The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and Ogoni Liberation Initiative have criticised the Federal Government over recent remarks by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, on the resumption of oil production, saying the statement was causing damage to the healing process that began five years ago.

The groups also observed that the Ogoni people were yet to recover from the pains of the past and do not need to be reminded of the evils done to them by previous administrations in Nigeria, nor do they need to be subjected to renewed state repression to cart away their natural resources.

MOSOP President, Fegalo Nsuke, who spoke for the associations while responding to Ribadu’s comments during a session with Ogoni youths in Ebubu, Eleme local government area, explained that his statement did not reflect the realities on the ground.

A statement signed by Alex Akori, Secretary-General, MOSOP, recalled that the Congress had mandated the group to engage the government in the negotiation of their interests in oil and gas resources and rejected all forms of forceful resumption of oil production in Ogoniland.

“We think the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, is getting the wrong advice on the true position of things in Ogoni. We will advise that the issue of resuming oil production, being very sensitive, needs to be handled with deeper consultations to address the underlying problems first, before we proceed.”

They described the situation as regrettable that the recent actions taken by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) is fast destroying the gains of earlier community sensitization done by MOSOP and their genuine efforts to persuade the Ogoni people to accept the idea.

“And the fear now is that we are fast being driven back to 1993 by the new move because the drivers are desperate and failing to listen.NSA’s utterances are uncalled for at this critical point,”Nsuke said.

“To say the least, the NSA’s comments were unfortunate and had elements of provocation. He should have known about the sensitive nature of the issue of oil production in Ogoni and how seriously the people take it, we think it would have been better to expand the scope of consultations, find ways to addresse the demands and use persuasion to achieve the goal,” he added.

“The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, unfortunately spoke so authoritatively, disregarding the pains and critical concerns of the Ogoni people, because he has access to deploy the powers of the state.”

“When we heard the NSA’s statement, we were wondering if he was speaking of the oil in Adamawa or if he was actually talking of the oil in Ogoni communities. We think we need to be a bit more realistic and not provoke people into the streets.”

“Besides, the Ogoni issue has far more global dimensions and we do not think we need to endanger the reputation of the government or Mr. President, when we have more practical, peaceful options which have been offered by MOSOP to resolve all the issues.”

“We should not at all times deploy or display the force of the state and cause deeper damage that will become too difficult to resolve. Let us consider a proper dialogue, especially in the Ogoni case, where we have all shown willingness to talk.”

He urged the National Security Adviser to be a bit more humane, objective, and put himself in the position of the Ogoni people, who have suffered so much in state-backed repression.