ONYEDI GABRIEL, PORT HARCOURT
Elders and leaders of Ogoni, Rivers State, have called for the dissolution of all existing factions in the famous Movement for Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) for a fresh election to rejig the body.
The elders led by Ledum Mitee, the founder of MOSOP, lamented the leadership crisis that had torn it apart and reduced its influence in the country.
A statement signed by Mitee and 21 other elders comprising chiefs, professors and traditional leaders, regretted that the ongoing crisis led to the inability of the organisation to host the popular Ogoni Day for the first time since the celebration started in 1993.
Those, who signed the statement, are Mitee, Dr. Owens Wiwa, Kenneth Kobani, Dr. Olungwe Abraham, Baritor Kpagih, Prof. Don Baridam, Dr. Meshach Karanwi, Prof. Vincent Idemyor and Prof. Ben Naanen, among others.
They said, ” In the last couple of days, we have been inundated with calls by well-meaning people within and outside Ogoni, expressing grave concerns about the happenings in MOSOP; the multiple law suits, multiple factions with corresponding claims of multiple elections and proclamations of victories etc. all of which culminated in the inability to host Ogoni Day for the first time this year since we launched the event in 1993.
“MOSOP is the movement that was our response to the repressive activities of the Nigerian state and its collaborators, including the oil giant, Shell, which almost drove Ogoni to extinction and our activities through MOSOP earned us the respect of the world as we dared successive repressive regimes and in spite of grave sacrifices, we remained unbowed.
“It is against this backdrop that we the undersigned representing MOSOP activists, supporters and concerned MOSOP elders have observed with grave dismay the regrettable leadership crisis that has bedeviled MOSOP recently and threatens its very survival if not checked.
“We have in the recent past been content with working silently at the background to see how the crisis could be resolved through silent diplomacy. Painfully, such interventions have not yielded the desired results as the leadership crisis threatens to sacrifice our collective hope on the altar of unnecessary battle for the soul of our esteemed organization.
“Driven by our firm belief in the cause for which some of our founding fathers have paid the supreme sacrifice and to ensure that these sacrifices are not in vain, we believe we have some responsibility to intervene to save the organization.
“It is thus our position, and advise all not to recognize any of the current factions of MOSOP leadership whilst we would immediately commence a process of reconciliation and work with other concerned former MOSOP activists and elders in the coming days to reset the organization by putting in place a process leading to an all-embracing election that would produce a credible MOSOP leadership and a transparent good governance structure and management.
“We hereby call on the disputing parties and their supporters to sheath their swords, discontinue all pending court cases and desist from further press statements capable of further putting MOSOP and our people in disrepute.
“We also appeal to all Ogoni people and our supporters at home and abroad to bear with us whilst this process to reset our revered organization is earnestly ongoing to move Ogoni forward”.