#Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People

[gregor-samsung]

" Penso di aver già visto prima quel tipo da qualche parte. Sono proprio sicuro di aver già incontrato da qualche parte quel soldato. Oh Dio, e dove mai l’ho incontrato prima, quel soldato? Quel tipo alto con la bocca piena di denti. E dove l’ho già visto? Chiesi a Pallottola se lui lo avesse mai visto prima. Mi rispose che non l’aveva mai incontrato, dai tempi di Adamo a tutt’oggi. Così gli chiesi perché mai era venuto da noi. E perché poi ci ha portato da bere? Ed è forse proprio vero che quel tipo è quello che chiamano il nemico? «Oh, sì. Quel tipo lì è il nemico», replicò Pallottola. «Senti bene, Sozaboy, noi siamo sul fronte di guerra, okay. E sul fronte di guerra ci trovi tutti i tipi di persone. Ubriaconi, ladri, idioti, saggi e pazzi. C’è soltanto una cosa che li unisce tutti. La morte. E ogni giorno in più che riescono a vivere, si stanno prendendo gioco della morte. Quell’uomo è venuto qui per festeggiare questo fatto.» «Pallottola», dissi, «ti prego, non usare tutti questi paroloni con me. Ti prego. Cerca di dirmi una cosa che posso capire. E non perder le staffe perché ti chiedo questa piccolezza.» «No, non perdo mica le staffe», replicò Pallottola dopo un po’. «Non mi arrabbio per niente. Quello che sto dicendo è che tutti noi possiamo morire da un momento all’altro. In qualsiasi momento. Così, finché siamo vivi dobbiamo farci una bevuta. Perché, come già sai, l’uomo deve vivere.» Questo Pallottola è proprio uno sveglio. L’uomo deve vivere. Mi piace ’sta storia. L’uomo deve vivere. "

Ken Saro-Wiwa, Sozaboy. Il bambino soldato, traduzione di Roberto Piangatelli, a cura di Itala Vivan, Baldini Castoldi Dalai editore, 2009²; pp. 142-143.

[Edizione originale: Sozaboy: A Novel in Rotten English, Saros International Publishers, 1985]

[lboogie1906]

Kenule Beeson “Ken” Saro-Wiwa (October 10, 1941 – November 10, 1995) was a Nigerian writer, television producer, environmental activist, and winner of the Right Livelihood Award for “exemplary courage in striving non-violently for civil, economic, and environmental rights” and the Goldman Environmental Prize. He was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority in Nigeria whose homeland, Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta, has been targeted for crude oil extraction since the 1950s and which has suffered extreme environmental damage from decades of indiscriminate petroleum waste dumping. Initially as spokesperson, and then as president, of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People led a nonviolent campaign against environmental degradation of the land and waters of Ogoniland by the operations of the multinational petroleum industry, especially the Royal Dutch Shell company. He was an outspoken critic of the Nigerian government, which he viewed as reluctant to enforce environmental regulations on the foreign petroleum companies operating in the area.

At the peak of his non-violent campaign, he was tried by a special military tribunal for allegedly masterminding the gruesome murder of Ogoni chiefs at a pro-government meeting, and hanged by the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. His execution provoked international outrage and resulted in Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations for over three years. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 11.10 (after 1950)

