Ogoni: A pathetic
story of a people
The story of the Ogoni is not new. A well known and
established case of state repression against civil rights. A rather pathetic
story of a people repressed by their own government, dehumanized by those who
should protect them, a repression backed by the unethical global giant - The
Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, an affiliate of Shell
International. As lethal and ruthless as the Ogoni repression has been, the
good news is that the people have resolved to sustain it for the good of all.
It is a resolve to live and not give up to the desires of the Nigerian
oppressors who seek to kill and cover up their evil against the Ogoni.
Ogoni has become a metaphor for millions of oppressed people
around the world who are denied access to decent living, oppressed by strong
governments and systems that does not guarantee basic freedom and denied even
the right to free expression.
In Ogoni, protests have to be made to get drinkable water,
electricity, health care, and even to live a dignified life. In Nigeria of 36
states predominantly shared among the larger ethnic groups of Hausa-Fulani,
Yoruba and the Ibo, the Ogoni are denied the right to decide their own future
in their own state yet, the resources generated from Ogoni is more than what 20
Nigerian states can generate within a period.
The Nigerian government has overtime subjected the Ogoni to
conditions that assures a bleak future. These crimes must be brought to the
fore. The conscience of the world must be awakened to the crimes of Shell and
Nigeria against the Ogoni people. A people with such amount of wealth as the
Ogoni cannot beg for drinkable water, electricity, decent environment, good
living conditions, self respect and dignity.
Nigeria must show respect for the Ogoni people by granting
the rights to self determination which is enjoyed by all major ethnic groups in
the country. Ogonis must have a right to chat the course of their own future,
take responsibility for their environment and become dignified as a people.
Ogoni is undoubtedly the shame of Nigeria placing a huge
burden on Nigeria's claim to modern civilization. And the country, called
Nigeria, must address this issue if she will not perpetually be confronted by
her wicked past against her own citizens.
Nigeria risks loosing her own dignity for as long as she
seeks to rhetorically evade fundamental questions of Ogoni self determination.
Author: Fegalo Nsuke is Publicity Secretary of The Movement
for the Survival of the Ogoni people (MOSOP). He wrote in from Nigeria
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