Ex-agitators and some critical stakeholders from Ogoni in Rivers State have written to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, condeming their exclusion from the negotiation to resume oil production in Ogoniland.
The stakeholders led by an ex-militant Leader and Pioneer Secretary of First Phase Ex-Agitators, Gen Nature Dumale Kiegha, vowed to resist their non-inclusion saying, exluding Ogoni ex-agitators from the technical committee on resumption of oil production was a recipe for crisis.
Nature wondered why someone like him, who hails from Kono, a major oil producing community in Ogoni and leads ex-agitators and other non-violent people from the area, should not be considered on the negotiation table? despite his contributions to preventing violence through peace building, not just in Ogoni but in Niger Delta region and Nigeria at large.
He lamented that persons involved in the interface deliberately kicked the ex-agitators out to create a lacuna for another round of unrest.
Nature, the coordinator of Eco Citizen Ogoni Initiative said any attempt to exclude the ex-militants from the negotiation table would be met with strong resistance and called on the Federal Government to split Ogoni oil fields into three blocks for economic justice.
He reminded the Federal Government that youth restiveness and violent extremism was a direct consequence of decades of environmental pollution, unemployment and exploitation by oil companies, who operated in the area without proper community engagement.
He said that the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) and the peace achieved so far were possible because ex-agitators chose dialogue over violent extremism adding that ignoring their voices and suggestions was capable of reversing the gains of peace.
The ex-militant leader cautioned that excluding them while rewarding only the elite and political actors would send a dangerous signal that the system was rewarding self centered elements while sidelining peaceful former agitators.
He warned that such narratives could rekindle militancy among frustrated youths, who might feel betrayed by a system that only remembered them when it needed peace but forgot them when it was time to share the benefits.
Nature said he was part of a recent two-day validation workshop that was held at the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) through the office of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) on a revised policy framework and National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering violent extremism in Nigeria.
The reason why people like him should not be sidelined, he said: “I am the Coordinator of Eco-Citizens Ogoni Initiative. The CEO/MD Youth Rescue international Dev Org, I am also the immediate past secretary of the Niger Delta Ex-Agitators first phase. I also doubled as the first Chairman Strategic Communication Committee of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).
“Already in the past 10 years, we have in our own little way contributed to preventing and countering violent extremism through our Peace Building initiative through our (NGO) Non Governmental Organisation, Youth Rescue International Development Organization (YRIDO) we have used this platform to deal with the issues of drug addiction, cultism and other violent extremism gang groups. YRIDO has been at the forefront of preventing and countering violent extremism by taking away young people from the streets on a daily basis.
“Over 3000 young violent Youths have gone through our process of rehabilitation; they were accommodated for six months; fed for six months and catered for six months. The government and IOCs has not supported this initiative for once.
“Many of this youths have been delivered from violent extremism. They have been delivered from drug abuse, cultism, kidnapping and oil theft. Many of them in Ogoniland know the efforts we have made, and yet they don’t want somebody who will bring about positive change and positive transformation in the life of the youths in the land of Ogoni to be part of the ongoing going negotiations.
“What we intend to do with the Eco-citizen Ogoni initiative is to move wealth from self centered individuals, to community youths, That is why in few months from now, we will be engaging 560.000 Ogoni youths as Eco Citizen Ogoni marshals, who will go into mangrove restoration and ecosystem restoration because that is where the world is heading to.
“All these responsibilities qualify us to be critical stakeholders not just in Ogoni but in the Niger Delta region. But we have taken time to observe that we have not been given the attention or the respect and honour we deserve as Ogoni sons.
“We represent a constituency. And that constituency had not been contacted or engaged. The ex-agitators, critical stakeholders that have to do with the youths of Ogoniland are the people who will give the social license to any company coming to do oil exploration in Ogoniland.
“We represent a generation of young leaders who believe that our young men can be empowered to become positive change agents. One way that can be done is through knowledge sharing and leadership transitioning. Negotiation of oil and gas resumption in Ogoniland is one such way that can be done”
Nature called on Mr President Bola Amed Tinubu GCFR, whom he fondly referred to as “our father” and the NSA to quickly review the report submitted to them and ensure their inclusion in all activities relating to oil resumption in Ogoniland.
He said: “We want the President and the NSA to know that it is intentional. The people they have been interfacing with as Ogonis are not more Ogonis than others and they have decided not to tell the President the truth so that they will open loopholes that will result in crisis in the future because many of them strive majorly during crisis.