Ogoni people still waiting for justice
On 10 November 1995, the Nigerian government executed Ken Saro-wiwa
and other eight leaders of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni
People (MOSOP) after what was widely regarded as a show trial.
Saro-Wiwa was opposed to the injustice of Nigerian government and the
abuses of the Shell Oil Company. Nigeria's membership of the British
Commonwealth was suspended after the executions, and at the time,
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said that the country should not
be re-admitted. Cook, however, was one of the first members of a
foreign government to visit Nigeria after the executions, and on
Friday 30 April 1999, he recommended, together with the rest of the
Commonwealth foreign ministers, that Nigeria's three-year suspension
should be lifted. Meanwhile, for the Ogoni people, nothing seems to
have changed.
The story of Ogoniland is very similar to the history of other
suffering national groups. The Ogoni were allowed to live in peace
until the discovery of oil reserves in their land in 1958. Since
then, some 900 million barrels of oil worth around $30 billion have
been taken from Ogoniland, without the population enjoying any of the
benefits. They are poor and have neither electricity nor running
water and very poor health facilities. In addition, their official
political representation is reduced ``to two representatives out of
the 582 that form the House of Representatives. As politics is a game
of numbers, our only resort is to lobby'', points out Nyieda Nasipko,
member of MOSOP.
Nasipko was one of the well known ``Ogoni 20'', a group of Ogoni
activists who were released in September 1998, after four years and
four months of imprisoment without trial. After their arrest, it was
expected that the 20 Ogoni men would be facing the same military
appointed tribunal as was faced by Ken Saro-wiwa and his eight
colleagues. Only international campaigning saved their lives.
The Ogoni are a distintic ethnic group, with nearly 500,000 people
living in the Niger Delta. But they are just a very small group, one
more of the 252 in Nigeria. ``In Nigeria, there are dominant majority
tribes and then small tribes. The smaller ethnic groups express fears
of how the ethnic majorities are treating them,'' explains Nasipko.
The structure of the Nigerian state, that impedes the participation
of the minority groups in the power structures, developed from the
colonial era. The region was dominated by three large ethnic groups
-The Hausa-Fulani, the Yoruva and the Ibo. The British colonial
government exploited the situation by ruling the country through
these groups. The country's modern history has been marked by
different conflicts between these three ethnic groups, which resulted
in political instability and a number of coups.
``The fortune of the Ogoni people has been sacrified on the altar of
the economic interests of Nigeria. All we get in return is
prosecution, repression, oppression, unjust detentions, and
extrajudicial and judicial murder,'' says Nasipko. Because of the rich
crude oil resources in the area, the Ogoni land has been devastated
by countless oil spillages, pipelines, and gas flares burning openly
at ground level. In November 1990, the Ogoni adopted the Ogoni Bill
of Rights, in which they demanded self-determination, adequate
representation in all Nigerian national institutions, a fair
proportion of the economic resources of their land for their
development and the right to control their environment.
It was then that the Movement for Survival of the Ogoni People
(MOSOP) was formed. More than 200,000 Ogoni are members of the
Movement. On 3 November 1992, after consulting with the Ogoni people,
MOSOP issued a notice to oil companies operating in Ogoniland that
they should pay back rent and royalties, as well as compensation for
the devastated land, or leave the area. The oil companies ignored
this call. In January 1993, more than 300,000 Ogoni men, women and
children took the streets in a massive protest. ``While we were
demostrating peacefully, little did we know that the government was
putting its machinery in position, and that Ken Saro-wiwa, our leader
and spokesperson, was going to be incarcerated and killed. Little did
they know that by killing Ken they would cause an international
outcry. We do not know about the silent deaths, we still have to get
the real statistics of people killed in Ogoniland,'' points out
Nasipko.
unknown number of Ogoni people have lost their lives protesting
against pipeline expansions onto their land. Although the
Commonwealth countries seem to be happy with the Nigerian
government's record for the last three years and the upcoming general
elections, for Nasipko and the Ogoni people the battle is not over.
MOSOP feels that the Ogoni have not been addressed by the Nigerian
government or Shell - ``Until now, Shell has not shown any remorse for
what they did.''
``The peace process is frozen''
Five years after the Oslo Agreement was signed, Yasir Arafat,
president of the Palestinian National Authority, considers that the
peace process, in which Palestine and Israel are engaged is going
through one of its worst times. Arafat, who visited Dublin on 3 May
1999, criticised the position of the Israeli government, leaded by
Benyamin Netanyahu. Arafat pointed out that Netanyahu's strategy was
to paralyse the process written into the Oslo Agreement, which
signalled 4 May 1999 as the end of the transitional period that would
facilitate the transformation of the autonomous territories into an
independent state for the Palestinian people.
On 15 May 1998, the day Israel celebrated the 50th anniversary of its
statehood, Arafat committed himself to declaring the independence of
the Palestinian territories this 4 May. Speaking in Dublin, he said:
``I have visited 62 countries and listened to the advice of friends
and brothers, and the Central Council of the Palestinian Liberation
Organisation listened to this advice. And because of the advice of
our friends and brothers, we have decided to postpone the declaration
of our independence.''
Arafat also pointed out that in an opinion poll carried out by the
Israeli government, 68% of Israel's population supports the peace
process and 55% will not object to a Palestinian state.
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