Ogoni youths oppose oil resumption without creation of Bori State

Oil exploration in Ogoniland will not resume without the creation of Bori State, Ogoni youth leaders in Rivers State have told the Federal Government.

The Ogoni Youths Development Initiative said it intends to hold a statewide protest in the coming weeks. Its president, Imeabe Saviour, made the position public in a September 8 letter to President Bola Tinubu, a copy of which The PUNCH received by email.

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We are not fundamentally opposed to economic progress or oil exploration in our land.

The group also demanded the immediate dissolution of the Ogoni Dialogue Committee, which has been discussing the return of oil operations with the Federal Government. Saviour said the youths had lost confidence in the committee and accused officials of pursuing the resumption of oil activities without transparency.

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At this stage of our struggle, the only outcome that can truly be commensurate with the lives lost and the environmental devastation suffered is the immediate creation of Bori State.

The youths said they were not opposed to economic development or oil exploration in Ogoniland. They called instead for an immediate halt to what they described as clandestine drilling while talks continue. The letter also pointed to the laying of pipelines across Ogoniland as evidence of what it called insincerity in the process.

Saviour argued that the creation of Bori State would be the step most commensurate with the lives lost during the crisis in the area and the environmental devastation suffered by Ogoni people. The letter said that if the government would not create the state, it should leave the region’s oil in the ground.

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If the Federal Government cannot grant this simple request of the Ogoni people by creating Bori State, then they must leave our oil in the ground.