for the OML had since expired, adding that the state government must have been scammed.
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OPEN LETTER BY OGONI PEOPLE TO HIS EXCELLENCY, GOV NYESOM WIKE.
OGONI FIELDS ARE FIELDS OF BLOOD: RIVERS STATE GOVERNMENT SHOULD STEER CLEAR.
RESPONSE OF COOP TO A PURPORTED AND FAILED ATTEMPT OF THE RIVERS STATE GOVERNMENT TO ACQUIRE A NON-EXISTENT 45% SPDC STAKE IN OML 11 (OGONI FIELDS).
Our attention has been drawn to an ill-fated announcement made by Your Excellency on Monday, September 30, 2019 to the effect that the Rivers State Government has purportedly acquired Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC’s) non-existent 45% interest in OML 11 (Ogoni Fields).
We refuse to believe that you could exploit the debacle between SPDC and the Ogoni people by going behind to work against the Ogoni interest as well as to sabotage the supreme price paid by the Ogoni forebears in seeking justice for an oppressed people.
1. Ordinarily, we would have ignored your announcement knowing full well that your mission is dead on arrival but for the numerous calls from Ogoni people, friends of Ken Saro Wiwa, International human and environmental rights groups and well-meaning individuals both within and outside Nigeria, who have inundated our office with calls and inquiries regarding the said unpatriotic and ill-fated broadcast. We, therefore, thought it wise to respond to the purported announcement in the belief that we will use this glorious opportunity to acquaint Your Excellency with the history of OML 11 (Ogoni Fields), so that if it you were merely testing the waters, you will be left with no doubt that this inordinate quest for enslavement of the Ogonis has no chance of survival.
2. We have subjected the address entitled: “WE WILL CONTINUE TO ADVANCE THE STATE’S INTEREST, SECURITY AND PROSPERITY OF ALL” to painstaking scrutiny and we can confirm that it is filled with inconsistencies, contradictions, outright falsehoods and exaggerations. We have also examined with tooth comb the reasons advanced for the failed attempt to act as the new poster boy of SPDC in Ogoniland. It is our considered view that the reasons adduced are divisionary and a veiled attempt to conceal Your Excellency’s real capitalist-driven personal interest. It has everything to do with your personal interest and less to do with the interest of the people of Rivers State.
3. To acquaint Your Excellency with historical perspectives of OML 11 (Ogoni Fields), we have taken the pain to set the records straight as follows:
(a)That though Ogoni is in Rivers State, Rivers State does not own Ogoni as an ethnic nationality in Nigeria. Ogoni people as an indigenous people recognized by international law and as a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (see No. 29 on the UNPO membership list) is entitled to the right to free, prior and informed consent on issues relating to the exploitation of the resources found in Ogoniland.
(b) That there is no such thing as SPDC’s 45% interest in OML 11. That OML 11 was a joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with 55% stake, SPDC with 30% stake, TOTAL with 10% stake and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) with 5% stake. Therefore, it is inconceivable and impracticable that the Rivers State Government will purport to have acquired 45% of interest when all that SPDC has is 30%.
(c) That in any event, OML 11 operated by SPDC expired on 30 June 2019. Although SPDC made effort to renew same in 2017 the Minister of Petroleum Resources, in the exercise of his discretion following our protests, decided against renewal with the result that OML 11 lapsed by effluxion of time and has ceased to exist.
(d) That even if SPDC has lost OML 11(Ogoni Fields) due to the failure of the Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources to renew the lease in accordance with the Petroleum Act, Cap. P10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, we maintain that SPDC is under international obligation to pay to the Ogoni people reparation of US $30 Billion (at current dollar exchange) as reparation for the wanton environmental and human rights breaches committed in Ogoniland which have rendered the land and ecological wasteland, as demanded by our forebears. The Ogoni are already making plans to seek the enforcement of this reparation using available SPDC assets.
(e) Your Excellency may recall that the SPDC was declared persona non grata in Ogoniland in 1993 following its decades of economic and environmental injustice perpetrated against the Ogoni people who were forced to live in perpetual hunger, starvation, misery, exclusion, poverty, unemployment and above all environmental degradation caused by reckless exploitation of oil and gas resources in OML 11 (Ogoni Fields) and the adoption of bad oilfield practice.
