Ogoni people

Last updated
Ogoni
Flag of the Ogoni people.svg
Ogoni flag designed by MOSOP [1]
Total population
Over 2,000,000 and lays claims to the single largest ethnic group in Rivers State Nigeria. 500,000 (1963 census).
Regions with significant populations
Nigeria
Languages
Ogoni languages
Religion
Traditional beliefs, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Ibibio, Igbo, Ikwere, Ijaw, Efik, Ejagham, Bahumono, Annang, Oron

The Ogonis are a people in the Rivers South East senatorial district of Rivers State, in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria. [2] [3] They number just over 2 million and live in a 1,050-square-kilometre (404-square-mile) homeland which they also refer to as Ogoniland. They share common oil-related environmental problems with the Ijaw people of the Niger Delta.

Contents

The Ogoni rose to international attention after a massive public protest campaign against Shell Oil, led by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), which is also a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO).

Geography

The territory is located in Rivers State near the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, east of the city of Port Harcourt. [3] It extends across three Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Khana, Gokana and Tai. Ogoniland is divided into the Five kingdoms: Babbe, Gokana, Ken-Khana, Nyo-Khana and Tai. Nyo-Khana is on the East while Ken-Khana is on the west. [4]

Languages

There are multiple languages spoken by the Ogoni. The largest is Khana, which mutually intelligible with the dialects of the other kingdoms, Gokana, Tae (Tẹẹ), and Baen Ogoi [5] part of the linguistic diversity of the Niger Delta.

History

According to oral tradition, the Ogoni people migrated from ancient Ghana [6] down to the Atlantic coast eventually making their way over to the eastern Niger Delta and getting absorbed into the already existing Igbo and Ijaw population. The name, Ogoni originated from the Ibani/Ijaw word- Igoni, which means strangers. Linguistic calculations ns

eoples on the Guinea coast, the Ogoni have an internal political structure subject to community-by-community arrangement, including appointment of chiefs and community development bodies, some recognized by the government and others not. They survived the period of the slave trade in relative isolation and did not lose any of their members to enslavement.[ citation needed ] After Nigeria was colonized by the British in 1885, British soldiers arrived in Ogoni by 1901. Major resistance to their presence continued through 1914.

The Ogoni were integrated into a succession of economic systems at a pace that was extremely rapid and exacted a great toll from them. At the turn of the twentieth century, “the world to them did not extend beyond the next three or four villages,” but that soon changed. Ken Saro-Wiwa, the late president of MOSOP, described the transition this way: “if you then think that within the space of seventy years they were struck by the combined forces of modernity, colonialism, the money economy, indigenous colonialism and then the Nigerian Civil War, and that they had to adjust to these forces without adequate preparation or direction, you will appreciate the bafflement of the Ogoni people and the subsequent confusion engendered in the society.” [7]

Nationalism

Ogoni Flag designed by the M.O.S.O.P. Flag of the Ogoni people.svg
Ogoni Flag designed by the M.O.S.O.P.

Ogoni nationalism is a political ideology that seeks self determination by the Ogoni people. The Ogonis are one of the many indigenous peoples in the region of southeast Nigeria. They number about 1.5 million people and live in a 404-square-mile (1,050 km2) homeland which they also refer to as Ogoni, or Ogoniland. They share common oil-related environmental problems with the Ijaw people of Niger Delta.

The Ogoni rose to international attention after a massive public protest campaign against Shell Oil, led by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). [8] [9] MOSOP's mandated use of non-violent methods to promote democratic principles assist Ogoni people pursue rights of self-determination in environmental issues in the Niger Delta, cultural rights and practices for Ogoni people. [10]

Human rights violations

The Ogoni people have been victims of human rights violations for many years. In 1956, four years before Nigerian Independence, Royal Dutch/Shell, in collaboration with the British government, found a commercially viable oil field on the Niger Delta and began oil production in 1958. In a 15-year period from 1976 to 1991 there were reportedly 2,976 oil spills of about 2.1 million barrels of oil in Ogoniland, accounting for about 40% of the total oil spills of the Royal Dutch/Shell company worldwide. [11]

