Ogonis Deserve Better, Group Tells Tinubu, Oil Companies
Edith CHUKU
Agitation over the marginalization of the Ogoni people and exploitation of oil in Ogoniland is far from over. Recently, a group has accused the Federal Government of Nigeria and the international oil cooperation of deliberately subjecting Ogoniland in abject poverty.
The group known as Yeraba Women Foundation, lamented that the Ogoni people are deprived of amenities like good drinking water despite their contribution to the nation’s economy.
Spokesperson of the women group, Melody Gold Barry-Yobo, noted that the Ogoni children were subjected to drinking water contaminated with benzene, lamenting that the oil rich Ogoniland lacked basic amenities.
Barry-Yobo also revealed that the health of their women was negatively affected as they inhale black sooth following the use of firewood in cooking.
In an interview, she urged our correspondent to, “go to our communities you will find out that the Ogoni child don’t have access to good drinking water which is a basic amenity that should be found anywhere, but the Ogoni children continue to drink water contaminated with benzene.
“Women use firewood in cooking, inhaling carbon, black suite which has impacted their lives negatively.
“Ogoni people are not weaklings, they are not silent, they are ever ready to confront whether it is the oil cooperation, government of Nigeria to do the right thing.”
Barry-Yobo, who is also the program coordinator for Climate and Gender Issues, noted that, “I want to state it very clearly that the resources of Ogoni people is one of the major things that the Nigeria government is sustaining with. As we all know that Nigeria depends on oil product to sustain its economy and Ogoni land is a major stakeholder in the resources that is been moved from Ogoni land to sustain other regions of Nigeria.
“This is not just marginalization; this is pure exploitation from the government agencies in collaboration with the international oil cooperation which has been operating in Ogoni land and in the Niger Delta region for over six decades.
“It’s very clear that it is a deliberate act to keep the people of Ogoni land in abject poverty so that the government can continue to exploit the people and no matter the demands and complains the people present on the table, they term to relegate the Ogoni people and the Ogoni issue to the background.
“It’s on record that shell has said it severally that the Ogoni problem is a local problem but it is from the Ken Saro-Wiwa campaign that other nations of Africa have lend their voice to the issue of environmental pollution and degradation.”
She added that, “the Ogoni people are not weaklings, Ogoni people don’t sit back to fold their hands and watch their people die for nothing, suffer in abject poverty and because of what our father late Ken Saro-Wiwa started several years ago, we are also here today to continue in that spirit to say we cannot fold our hands and watch our children, generations yet unborn to pay for something they have no share in.”
Barry-Yobo further appealed to HYPREP to carry out the remediation processes and exercises in the right manner without trying to divert fund.