(f) That it will interest you to know that the Ogoni Fields are fields of blood which are different from other fields in Nigeria both in peculiarity and historical context. That Ogoni Fields were purchased with the blood and sufferings of Ogoni people alone through non-violent protest which SPDC reacted to by securing the dispatch of a Special Task Force (STF) to Ogoniland with mission to quell all oppositions to SPDC’s operation. The STF under the command of Major Paul Okuntimo declared all peaceful protest and assemblies in Ogoniland illegal. Ogoniland was completely militarized. Prominent Ogonis were arrested on trumped-up charges and held in secret detention centres under the most dehumanizing conditions and held incommunicado. Women were gang-raped by the rampaging military officers. Not less than 2000 Ogoni people were slaughtered in cold blood by trigger-happy military operatives while 14 communities were sacked and reduced to rubbles. In the resulting conflagration, properties worth billions of US dollars were destroyed and an estimated 30 percent of the Ogoni population was forced to seek political asylum in Europe, the Americas and in neighboring Africa counties, due to persistent and intense persecution at home.
(g) That prominent Ogoni leaders were killed by SPDC and the then Military Government of Nigeria. The Ogoni leaders who paid with their blood for Ogoni people to regain control of OML 11 (Ogoni Fields) include:
Chief A.T. Badey
Chief Edward Kobani
Chief Theophilus Orage
Chief Samuel Orage
Ken Saro Wiwa
Saturday Dobee
Nordu Eawo
Daniel Gbokoo
Paul Levura
Felix Nuate
Baribor Bera
Barinem Kiobel
John Kpuinen
(h) That the Federal Government of Nigeria under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR has assured Ogoni people of his firm commitment to resolve all legacy issues surrounding OML 11 (Ogoni Fields) in order to pave way for the resumption of operations in the now expired Fields. The Federal Government has demonstrated its sincerity, commitment and love for the Ogoni people by listening to our cries and refusing to renew OML 11 for SPDC and its JV partners. Ogoni people are already on the same page with the Federal Government of Nigeria on issues relating to the development of OML 11.
1. You may recall that we alerted the world of Your Excellency’s conspiracy with Mr. Osagie Okunbor (Managing Director of SPDC and Country Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria) and Mr. Igo Weli (General Manager, Community Relations and External Affairs) to acquire both OMLs 11 and 25 in our series of petitions sent to Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s headquarters, the Dutch National Assembly, President Muhammadu Buhari and members of the international community. In the said letters, we scooped on a plot by the duo of Mr. Osagie Okunbor and Mr. Igo Weli to secure the divestment of SPDC’s interest in OMLs 11 and 25 to a surrogate company owned by your good self. Therefore, your latest declaration of interest in acquiring the Ogoni Fields did not come to Ogoni people as a surprise but only served to vindicate the alarm we raised earlier on.
2. We are aware of the extent you have gone to intimidate and humiliate respected Ogoni leaders in your party – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over your long-harboured interest to acquire the Ogoni Fields. You humiliated and pressurized them into selling their people to satisfy your insatiable appetite for wealth. When these respected leaders refused to bow to your pressure, you treated them with disclaim, contempt and ridicule. We salute the courage of these noble Ogoni sons who stood their grounds and refused to be bought over to fight their own people.
3. Not satisfied with the humiliation of Ogoni leaders in your party, Your Excellency, on Saturday 27th July 2019, detailed the Chief of Staff Government House, Hon. Emeka Nwoke, to storm the newsroom of Rhythms 93.7 FM in Port Harcourt and assault the National Coordinator of COOP, Chief Gani Topba, who was a guest in a live radio programme tagged ‘VIEWPOINT’ in a bid to stopping the airing of the programme midstream. It is now clear to the Ogoni people that you were angry with the National Coordinator of COOP for identifying with the plights of the host communities of OMLs 11 and 25 against the Rivers State Government and its collaborator, SPDC because doing so will scuttle your ambition to acquire OML 11 (Ogoni Fields).
4. We have equally noticed a sudden resurgence of violent crimes which has engulfed Ogoniland in recent times. There has been unusual intensity in cult clashes and counter-cult clashes which have consumed countless Ogonis – mostly youths in their primes – leaving on their trails colossal destruction of properties and the sack of countless communities. We wish to ask: Is there any correlation between the announcement of acquisitionof 45% SPDC stake in OML 11 (Ogoni Fields) and the mass murder of Ogonis in recent times? Was the unprecedented reign of terror and orgy of violence in Ogoniland orchestrated to vocal voices in anticipation of the mass opposition that will greet this latest attempt to colonise the Ogoni people?