1951 – With the rollout of the North American Numbering Plan, direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the United States. 1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicates the USMC War Memorial (Iwo Jima memorial) in Arlington Ridge Park in Arlington County, Virginia. 1958 – The Hope Diamond is donated to the Smithsonian Institution by New York diamond merchant Harry Winston. 1969 – National Educational Television (the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service) in the United States debuts Sesame Street. 1970 – Vietnam War: Vietnamization: For the first time in five years, an entire week ends with no reports of American combat fatalities in Southeast Asia. 1970 – Luna 17: uncrewed space mission launched by the Soviet Union. 1971 – In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge forces attack the city of Phnom Penh and its airport, killing 44, wounding at least 30 and damaging nine aircraft. 1971 – A Merpati Nusantara Airlines Vickers Viscount crashes into the Indian Ocean near Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, killing all 69 people on board. 1972 – Southern Airways Flight 49 from Birmingham, Alabama is hijacked and, at one point, is threatened with crashing into the nuclear installation at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After two days, the plane lands in Havana, Cuba, where the hijackers are jailed by Fidel Castro. 1975 – The 729-foot-long freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinks during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew on board. 1975 – Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 3379, determining that Zionism is a form of racism. 1979 – A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada derails in Mississauga, Ontario. 1983 – Bill Gates introduces Windows 1.0. 1985 – A Dassault Falcon 50 and a Piper PA-28 Cherokee collide in mid-air over Fairview, New Jersey, killing six people and injuring eight. 1989 – Longtime Bulgarian leader Todor Zhivkov is removed from office and replaced by Petar Mladenov. 1989 – Germans begin to tear down the Berlin Wall. 1995 – In Nigeria, playwright and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, along with eight others from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop), are hanged by government forces. 1997 – WorldCom and MCI Communications announce a $37 billion merger (the largest merger in US history at the time). 1999 – World Anti-Doping Agency is formed in Lausanne. 2002 – Veteran's Day Weekend Tornado Outbreak: A tornado outbreak stretching from Northern Ohio to the Gulf Coast, one of the largest outbreaks recorded in November. 2006 – Sri Lankan Tamil politician Nadarajah Raviraj is assassinated in Colombo. 2006 – The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia is opened and dedicated by U.S. President George W. Bush, who announces that Marine Corporal Jason Dunham will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor. 2008 – Over five months after landing on Mars, NASA declares the Phoenix mission concluded after communications with the lander were lost. 2009 – Ships of the South and North Korean navies skirmish off Daecheong Island in the Yellow Sea. 2019 – President of Bolivia Evo Morales and several of his government resign after 19 days of civil protests and a recommendation from the military. 2020 – Armenia and Azerbaijan sign a ceasefire agreement, ending the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, and prompting protests in Armenia.

[tracknews1]

MOSOP Blast NDDC Boss for Allegedly Excluding Ogoni People From Niger Delta Fummit

The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People has slammed the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku for allegedly excluding Ogoni people from the Nigerian Delta Summit. The group described his actions as an injustice on the people of Ogoni land. MASOP in a statement on Friday by its Spokesperson, Imeabe Oscar said the reason attributed to the NSCDC was…

[premimtimes]

Amnesty for Nnamdi Kanu, By Reuben Abati

Amnesty for Nnamdi Kanu, By Reuben Abati

Leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu [Photo Credit: Pulse.ng] So, what should President Buhari do? He should grant Nnamdi Kanu, Sunday Igboho, their followers, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) collaborators in different parts of the country, amnesty, to pave the way for the emplacement of a structure for dialogue, healing, reconciliation and justice. He has a duty to demonstrate that there is no war…

[youthincare]

Oct 19, 2010 - Clean the Niger Delta – “We all stand before history” Ken Saro-Wiwa 1995

[ image description is man walking through an oil spilled river with a brown side satchel. ] 

On November 10 1995, renowned Ogoni environmental activist Mr. Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged without fair trial by the Nigerian Military Government. His death and the deaths of 8 other Ogoni leaders that day drew to a close his personal campaign to cease the devastation of the land, water and sky of the Niger Delta, but sparked international outrage and greater scrutiny of corporate greed in light of political marginalisation of minorities. Nigeria was suspended from the UK Commonwealth, but as years have passed, memories have faded and impetus waned.

Saro-Wiwa was a prolific writer who used literature to challenge the status quo. He was a founding Member and President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), an organisation whose very name epitomises the vulnerability of the population. MOSOP was admitted to UNPO in 1993 and soon after Saro-Wiwa became Vice Chair of UNPO, a position he held until his death. It was through UNPO that he first came to Europe to describe the devastation in the Delta. As a result of his eloquence and passion, the plight of the Ogoni people hit Time Magazine and CNN.

UNPO has continued to campaign for greater involvement of the Ogoni people in the decision making processes that affect their long-term livelihoods. Equally, Ogonis have taken leading roles in the running of UNPO; current MOSOP President, Mr. Ledum Mitee completed two terms as UNPO President in May 2010.

