NIGERIA:
Ogoni Swears in President and Inaugurates Self-Government
Ogoni President Goodluck Diigbo has been sworn in – the first elected leader following the Ogoni self-government
declaration of August 2, 2102. Ogoni is one of Africa’s richest indigenous homelands, endowed with sweet crude oil and
natural gas, among others.
The event was held on Sunday, January 4, 2015 at Ken Saro-Wiwa Peace and Freedom Center, Bori – the Ogoni Nation Capital
in southern Nigeria.
In his inaugural address to thousands of Ogonis, Diigbo vowed to fully enforce the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Ogoni Bill of Rights – both of which give the control of natural resources to the
people.
His government, under the auspices of the Ogoni Central Indigenous Authority, insists on joint review of the United
Nations Environmental Assessment Report on Ogoniland, before implementation in order to comply with due process.
The report says it will take over 30 years to restore Ogoniland from petroleum pollution, but, the new president said,
after three years of waiting, pollution has heightened and the report must be repaired.
Diigbo, a veteran journalist and long term activist is also an American citizen and a European resident in The
Netherlands. He was the closest associate of the executed Ogoni leader, Late Saro-Wiwa. In his prison memoir, Saro-Wiwa
described him as “quite a godsend,” crediting him with success of the Ogoni struggle against environmental devastation
by oil companies. Saro-Wiwa was hanged to death alongside eight other Ogoni activists by Nigerian military dictator
Abacha, while the new president has escaped several assassination attempts.
Diigbo adopted: “Agriculture and Homeland Security” as priorities of the Ogoni indigenous government.
Later in a phone interview with journalists, President Diigbo said: "Ogoni will be open to all – corporations and
individuals for genuine investment, including Americans and Europeans, but, under strict environmental regulations and
monitoring. We now have full control over our lands or natural resources, and it is our choice to decide how best to
manage our affairs.
Many Nigerian tribes turned up to honor the inauguration ceremony, including Isoko, Edo, Yoruba and advocates of Oduduwa
Nation, Igbo, Middle Belt groups, Tiv, Ijaws, Midwest, , and other southern ethnic nationalities. Several entertainment
groups added colors to the ceremony.
From now on, the Ogoni Government speaks on behalf of the people of Ogoni, while the Movement for the Survival of the
Ogoni People (MOSOP) is abolished, and its affiliates turned into civil society organizations.