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Obasanjo to initiate dialogue between Ogoni, Shell
From Kelvin Ebiri, Port Harcourt

DESIROUS of arriving at an amicable solution to the protracted disagreement between Ogoni people and the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), President Olusegun Obasanjo may have initiated dialogue between both parties.

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The process if successful, would lead to the permanent resolution of the Ogoni question.

President of the Ogoni umbrella organization, Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) Mr. Ledum Mitee has however, hinted that the people were prepared to participate in the talks provided they would be honest, transparent and without a pre-determined outcome.

At an interactive session with journalists at the MOSOP office in Port Harcourt yesterday, Mitee disclosed that in his recent meeting with President Obasanjo he had expressed the desire to resume the process of dialogue between Ogoni people and Shell.

The Ogoni leader also noted that while the people wanted such forum, the attitude of the firm had continued to inhibit the process.

He explained that the Ogoni people and Shell had not really started negotiations but that Shell had "remained unrepentant."
According to him, about a month ago, after the Ogoni consultative assembly met, it had written to Shell requesting that it should withdraw all military personnel deployed to the area.

He alleged that the military men, whom he described as "instruments of oppression," had been involved in human rights violations and reiterated the demand of the Ogoni that they be withdrawn.

Explaining why the dialogue might not achieve the desired result, however, Mitee said the Human Rights Violation and Investigation Commission, headed by Justice Chukwudifu Oputa had tried to no avail to resolve the disagreement between both parties.

The talks, he said, had collapsed because the management of Shell refused to apologise to the people for the afflictions they had been through during the military on account of their problem with the oil firm.

Mitee further said a memorial lecture titled "The Ogoni struggle as a metaphor for the national question", to commemorate the 9th anniversary of the execution of
Kenule Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine, would be delivered by Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah.

He said the event was aimed at making people reflect on the issues that led to the events of November 10, 1995.

"We are challenging the consciousness of the state and the multinationals to the realisation that it is important to listen and reward the non-violent option, so that we don't inflict on ourselves a situation where the violent option becomes the only option that will attract attention," he said.