The Real Obstacle to the Ogoni UNEP Report Implementation – MOSOP

The Kingdom Coordinators Forum of The Movement for the Survival of the
Ogoni People (MOSOP) has described as misleading and mischievous, the
statement credited to one Comrade Tom Douglas of the Ijaw Justice
Forum (IJF) alleging that some Ogoni personalities including Dr Fred
Kpakol, Jerry Needam and Ejoor Ngowah Ejoor are among persons he
perceived were working against the implementation of the Ogoni UNEP
report.

Reacting to the statement, the MOSOP Coordinators Forum said it was
unfortunate that Tom Douglas will allow himself to be used in
misleading the general public on a subject he is ignorant of.

In the statement, Frank Jonah, chairman of the MOSOP Kingdom
Coordinators Forum said every Ogoni wants the UNEP report to be
implemented. He noted that the departure point has been some who see
business in the report implementation and those who want a transparent
process and question the capacity of HYPREP to conduct a credible
cleanup in Ogoni.

While some persons believe funds should be released immediately to
kick start the process, we, representing the grassroots, local people
resident in Ogoni villages and communities believe the cleanup is
urgently needed but the process must be transparent and achieve the
desired results for our people.

The statement continued: “The MOSOP Kingdom Coordinators Forum is
unwavering on our earlier allegation against the government of Rivers
State and the HYPREP leadership whose alliance we believe threatens
the transparent implementation of the Ogoni UNEP report. Based on a
report available to us indicating compromises by the Rivers State
Government regarding huge contracts which has been awarded to persons
within the HYPREP and the failure of government to hold the defaulters
accountable, we believe that HYPREP will be a colossal failure as the
same compromise between the Rivers State Government and HYPREP
leadership could channel Ogoni cleanup funds into political party
activities ahead of the 2015 elections”

The MOSOP Coordinators statement further said: We have seen the
attention drawn to the Ogoni UNEP report and appreciate the concern of
everyone. However, we cannot but insist on a credible and transparent
process knowing the history of Shell as a deceptive company who cannot
be trusted and knowing that without close monitoring the process will
end up a sham. We note that Shell has previously denied any pollution
of Ogoniland claiming that all spills had been cleaned.

The lies and intrigues surrounding the implementation of the Ogoni
report are such that we must carefully monitor the situation to ensure
that Ogoni is not shortchanged.

We regret to say that the real problems to the implementation of the
UNEP report are not the people Comrade Douglas is pointing accusing
fingers at, rather, they are those who do not want to be realistic
about the situation, those within Ogoni who see the UNEP as business
and an opportunity to make huge financial benefits, those who have no
knowledge of cleanup exercises but have incorporated companies that
will undertake Ogoni cleanup. They are the reasons we have called for
a transparent process and we urge the federal government to expedite
action in putting up a more credible organization as recommended by
UNEP to build confidence in our people which is a fundamental
requirement for the success of the cleanup programme.

UNEP report implementation is our life. We insist that it must be done
thoroughly and credibly and we cannot compromise our stand on this
issue.

Signed:
Letom Sinen
Media Assistant to Frank Jonah, Chairman MOSOP Kingdom Coordinators Forum