By FEGALO NSUKE

Sahara Energy has had a good chance of being accepted as an operator for the Ogoni oil fields. In 2019, when the news first broke out about Sahara?s interest and maneuvers to assume the operatorship of the oilfields, IMOSOP made frantic efforts to contact Sahara for a dialogue and was turned down.

The mindset suggested that the government had backed the deal between Sahara and the NNPC and any opposition against the deal would likely be crushed with the force of state.

MOSOP?s eventual rejection of Sahara and their backdoor moves to usurp the benefits of the collective struggles of the Ogoni people were resounding and unequivocal. While we thought the matter had been laid to rest, we were shocked to learn of Sahara?s antics to force its way into Ogoni despite the people?s opposition.

A second opportunity came for Sahara following the development plan approved by MOSOP in September 2020, Sahara, again, had a chance and was offered another opportunity to come to the table for a discussion. As with previous initiatives, the offers fell on deaf ears.

The attitude of Sahara and their disdain for dialogue over the issue compelled the orientation that Sahara may just be another Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, popularly called Shell, may be even worse. A company that thrives on backdoor moves to discuss issues that affect people?s lives without any consideration nor respect for the concerns of the people, we reasoned, may just be another road to a worse genocide than we saw with Shell. The Federal House of Representatives captured the fears of the Ogoni people and noted the unpredictability of Sahara Energy in a lawmaker?s remark on one of Sahara?s playbooks:

?The government is involved in an under the table covert arrangements to auction OML 11 assets to the Sahara Energy Resource Limited for a paltry sum of $250 million as against the $1 billion offered by SPDC Limited.?

To avert and eliminate the risk of a Sahara Energy sponsored repression and genocide, the Central Committee of MOSOP met and resolved not to back any deal that hands down the operatorship of OML 11, which covers the Ogoni fields, to Sahara Energy.

MOSOP wouldn?t mind if the Ogoni region is carved out of the block, but we are not receptive to an unpredictable company like Sahara Energy whose attitude towards dialogue is damp and evasive.

The Ogoni experience had been extremely harsh and any company which displays any traits of Shell, being very evasive and relying on the powers of state rather than dialogue with the people is, in fact, certainly not likely to enjoy the reception of the Ogoni people.

Background of the Problem

Sahara Energy and several other companies are today seeking to take over the operatorship of OML 11, which encompasses the Ogoni region, 31 years after Shell?s exit from the Ogoni oilfields.

The Ogoni region with over 200 oil wells remains the cash cow in OML 11 and until we find any contrary statistical data, the Ogoni oilfields are, to the best of my knowledge, the most prolific and profitable fields in Nigeria with a proven production capacity of 500,000 barrels per day. I have personally held that given the permeability of the Ogoni soil, the fields can do well over 1,000,000 barrels daily. Again, I await an expert to prove otherwise.

Back to our main issue, the Ogoni fields had been operated by Nigeria?s biggest oil producer, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (Shell) until 1993 when persistent civil unrest forced Shell to exit the area.

In an attempt to shut out the Ogoni protests, Shell, backed by Nigerian security forces clamped down on Ogoni civil rights campaigners and killed some 4,000 Ogonis in cold blood. The Ogoni people, however, sustained the struggle to this day.

That is the only reason why oil in Ogoni is today available for grabs. I hold that the Ogoni sacrifices are immeasurable and worth rewarding. No oil company should therefore contemplate neglecting or short-changing the interests of the Ogoni people with any political advantage they could have.

An equally incontrovertible fact is that MOSOP led the Ogoni people in the struggle against Shell and won with Shell?s exit from the area. Though that victory remains incomplete, as we are yet to see the real benefits come to the people, it remains a remarkable fit. So, what the oil industry is today, clamouring for was not available and wouldn?t have been but for the sacrifices and resilience of the Ogoni people led by MOSOP.

The position of MOSOP is therefore fundamental in the resolution of the crises.

First, MOSOP is trusted and for every action to be taken regarding the Ogoni oil, the Ogoni public wants the opinion of MOSOP.

Secondly, MOSOP has an express mandate, derived from the Ogoni Bill of Rights, OBR, to speak on the issues of Ogoni deprivations and so the voice of MOSOP is the resounding voice of the Ogoni people.

In this regard, MOSOP has consistently maintained its readiness to support initiatives that are peaceful and beneficial for the Ogoni people and the Nigerian state, What MOSOP strongly detests is an attempt to resort to the use of repressive tactics similar to or worse than that of the 1990s.

Prospects for a Peaceful Resolution

In a show of its commitment to peace and development for Ogoni and our country, MOSOP has published its development proposals. In simple terms, MOSOP?s proposal called for a fair proportion of profits derived from natural resource extraction in Ogoni to be dedicated to Ogoni development. That should not be too much to ask for a people who sacrificed 4,000 lives to take the oil from Shell. And that sacrifice could not have been made just for some oil company. The people have now become critical stakeholders.

The MOSOP's proposal further spells out the terms of implementation to ensure transparency, accountability and goal attainment.

The unholy alliance between Sahara Energy and the NNPC to use backdoor political manoeuvres to force their way into Ogoni is therefore a threat to the peace of Ogoni. One thing MOSOP is strongly committed to is not to allow the peace of Ogoni to be taken away for pecuniary interests.

The Sahara Energy's Playbook to snatch away the rights of the Ogoni people to decent living and throw Ogoni back into crises is something we must all be determined to resist and defeat. Period.

?Fegalo Nsuke is President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP. He wrote from Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

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