5. We have noted Your Excellency’s claim that the non-operation of the Ogoni fields is responsible for the escalating unemployment and insecurity in the State. We view the claims as trademark excuse associated with bad workmen. As the saying goes, “A bad workman always quarrels with his tools”. We make it abundantly clear that Rivers State has all it takes to end insecurity in the State. Whatever benefits the Rivers State Government is deriving by deliberately allowing insecurity to fester unabated are left for discerning minds to ponder.
6. Your Excellency’s claim that Rivers state is losing funds which would have accrued to it but for the shut in of operations in the Ogoni fields is correct. However, it is on record that Rivers state is one of the state with the highest receipts from the federation Account and second highest generator of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), making it the second richest state in Nigeria behind Lagos. We maintain that Your Excellency has not done anything tangible with humongous monthly receipts of the state to justify the claim that additional funds are needed. Largely, your administration has been centered on the development of only Obio/Akpor Local Government Area. Other parts of the state are yet to feel the impact of your administration.
7. Contrary to popular beliefs, revenues from the Ogoni Fields have sustained Nigeria and Rivers State from 1960/1967 till 1993 when operations were halted due to irreconcilable differences between SPDC and the Ogoni people. The Ogoni agitation for social, economic and environmental justice from the hands of a Shylock multinational like SPDC is an agitation anchored on equity, inclusiveness, justice and fair play, which is why the struggle garnered both local and international support that was sufficient to force SPDC to withdraw from Ogoniland.
8. Demand for inclusiveness in the management of natural resources and the protection of the environment are rights accorded to indigenous peoples all over the world. These rights are articulated in the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’ Convention, 1989 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) 2007. Ogoni people have maintained consistently that we are not opposed to the resumption of oil operation in the Ogoni Fields. We have only insisted that SPDC is persona non grata in our land and have asked the Federal Government to initiate measures towards awarding OML 11 lease to another credible, host community development- oriented and environmentally responsible oil and gas company. Ogoni people are currently working with the Federal Government of Nigeria to achieve that.
9. We are of the firm belief that Your Excellency has been scammed as there is no subsisting OML 11 lease which could have been acquired as purportedly claimed in your broadcast. We are also aware that oil mining leases are not bought through court judgment. In view of the foregoing, we advise Your Excellency as follows:
That the Rivers State Government should retrieve whatever Rivers money that may have purportedly been paid in the belief that it will acquire any stake in OML 11 (Ogoni Fields) as the maxim nemo dat quod non habet (“no one can give what he does not have”) applies. We strongly believe that this might be another “PONZI” scheme floated by your enemies to drain the State of scarce funds which could have been invested in more productive ventures.
We urge the Rivers State Government to redirect and rechannel its investment acumen to other assets and oil mining leases already renewed for SPDC in Nigeria for the greater good of the State.
We urge the Rivers State Government to redirect and rechannel its new-found investment acumen towards the revamping and bringing on stream economically viable assets of the State inherited from previous administrations to wit: Songhai Farm, Rivers State Banana Farm, Rivers State Fish Farm Buguma, RisonPalm and others. We also advise the Rivers State Government to prioritise the establishment of industries, creation of employment opportunities for our teeming youths, payment arrears of retirement benefits to retirees, promotion of civil servants, and development of critical infrastructures and tackling of the security issues bedeviling the State. We believe that if these measures are implemented, unemployment and insecurity which have blighted your administration will be a thing of the past. These are issues that responsible governments all over the world pre-occupy themselves with instead of dabbling into frivolities and jamboree.
1. Finally, we will not end this piece without commending to you the immortal words of Ken Saro Wiwa, our living legend when he said: “I have no doubt at all about the ultimate success of my cause, no matter the trials and tribulations which I and those who believe with me may encounter on our journey. Neither imprisonment nor death can stop our ultimate victory.”