We continue to advocate nonviolent strategies to diffuse the tension in the region and promote peace and prosperity. This year marks the 15th anniversary of Saro-Wiwa’s death and UNPO is working alongside 8 Dutch and international NGOs to honour his cause by holding a major international commemorative event on November 10 2010. The details follow below, but more information can be found on the specially designed website: www.CleanTheNigerDelta.org. For more information please contact UNPO at unpo[at]unpo.org or info[at]cleanthenigerdelta.org

[penguru100]

MOSOP Reveals Those Dividing Ogoni People, Sets Up Transition Committee

MOSOP Reveals Those Dividing Ogoni People, Sets Up Transition Committee

The President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Legborsi Pyagbara has revealed that government, oil companies and politicians are behind recent desperate attempts to divide Ogoni people.

Pyagbara, who revealed this on Saturday at Bori-Ogoni, the traditional headquarters of Ogoniland of Rivers State to mark this year’s Ogoni Day, urged Ogoni People to resist any plot of…

[thevividgreenmoss]

Today, it is not merely justice itself, but the idea of justice that is under attack. The assault on vulnerable, fragile sections of society is at once so complete, so cruel and so clever – all encompassing and yet specifically targeted, blatantly brutal and yet unbelievably insidious – that its sheer audacity has eroded our definition of justice. It has forced us to lower our sights, and curtail our expectations. Even among the well-intentioned, the expansive, magnificent concept of justice is gradually being substituted with the reduced, far more fragile discourse of 'human rights'. If you think about it, this is an alarming shift of paradigm. The difference is that notions of equality, of parity have been pried loose and eased out of the equation. It's a process of attrition. Almost unconsciously, we begin to think of justice for the rich and human rights for the poor. Justice for the corporate world, human rights for its victims. Justice for Americans, human rights for Afghans and Iraqis. Justice for the Indian upper castes, human rights for Dalits and Adivasis (if that.) Justice for white Australians, human rights for Aboriginals and immigrants (most times, not even that.) ...It is becoming more than clear that violating human rights is an inherent and necessary part of the process of implementing a coercive and unjust political and economic structure on the world. Without the violation of human rights on an enormous scale, the neo-liberal project would remain in the dreamy realm of policy. But increasingly Human Rights violations are being portrayed as the unfortunate, almost accidental fallout of an otherwise acceptable political and economic system. As though they're a small problem that can be mopped up with a little extra attention from some NGOs. This is why in areas of heightened conflict – in Kashmir and in Iraq for example – Human Rights Professionals are regarded with a degree of suspicion. Many resistance movements in poor countries which are fighting huge injustice and questioning the underlying principles of what constitutes "liberation" and "development", view Human Rights NGOs as modern day missionaries who've come to take the ugly edge off Imperialism. To defuse political anger and to maintain the status quo.

So what does peace mean in this savage, corporatized, militarized world? What does it mean in a world where an entrenched system of appropriation has created a situation in which poor countries which have been plundered by colonizing regimes for centuries are steeped in debt to the very same countries that plundered them, and have to repay that debt at the rate of 382 billion dollars a year? What does peace mean in a world in which the combined wealth of the world's 587 billionaires exceeds the combined gross domestic product of the world's 135 poorest countries? Or when rich countries that pay farm subsidies of a billion dollars a day, try and force poor countries to drop their subsidies? What does peace mean to people in occupied Iraq, Palestine, Kashmir, Tibet and Chechnya? Or to the aboriginal people of Australia? Or the Ogoni of Nigeria? Or the Kurds in Turkey? Or the Dalits and Adivasis of India? What does peace mean to non-muslims in Islamic countries, or to women in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan? What does it mean to the millions who are being uprooted from their lands by dams and development projects? What does peace mean to the poor who are being actively robbed of their resources and for whom everyday life is a grim battle for water, shelter, survival and, above all, some semblance of dignity? For them, peace is war. We know very well who benefits from war in the age of Empire. But we must also ask ourselves honestly who benefits from peace in the age of Empire? War mongering is criminal. But talking of peace without talking of justice could easily become advocacy for a kind of capitulation. And talking of justice without unmasking the institutions and the systems that perpetrate injustice, is beyond hypocritical. It's easy to blame the poor for being poor. It's easy to believe that the world is being caught up in an escalating spiral of terrorism and war. That's what allows the American President to say "You're either with us or with the terrorists." But we know that that's a spurious choice. We know that terrorism is only the privatization of war. That terrorists are the free marketers of war. They believe that the legitimate use of violence is not the sole prerogative of the State. It is mendacious to make moral distinction between the unspeakable brutality of terrorism and the indiscriminate carnage of war and occupation. Both kinds of violence are unacceptable. We cannot support one and condemn the other. The real tragedy is that most people in the world are trapped between the horror of a putative peace and the terror of war. Those are the two sheer cliffs we're hemmed in by. The question is: How do we climb out of this crevasse? For those who are materially well-off, but morally uncomfortable, the first question you must ask yourself is do you really want to climb out of it? How far are you prepared to go? Has the crevasse become too comfortable?

