The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People in the United States of America (MOSOP-USA), has called on President Bola Tinubu to include the creation of Bori State from the present Rivers State, in the ongoing review of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria by the National Assembly.
The Ogoni ethnic nationality is made up of six kingdoms, namely Babe Kingdom, Eleme Kingdom, Gokana Kingdom,
Ken-Khana Kingdom, Nyo-Khana Kingdom and Tai Kingdom, as well as two special units, Bori and Lekuma-Khana Special Units.
The six kingdoms and special units are located in five local government areas, namely Eleme, Gokana, Khana, Oyigbo and Tai of Rivers State.
MOSOP-USA, in a letter addressed to President Tinubu and signed by its President, DineBari Augustine Kpuinen, and four others, demanded that the Ogoni ethnic nationality be granted political autonomous state in the country.
The letter reads in part: “The Ogoni land consists of Six Kingdoms and Two Special units, namely: Babe Kingdom, Eleme Kingdom, Gokana Kingdom, KenKhana Kingdom, NyoKhana Kingdom, Tai Kingdom, Bori Special Unit, and LekumaKhana Special Unit. These Kingdoms are merged into Five Local Government Councils: Eleme LGA, Gokana LGA, Khana LGA, Oyigbo LGA, and Tai LGA.
“MOSOP-USA demands that these six Kingdoms and two special units, commonly known as Ogoni, be granted a politically autonomous State in Nigeria.
“Ogoni people, an ethnic nationality in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, have their history and struggles long before the British intrusion and the Nigerian independence in 1960.
“In 1947, Ogoni, under the leadership of the late Timothy Naakuu Pau Birabi, fought hard and made representations to the colonial British government during the colonial era to regain Ogoni’s self-governance, which led to the establishment of the Ogoni Sate Representative Assemby (OSRA).
“In the 1950s, Ogoni and other ethnic minorities agitated for their separate states with the imminence of Nigerian Independence. Alternatively, these ethnic minorities demanded constitutional safeguards to guarantee their rights and freedom within the federation.
“In 1957, the Willinks Minority Commission, convened by the British Government, denied the creation of a separate state alongside Nigeria, but recommended that the Bill of Rights be included in the constitution at independence to protect the ethnic minorities, as is the pattern in the European Conventions on Human
Rights.”