2. We have alerted our people – the Ogoni people and the most oppressed ethnic nationality in Nigeria and Rivers State, to brace up for perilous times ahead. We are certain that this charade too will dissolve into nothingness as the Ogoni people will non-violently an peacefully resist, with the least drops of our Blood, this brazen, insolent and despotic announcement of purported acquisition which seems to suggest that Ogoni land is a conquered territory. WE SAY NO TO SPDC! WE SAY NO TO UNHOLY ALLIANCE BETWEEN SPDC AND GOVERNOR WIKE!! WE URGE YOUR EXCELLENCY TO KEEP OFF THE OGONI FIELDS!!! In the words of Ken Saro Wiwa, “[W]e call upon the Ogoni people, the peoples of the Niger delta, and the oppressed ethnic minorities of Nigeria to stand up now and fight fearlessly and peacefully for their rights. History is on their side. God is on their side. For the Holy Quran says in Sura 42, verse 41: ‘All those that fight when oppressed incur no guilt, but Allah shall punish the oppressor, Come the day.” We believe that every oppressor of the Ogoni will have his day with Karma.
3. We have urged our brothers and comrades in struggle from Ejama, Ebubu community not to be deceived and distracted from our collective victory for the temporary plate of porridge dangled at them by Your Excellency. We have urged them to continue to levy execution of the judgment of the High Court of Rivers State on the assets of SPDC wherever they can find them. However, we do not subscribe to the barter arrangement under which a purely monetary judgment obtained through judicial redress for reckless oilfield practice against SPDC will be exchanged for the Ogoni Fields.
4. On our part, as COOP, we remain resolute in our conviction of the justness of the Ogoni cause for social, economic and environmental justice within the framework of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As Ken Saro Wiwa said, “Whether [w]e live or die is immaterial. It is enough to know that there are people who commit time, money and energy to fight this one evil among so many others predominating worldwide. If they do not succeed today, they will succeed tomorrow”. We have decided to offer ourselves, our platform, goodwill and resources to mobilise our people for our collective emancipation.
5. We have called on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Inspector-General of Police, the Chief of Army Staff, Director-General of Department of State Security (DSS) and other service chiefs in Nigeria to hold Your Excellency accountable for any break down of law and order that ensues fromthis latest declaration of war against the Ogoni people. In like manner, we have alerted Amnesty International, the International Criminal Court (ICC), friends of Ogoni and the Niger Delta and all men of goodwill to hold the Rivers State Government and SPDC responsible should any harm come to the leaders, men, women and children of the OML 11 (Ogoni Fields) communities who are peacefully asserting their rights under Nigerian law.
A stitch in time saves nine!
Yours faithfully,
Chief Gani Topba
National Coordinator, COOP.
Cc:
1. His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
2. His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
3. Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha
4. Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Abba Kyari
5. President of the Senate, Federal Republic of Nigeria, SP Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan
6. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila
7. Chief Justice of Nigeria, The Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed
8. His Excellency, Chief Timipre Silva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources
9. Mr Mele Kyari, General Managing Director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
10. His Excellency, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (Rtd), Former Head of State, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chairman, National Peace Committee
11. Mr. Mordecai Lawan, Director, Department of Petroleum Resources
12. Khadija Arib, President of the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer), States General (Staten Generaal) of the Netherlands, Binnenhof 1a, P.O Box 20018, 2500 EA Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands
13. Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Carel van Bylandtlaan 16, 2596 HR The Hague, The Netherlands
14. His Excellency, Ambassador John Groffen, Ambassador of The Netherlands to Nigeria, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, EU Common, Embassy Complex, 21 EU Crescent, Off Constitution Avenue Abuja.
15. His Excellency, Ambassador Orji Nyimenuate Ngofa, Ambassador of Nigeria to The Netherlands, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Wagenaarweg 5, 2597LL Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands
16. The Secretary General, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ECOWAS Secretariat, No. 60 Yakubu Gowon Street, Asokoro District, Abuja
17. The Country Representative, United Nations, Plot 617/618 Diplomatic Drive, Central Business District, Abuja
18. The Country Representative, UN Human Rights Council, UN Building, Plot 617/618 Diplomatic Drive, Central Business District, Abuja
19. His Excellency, Mr. Paul Arkwright, United Kingdom High Commissioner to Nigeria, British High Commission, 19 Torrens Close, Off Mississipi Street, Off Shehu Shagari Way, Maitama, Abuja
20. His Excellency, W. Stuart Symington, US Ambassador to Nigeria, Embassy of the United States, Plot 617/618 Diplomatic Drive, Central Business District, Abuja
21. Mr. Nasser Boladai, President, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO), Rue du Pepin 54, Brussels, Belgium
22. Mr. Salil Shetty, The Head, Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, Islington, London Wc1X 0DW, United Kingdom
