Ogoni Groups Call For Referendum On Oil Production Resumption

Two United States of America-based Ogoni groups, have called for a referendum among Ogoni people, home and abroad, to determine whether oil production can resume in Ogoniland or not after addressing the demands that led to the stoppage of oil production in 1993.

The groups include the Centre for Democracy, Human Rights, and Anti-Corruption (CDHRAC) and the National Union of Ogoni Students (NUOS) International USA.
The two diaspora advocacy groups, disclosed this in a joint statement made available to LEADERSHIP in Port Harcourt yesterday and signed by CDHRAC coordinator, Mr. Cornelius Dumerene and NUOS International USA president, Mr. Pius Barikpoa Nwinee.

They said the issue of the resumption of oil activities in Ogoni is not something that anyone can sit in Abuja, Port Harcourt, or even Bori and decide upon without the involvement and participation of the generality of the Ogoni people, the same way they came together and halted the oil production process in 1993.

The joint statement read in part: “If oil production is to resume in Ogoni, there should be a referendum of Ogoni people that will sit down on a roundtable to discuss and decide the future of Ogoniland, and before discussing the possibility of oil production resumption in Ogoniland, issues stemming from the stoppage of oil mining in 1993 and the subsequent crisis leading to the killing of Ken Saro-Wiwa with eight others including over 3,000 other Ogoni people must be addressed first.”

The groups called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to admit their wrongdoing to the Ogoni people, address oil transgressions against the Ogoni people, exonerate Ken Saro-Wiwa and all others who were labeled criminals and killed, among others, before talking about possible oil resumption in Ogoni.

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The joint statement stated that issues around the Ogoni cleanup as recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in the 2011 report must be fully implemented, and UNEP must verify that its recommendations have been fully carried out before discussing possible oil resumption in Ogoniland.