The Ogoni Liberation Initiative has kicked against the plan by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) to auction the oil mining licence (OML) 11 asset.
The group insisted that the plan to auction the OML 11 secretly contravened the promise by the NPDC Managing Director, Mr Mohammed Ali-Zarah, as directed by the President that the people of Ogoni would be carried along regarding the OML 11 as they were directly affected by the environmental pollution caused by the activities of Shell Petroleum Development Company SPDC.
The OML 11 was operated by the Shell (SPDC) joint venture, but the company was later vacated from Ogoniland in 1993 after several massive protests led by the late environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.
The president of Ogoni Liberation Initiative, Dr. Douglas Fabeke, while addressing indigenes in a statement issued on December 30, 2022, said the NNPC had concluded the move to sell the OML 11 to Sahara Energy and Shell.
He advised that companies lobbying to acquire the license without proper negotiation with the indigenous people might find it difficult to operate in the Ogoniland.
He maintained that such an asset should be sold to those who understand the plights of the Ogoni people and can develop the area, adding that he was ready to buy the OML 11 license for $1.5billion if the NNPC was looking for money to develop Ogoni land.
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Fabeke said some people were taking the Ogoni struggle for granted and warned that anybody compromising these issues would never succeed.
He said his organisation, the Ogoni Liberation Initiative had the capacity both locally and internationally to fight for the interest of the people.
Fabeke, however, noted that on the 4th of January which would mark another remembrance of Ogoni Day, the Ogoni would present the forensic report on the Ogoni clean-up.
According to him, the report exposes how the clean-up project is converted into a political project, and how billions of naira are taken from the project, how the contract is awarded to unprofessional companies and non-existent communities.
He commended the House of Representatives for directing the NPDC to suspend its plan to auction the asset.
Naturenews recalls that the House of Representatives on 29 December, 2022 had directed the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company to suspend the planned auction of the oil block and mandated its Committee on Petroleum to urgently investigate the planned auction among other matters and report back in four weeks.