Arundhati Roy, Peace and the new corporate liberation theology

[camfoc]

Kenule Beeson "Ken" Saro-Wiwa (10 Oct. 1941 – 10 Nov. 1995).

Video: “The Life & death of Ken Saro Wiwa“

Kenule Beeson "Ken" Saro-Wiwa was a Nigerian dissident writer, television producer, environmental activist, and winner of the Right Livelihood Award and the Goldman Environmental Prize. Saro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority in Nigeria whose homeland, Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta has been targeted for crude oil extraction since the 1950s and which has suffered extreme environmental damage from decades of indiscriminate petroleum waste dumping. Initially as spokesperson, and then as president, of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, Saro-Wiwa led a nonviolent campaign against environmental degradation of the land and waters of Ogoniland by the operations of the multinational petroleum industry, especially the Royal Dutch Shell company. He was also an outspoken critic of the Nigerian government, which he viewed as reluctant to enforce environmental regulations on the foreign petroleum companies operating in the area. on November 10th 1995 rhe Nigerian Government under pressure from the Shell oil Company executed Ken Saro Wiwa. The oil giant Shell has since agreed to pay $15.5m (£9.6m) in settlement of a legal action in which it was accused of having ­collaborated in the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of the Ogoni tribe of southern Nigeria.

[yhwhrulz777]

Today's selected anniversaries: 10th November 2022

1945:

Indonesian National Revolution: Following the killing of Brigadier A. W. S. Mallaby a few weeks earlier, British forces retaliated by attacking Surabaya. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Surabaya

1969:

The children's television series Sesame Street premiered in the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesame_Street

1975:

SS Edmund Fitzgerald, the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, sank in Lake Superior with the loss of 29 lives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

1995:

Writer and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People were executed by the Nigerian military government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Saro-Wiwa

[don-lichterman]

MOSOP Tackles FG for Converting Pollution Remediation Project to Political Reward – THISDAYLIVE

MOSOP Tackles FG for Converting Pollution Remediation Project to Political Reward – THISDAYLIVE

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has alleged that the federal government has converted the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to political reward. The pan-Ogoni group described the action as fraudulent and detrimental to the cleanup of oil polluted Ogoni environment. MOSOP made the allegation in a communique released by its…

[truetellsnigeria1]

How HYPREP Looted Over N83billion Meant For Ogoni Cleanup

How HYPREP Looted Over N83billion Meant For Ogoni Cleanup

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has alleged that the Federal Ministry of Environment’s Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) looted up to $200million (N83 billion) meant for the cleanup of the environment. The Ogoni group urged President Muhammadu Buhari to order a thorough investigation into the finances of HYPREP to uncover the misappropriation of…

[lboogie1906]

Kenule Beeson “Ken” Saro-Wiwa (October 10, 1941 – November 10, 1995) was a Nigerian writer, television producer, environmental activist, and winner of the Right Livelihood Award for “exemplary courage in striving non-violently for civil, economic, and environmental rights” and the Goldman Environmental Prize. He was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority in Nigeria whose homeland, Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta, has been targeted for crude oil extraction since the 1950s and which has suffered extreme environmental damage from decades of indiscriminate petroleum waste dumping. Initially as spokesperson, and then as president, of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People led a nonviolent campaign against environmental degradation of the land and waters of Ogoniland by the operations of the multinational petroleum industry, especially the Royal Dutch Shell company. He was an outspoken critic of the Nigerian government, which he viewed as reluctant to enforce environmental regulations on the foreign petroleum companies operating in the area.

