By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf,The Nation
Copyright thenationonlineng
Nigerians mark 30th years after death of Saro-Wiwa, others
Activists and civil society organisations (CSOs) have urged the Federal Government to pay N1 trillion to the Ogoni ethnic nationality in Rivers State of the cleanup of their oil-polluted land..
The CSOs include Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Environmental Rights Action (ERA)/Friends of the Earth (FoEN), and Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Centre.
Others are: OilWatch International, Social Action, Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative, We The People, Lekeh Development Foundation, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre).
They said over seven decades of oil exploration activities in Ogoni land have caused untoward devastation upon the land and the people.
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The activists, led by the Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Rev. Dr. Nnimmo Bassey, addressed reporters at the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) headquarters in Lagos.
Bassey said one of the best ways the government could demonstrate its commitment to the development of Ogoni land and its people is to earmark the amount for the cleanup of the area.
In a joint statement read by Bassey, the CSOs said it was improper that the Federal Government had delayed the total cleanup of Ogoni land, thus further compounding the environmental, health, and socioeconomic conditions of the people directly bearing the brunt of the environmental degradation.
The statement reads: “On November 10, 1995, Nigeria and the world witnessed an execution, a deliberate, cold, and calculated act of state violence designed to silence truth and crush dissent. That day, the Nigerian Government, in partnership with corporate oil interests, hanged Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight fellow Ogoni leaders —Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine.
