President Bola Tinubu has directed the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, to begin engagements with Ogoni communities, NNPCL, and stakeholders to finalise restarting oil operations.

‎The president stated this on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa while receiving a report of the Ogoni Consultations Committee.
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‎”I am directing the NSA to immediately begin engagement with the Ogoni people and NNPCL, its joint venture partners and all relevant stakeholders with a view to finalising modalities to begin operation,” Mr Tinubu said.
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‎The president stressed that ongoing dialogue and reconciliation remained  essential to achieving lasting peace, justice, and development in Ogoniland.
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‎“I urge the Ogoni people across classes, communities and generations to close ranks, put this dark chapter behind us and move forward as a united community with a single voice,” Mr Tinubu said.
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‎He pledged his administration’s support for peace, environmental cleanup, and economic revival in the region.
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‎“I am encouraged by the overwhelming consensus of Ogoni communities to welcome the resumption of oil production under equitable terms.
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‎”The government will deploy every resource to support your people in this march toward shared prosperity,” Mr Tinubu added.
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‎Recalling that the immediate past administration handed operation of the Ogoni oil fields to NNPCL and its joint venture partners, the president pledged to build on that decision.
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‎He also directed the minister of environment to incorporate pollution remediation into ongoing dialogues with the Ogoni people.
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‎Mr Tinubu also used the occasion to posthumously honour late Ogoni leaders Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Theophilus Orage, and Samuel Orage, collectively known as the “Ogoni Four” with the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).
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‎Earlier, Mr Ribadu said the consultations engaged all four Ogoni zones and the diaspora, focusing on structured participation, accelerated clean-up, and sustainable development.
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‎In an interview with State House Correspondents after the event, Mr Ribadu reaffirmed Tinubu’s commitment to peace, stability, and inclusive growth across the Niger Delta.
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‎He assured the strict implementation of directives aimed at consolidating peace and addressing past injustices.
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‎“Peace is being restored already, and Nigerians will soon see the benefits, not just in Ogoniland but across the Niger Delta and beyond,” Mr Ribadu promised.
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‎Don Baridam, chairman of the dialogue committee, described the report as reflecting the collective will of the Ogoni people.
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‎He urged the formation of an inter-agency task force to implement the report’s recommendations as a blueprint for progress.

Also speaking, Gov. Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers stated that the confidence-building measures implemented by the president have led to an improvement in the work done on the East-West Road, among other projects.

He said that the establishment of the Federal University of Environment and Technology in Rivers was also a positive step in the right direction.

‎Oil exploration in Ogoniland was suspended in 1993 after protests over environmental damage, culminating in the 1995 execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists.

(NAN)