At the peak of his non-violent campaign, he was tried by a special military tribunal for allegedly masterminding the gruesome murder of Ogoni chiefs at a pro-government meeting, and hanged by the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. His execution provoked international outrage and resulted in Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations for over three years. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 11.10 (after 1950)

1951 – With the rollout of the North American Numbering Plan, direct-dial coast-to-coast telephone service begins in the United States. 1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicates the USMC War Memorial (Iwo Jima memorial) in Arlington Ridge Park in Arlington County, Virginia. 1958 – The Hope Diamond is donated to the Smithsonian Institution by New York diamond merchant Harry Winston. 1969 – National Educational Television (the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service) in the United States debuts Sesame Street. 1970 – Vietnam War: Vietnamization: For the first time in five years, an entire week ends with no reports of American combat fatalities in Southeast Asia. 1970 – Luna 17: uncrewed space mission launched by the Soviet Union. 1971 – In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge forces attack the city of Phnom Penh and its airport, killing 44, wounding at least 30 and damaging nine aircraft. 1971 – A Merpati Nusantara Airlines Vickers Viscount crashes into the Indian Ocean near Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, killing all 69 people on board. 1972 – Southern Airways Flight 49 from Birmingham, Alabama is hijacked and, at one point, is threatened with crashing into the nuclear installation at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After two days, the plane lands in Havana, Cuba, where the hijackers are jailed by Fidel Castro. 1975 – The 729-foot-long freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinks during a storm on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew on board. 1975 – Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 3379, determining that Zionism is a form of racism. 1979 – A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada derails in Mississauga, Ontario. 1983 – Bill Gates introduces Windows 1.0. 1985 – A Dassault Falcon 50 and a Piper PA-28 Cherokee collide in mid-air over Fairview, New Jersey, killing six people and injuring eight. 1989 – Longtime Bulgarian leader Todor Zhivkov is removed from office and replaced by Petar Mladenov. 1989 – Germans begin to tear down the Berlin Wall. 1995 – In Nigeria, playwright and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, along with eight others from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop), are hanged by government forces. 1997 – WorldCom and MCI Communications announce a $37 billion merger (the largest merger in US history at the time). 2002 – Veteran's Day Weekend Tornado Outbreak: A tornado outbreak stretching from Northern Ohio to the Gulf Coast, one of the largest outbreaks recorded in November. 2006 – Sri Lankan Tamil politician Nadarajah Raviraj is assassinated in Colombo. 2006 – The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia is opened and dedicated by U.S. President George W. Bush, who announces that Marine Corporal Jason Dunham will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor. 2008 – Over five months after landing on Mars, NASA declares the Phoenix mission concluded after communications with the lander were lost. 2009 – Ships of the South and North Korean navies skirmish off Daecheong Island in the Yellow Sea. 2019 – President of Bolivia Evo Morales and several of his government resign after 19 days of civil protests and a recommendation from the military. 2020 – Armenia and Azerbaijan sign a ceasefire agreement, ending the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, and prompting protests in Armenia.

[newshubnaija]

MOSOP-USA criticises move to resume oil exploration in Ogoni

MOSOP-USA criticises move to resume oil exploration in Ogoni

The Federal Government has come under heavy criticism for allegedly pushing for the resumption of oil exploration in Ogoni and using appointments as window dressing to achieve the oil objective. In a statement by the USA wing of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP-USA), the group said; “Your (referring to President Muhammadu Buhari) push for the return of oil production in…

[scarletnews]

OML11: Nigeria lost $178bn from SPDC’s Ogoni exit

OML11: Nigeria lost $178bn from SPDC’s Ogoni exit

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, says the country lost over $178.8billion since the exit of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited from Ogoni oil fields, OML11 in 1993. President of MOSOP, Mr. Fegalo Nsuke, said Nsuke said the figure, which is equivalent of N72trillion, represented oil revenue alone as the revenue losses from gas remains inestimable…