Ogoni Oil Resumption: Group Urges NSA, NNPCL To Ensure Transparency In Dialogue Process

A community-based environmental accountability and advocacy group, the Ogoni Environment Watch (OEW) has asked the national security adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to ensure transparency in the dialogue process leading to the planned resumption of oil production in Ogoniland, Rivers State.

The group made the appeal in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, the state capital yesterday and signed by its convener, Hon. Stephen Dae-Deegbara.

It also called on the Ogoni Dialogue Committee (ODC) to open its processes to greater scrutiny as well as provide the people with clear information on its mandate, decisions and other things relating to the dialogue process.

The statement added that, “The ODC must open its processes to greater scrutiny and provide the Ogoni public with clear information concerning its mandate, membership, decisions, engagements and recommendations relating to the dialogue process.”

“We equally call on Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and the NNPCL to ensure that every process connected to the proposed resumption of oil production in Ogoniland is transparent, accountable and subject to meaningful Ogoni participation.”

The group further called on the NNPCL to publish the names, communities, qualifications and relevant details of the 40 Ogoni persons reportedly employed as part of the ongoing process for the resumption of oil production in the area.

It demanded the inclusion of qualified Ogoni youths in the ongoing dialogue process, pointing out that Ogoni youths are not merely spectators to the future of their homeland.

The statement reads in part: “In the interest of transparency, justice and public confidence, Ogoni Environment Watch hereby demands that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) must immediately publish the names, communities, qualifications and relevant details of the 40 Ogoni persons reportedly employed as part of the current process.

“The people of Ogoni have a legitimate right to know who benefited from employment opportunities purportedly allocated to Ogoni and the criteria used in selecting the beneficiaries.

“We demand the meaningful inclusion of qualified Ogoni youths in the ongoing dialogue process. Ogoni youths are not merely spectators to the future of their homeland.

“They are stakeholders and must have a seat at the table where decisions concerning the environment, oil production, employment, development and the future of Ogoniland are being discussed. Representation must be broad, credible and demonstrably inclusive, not restricted to a select group of individuals.”