President of Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Fegalo Nsuke, has said in Port Harcourt that now is not the time for Ogoni people to be divided, but to unite and form a common front for the betterment of the oil-rich ancient kingdom.
Nsuke was responding to a story making the rounds that the Ogoni ethnic nationality was not invited to the just-concluded high-profile three-day Niger Delta Stakeholders’ Summit 2024, organised by the NDDC.
A statement signed by Alex Akori, Secretary-General of MOSOP, on Saturday quoted Nsuke as saying that the summit could not have come at any better time than now that the region needed all the support to attract development to the region.
Speakers upon speakers at the summit, including former President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan; Minister of Niger Delta, Engineer Abubakar Momo; Senate President Godswill Akpabio and a host of others enjoined the NDDC to embark on human development projects that would impact positively on the lives of the people.
Nsuke said: “We have appreciated the decision of Mr. President to prioritise the issue bothering on the Niger Delta development and we in Ogoni are so blessed with fertile arable land, irrespective of the environmental pollution by oil majors, good enough for rice, tomato, onion farming among others.
“However, we will expect greater transparency and accountability in the affairs of the NDDC to ensure that its impact can be more strongly felt in the region.
“MOSOP is ready to partner with the NDDC under the leadership of the current MD, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku to see Ogoniland as veritable location to invest resources in the agriculture sector to boost agro-farming for food security not just in the Niger Delta region, but Nigeria as a whole.
“We as ethnic nationality will want to state our strong resolve to partner with the Federal Government in particular and the NDDC MD, in particular in the interest of our people.
“We call for a new dawn to encourage Cooperation between the people and the NDDC despite the misunderstandings that have emanated over the handling of the east/west road.
“MOSOP will want to see a speedy resolution of all issues surrounding the East-West Road project to enable contractors return to site and complete the project.
“We will work with the present management of the NDDC and on that note, we want to express confidence that the NDDC will willingly cooperate with our initiatives to speed up the completion of the East-West Road project.
“We also want to use this opportunity to call on Mr. President to ensure that the activities of HYPREP in the clean-up of ogoni are further strengthened.
“As much as we are appealing for sufficient funds for the NDDC to execute its projects, we want the HYPREP to be thoroughly sanitised for the good of the Ogoni people.”