Movement for the Survival of the Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND) has decried the calls by the people of Ogoni ethnic nationality in Rivers State for the sack of the managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr Samuel Ogbuku, as a stab on the back of the Ijaw people in the Niger Delta region.
It described the allegation of ethnic bias levelled against Ogbuku by some Ogoni stakeholders as an action capable of disturbing the peace of the region.
Several groups in Ogoni had condemned the exclusion of the ethnic nationality from the just-concluded Niger Delta stakeholders’ summit that was held in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
But MOSIEND, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt yesterday by its spokesman, Comrade Charles Omusuku, said the action of the Ogoni shows that they were not only being mischievous but can be counted as crisis merchants hiding under the umbrella of one of the sister-ethnic nationality to brew disaffection against the Ijaw people of the Niger Delta.
The statement said, “The action of the Ogoni stakeholders is an attack against the Ijaw ethnic nationality as Chief Ogbuku is one of the brilliant lights of the Ijaws and a call for his sack is akin to a stab on the back of a people who over the years have shared the pains and sufferings of the Ogoni, who even keep the memory of their illustrious son, Ken Saro-Wiwa by observing his annual remembrance across the Ijaw nation even though he is not an Ijaw man.
“The move showed clearly that the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), the Greater Ogonis in Diaspora (GODO) and the rest groups who have been vocal against the NDDC managing director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, do not appreciate the love and solidarity which they have enjoyed from the Ijaw brothers over the years since the issue of oil exploration started.”
MOSIEND recalled how countless Ijaw environmental rights activists, such as Elder T. K. Ogoriba, Morris Alagoa, Nengi James and others, risked their lives while agitating for the rights of the Ogoni people and mobilising stakeholders across the Niger Delta to join the advocacy for the clean-up of Ogoni land, even though Ogoni is not the only place polluted by oil and gas exploration activities.
It urged the Ogoni to retrace their steps and retract their statements against one of the region’s shining stars, saying their hasty conclusion without thorough investigation was in bad taste.