In this interview, a renowned environmental activist, Ankio Briggs, accuses the Federal Government of adopting a divide and rule policy with the stakeholders in Ogoni land and the Niger Delta region in general. Excerpts:
What is your take on the outcome of President Bola Tinubu’s meeting with the stakeholders in Ogoni land?
First of all, let me make it clear that I am not from Ogoni. And I am not speaking from the angle of the Ogoni people. I am speaking from the angle of a right and environmental activist. I also want to speak from the angle of our people -the Niger Delta people. They should be very careful of the divide and rule policy of the government.
The government should also be very careful of applying divide and rule tactics in its approach to issues, especially when it comes to the resources of oil and gas in the Niger Delta region. I have spoken with two different prominent people from Ogoni land and I have also read the reaction of MOSSOP and some other people.
The President is claiming that he had spoken to the Ogoni people. But from the reactions I have got from the people I have spoken with, that is far from the reality. The Federal Government and NNPC want to access the oil in Ogoni land. That is between them and the Ogoni people because it is a known fact that the Federal Government has not been able to access the oil in Ogoni land for decades. But the way they are going about it is not the way they should do it. Like every other person, I want to see the outcome of what the president discussed with the Ogoni people regarding the resources in their land, regarding the environmental degradation they suffered.
I want to caution myself and my people in the Niger Delta region that they must never allow themselves to use something like East West Road, for instance, to negotiate for justice and equity because East West Road is a Federal Government responsibility.
It has nothing to do with environmental devastation and who is responsible for it. The question that bothers me till date is: Is it Shell that is still in control of the ownership of oil in terms of what happens to the Ogoni people or is it the Federal Government under the umbrella of NNPC? If they want to enter Ogoni land, what are the conditions? My major concern is the attitude I am seeing which is divide and rule. This is not about politics, it is not about 2027, it is not about who is going to be governor or who is going to be president. If Fubara still wants to run, hopefully, we will bring him back. If the President is running again; because it is his choice to do so, and he wants the votes of the Rivers’ people, it is the people of Rivers State who will overwhelmingly vote for him. It has nothing to do with our resources.
You said the meeting did not represent the Ogoni people. What does the presence of Governor Fubara represent?
Don’t forget that Rivers’ people had been bitten once in a meeting with the President. So, as far as I am concerned, it is within his right and his capacity as the governor to be present. He is the Governor of Rivers State and if the President is discussing with the Ogoni people, he has a right to be there to know what is being presented to them whether it is in the interest of the Ogoni people and the interest of Rivers State.
If they had made it a political meeting, the Senator representing the Ogoni people should have been there. Political representation of the governor should have been there. I repeat, the governor has a right to lead the Ogoni people, the Ijaw people or any other people to go and meet with the president.
“Some people who attended the meeting with the president and the governor claimed that it was manipulated and that it was for the purposes of politics and political strategy. They claimed that they were not allowed to express their opinions”
Your submission seems to be suggesting that the government is playing politics with the cleaning up of the oil spill in Ogoni land?
As an environmentalist who lives and works in Rivers State, I am aware of what is going on in Ogoni land. It doesn’t matter whether the past president had initiated a cleaning up. There is no cleaning up going on anywhere not only in Ogoni land, but also in the whole Niger Delta. I just came back from Buguma, fire is still raging there, gas and diesel mixed together is still going on. When the government claims that cleaning up is going on, I can tell you that there is no cleaning up going on anywhere in the Niger Delta. They may pretend as much as they like, but they are not cleaning up anywhere. The UN report has said that it will take a minimum of 30 years to clean up the mess that Shell made in Ogoni land. That report is now 20 years old. The proof that cleaning is going on is for the government, Shell, the NNPC and the people who are claiming to be doing the cleaning to tell us exactly where they have cleaned up.
Moving forward, what do you expect from the government?
My people should make up their minds on what they want. If they want the cleaning to take place, they have to know the steps to be taken. One of the steps is the issue of moratorium. Let us have a moratorium on exploitation of oil and gas first and foremost because the government is not giving what the people are asking. So, I will ask my people to insist that the government should clean up this mess or they should leave the oil and gas. If you want to access the oil resource to run the government, you have to be sincere with the people. The meeting the president had with the people has even become controversial.
Some people who attended the meeting with the president and the governor claimed that it was manipulated and that it was for the purposes of politics and political strategy. They claimed that they were not allowed to express their opinions. Why invite people to go and meet with the president if you are not going to allow them to express their views of what they want?
That sounds curious?
I watched Senator Bennett Birabi on Arise TV; he is the one who said they were not allowed to express their views and that it was stage-managed. I am asking, why did he invite them?
Do you think that Governor Fubara is on the same page with genuine stakeholders in Ogoni land?
I will not be able to speak to the point of saying that the governor is with the people or not with the people. But the governor has a right to be present in the meeting in the Villa. You will remember that the governor had a meeting with the president in the Villa at the beginning of his impeachment threat in October 2023.
I have spoken with two prominent people of Ogoni land who were in that meeting; they have given their different opinions on that meeting. And one has come on air to say that it was stage-managed. They were not allowed to speak.
This suggests that there is no common position in Ogoni land on this matter?
I will not accuse Ogoni people of anything. But I can accuse the government of playing divide and rule game. When you want to talk to the people and you select a few to talk to, then that is divide and rule. If you want to meet with the Kalabari people, you allow Kalabari people to give you the people to represent them. Once you don’t do that, then what you are doing is divide and rule. That way, somebody will say I was not represented. So, all you are looking for is trouble.
What will be your final take on the resolution of environmental issues in the Niger Delta region?
Until all ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta realize that there is a need for them to come together and speak to themselves, they will continue to be underdogs. We will continue to be in a situation where other people are determining the use of our resources. Why is it that the people in the North are not complaining about who is mining their gold legally or illegally? Why is it that it is only the Niger Delta people? It is because we are not united.
The Federal Government is the problem of the Niger Delta people. The Niger Delta people have to resolve their problems. And the only way they can resolve that problem is to speak with one voice. We speak different languages, but we must speak with one voice.
