National Conference: Blame Ogoni Leadership for Bori State Exclusion – Group

Contrary to media reports and condemnation of the national conference for the exclusion of Bori state from the list of new states recommended for creation, the Center for Peace and Development in Ogoni has said the exclusion of Bori state proposed by the Ogoni people was due to the failure of the Ogoni leadership to submit a request for state creation to the national conference secretariat.

President of the group, Barisi Benson Nnah made this known at the Port Harcourt International Airport today in a chat with newsmen. Mr. Nnah said the reality facing Ogoni today is that the political leadership failed to articulate and present the genuine needs and demands of the Ogoni people to the national conference and should therefore be blamed for the unfortunate consequence leading to the exclusion of the most viable state (Bori State) from the list of states recommended for creation by the national conference.

Mr. Nnah condemned the statements credited to Ogoni political leaders particularly the leadership of The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People(MOSOP) describing them as lacking the foresight to set Ogoni on the path of development.

He questioned their capacity to provide the needed good governance for Rivers State if they cannot take advantage of an express opportunity as this in the interest of their own people noting that their actions regarding the handling of the Bori State creation shows their ineptitude and leadership depravity

Nnah noted with dismay how Ogoni leaders expected an Ogoni state (or Bori state) to be created automatically by the conference without a request from the people saying, the leaders should rather hide their faces in shame and acknowledge their failures.

He blamed the exclusion of Bori state on the lucrative business called “Ogoni Governorship, Project 2015” which has now swallowed up the vision of Ogoni and MOSOP noting that what has happened is a lifetime opportunity lost.

“It is regrettable that the lessons of the over 20years of the Ogoni struggle for self determination seem not yet properly assimilated and a golden opportunity as this will slip away and be sacrificed for a mere governorship ambition of some self-seeking individuals pretending to bear Ogoni interests.

The group urged the Ogoni people to spell out their preferences and pursue the issue of self determination in the interest of all rather than a self seeking governorship project disguised as an Ogoni project.

Signed,
Burabari Yorghor
Secretary