TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has called for social justice in Nigeria, as a panacea to the increasing insecurity ravaging the country.
Speaking during the 2019 June 12 memorial lecture organised by the Unity House Foundation and Garden City Leadership Initiative in Port Harcourt, factional President of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke, said democracy in Nigeria has not improved the cause of social justice for the oppressed peoples of the Niger Delta.
Nsuke said the case of the Ogoni people in Nigeria reflected the dark side of the country, Nigeria, where oil-rich indigenous communities produce the wealth of the country and have nothing to show for it, as they are left to suffer the consequences of oil exploitation.
He said although democracy is still the best option for Nigeria, it would make little or no meaning, if it does not promote equity and social justice for the Nigerian people.
Nsuke said the people of Nigeria have come to understand all that have been kept away from them and the best way to stem the tide of agitations is to face the reality, that Nigeria has to be a better democracy by promoting social justice.
Citing the case of the Ogoni people, Nsuke said Ogoni generated an estimated 185,000 barrels of oil daily and still remains one of the poorest area of Nigeria. He said the consequences of such neglect and deprivations are agitations.
He further noted that although the agitations of the Ogoni people is non-violent, some other communities are not likely to go the way of non-violence thereby worsening the security problems we face as a country.
Nsuke called for greater commitment to equity and social justice in Nigeria by recognising and respecting the rights of indigenous communities like Ogoni, noting that a free and just society will only yield to peaceful co-existence and development in the county.