In 1990, under the leadership of activist and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Movement of the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) planned to take action against the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the oil companies. In October 1990, MOSOP presented The Ogoni Bill of Rights to the government. The Bill hoped to gain political and economic autonomy for the Ogoni people, leaving them in control of the natural resources of Ogoniland protecting against further land degradation. [12] The movement lost steam in 1994 after Saro-Wiwa and several other MOSOP leaders were executed by the Nigerian government

In 1993, following protests that were designed to stop contractors from laying a new pipeline for Shell, the Mobile Police raided the area to quell the unrest. In the chaos that followed, it has been alleged that 27 villages were raided, resulting in the death of 2,000 Ogoni people and displacement of 80,000. [13] [14] [15] [16]

Environmental restoration

In a 2011 assessment of over 200 locations in Ogoniland by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), they found that impacts of the 50 years of oil production in the region extended deeper than previously thought. Because of oil spills, oil flaring, and waste discharge, the alluvial soil of the Niger Delta is no longer viable for agriculture. Furthermore, in many areas that seemed to be unaffected, groundwater was found to have high levels of hydrocarbons or were contaminated with benzene, a carcinogen, at 900 levels above WHO guidelines. [17]

UNEP estimated that it could take up to 30 years to rehabilitate Ogoniland to its full potential and that the first five years of rehabilitation would require funding of about US$1 billion. In 2012, the Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources, Deizani Alison-Madueke, announced the establishment of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project, which intends to follow the UNEP report suggestions of Ogoniland to prevent further degradation. [18]

A trial project in the region was able to achieve mangrove restoration in one of the significant waterways Bodo Creek which helped improve soil and water quality. [19]

Notable people

Notes

  1. Contributors. https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ng%7Dogoni.html. “The Ogoni People(Nigeria)”.2015.
  2. "The Ogoni of Nigeria". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  3. 1 2 "Ogoni | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
  4. Sebtalesy, Cintika Yorinda; Kristanti, Lucia Ani (2020-06-30). "Descriptions of Infertile Couple Attitudes About Nyo Khana Traditional Medicine". Jurnal Midpro. 12 (1): 110. doi: 10.30736/md.v12i1.199 . ISSN   2684-6764. S2CID   225773285.
  5. "Browse by Language Family". Ethnologue. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  6. "AFRICA | 101 Last Tribes - Ogoni people". www.101lasttribes.com. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  7. Quotes from Ken Saro-Wiwa, "Letter to Ogoni Youth."
  8. "Ogoni". unpo.org. Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. March 25, 2008. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  9. "Ogoni: Oral Intervention on the Human Rights Situation of States and Territories threatened with Ex". unpo.org. Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  10. "About Us - Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP)". Archived from the original on 2010-04-25. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  11. Crayford, Steven (1 April 1996). "Ogoni Uprising". Africa Today. 2. 42 (Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Africa): 183–197.
  12. The Movement of the Survival of the Ogoni People. "Ogoni Bill of Rights". Saros International Publishers.
  13. David Kupfer, "Worldwide Shell boycott", The Progressive , 1996
  14. PBS documentary, The New Americans: The Ogoni Refugees
  15. Ken Saro-Wiwa, "Genocide in Nigeria: The Ogoni Tragedy"
  16. Bogumil Terminski, Oil-Induced Displacement and Resettlement: Social Problem and Human Rights Issue Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine
  17. United Nations Environment Programme (August 4, 2011). "UNEP Ogoniland Oil Assessment Reveals Extent of Environmental Contamination and Threats to Human Health". UNEP News Center.
  18. United Nations Environment Programme (August 1, 2012). "UNEP Welcomes Nigerian Governments Green Light for Ogoniland Oil Clean-Up". UNEP News Center.
  19. Zabbey, Nenibarini; Tanee, Franklin B.G. (September 2016). "Assessment of Asymmetric Mangrove Restoration Trials in Ogoniland, Niger Delta, Nigeria: Lessons for Future Intervention". Ecological Restoration. 34 (3): 245–257. doi:10.3368/er.34.3.245. ISSN   1543-4060. S2CID   89436150.
  20. Teniente, Davio (March 8, 2014). "hon-tn-paul-birabi-the-forgotten-nigerian-nationalist". www.thenigerianvoice.com. p. 1. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  21. Isuwa, Sunday (2023-03-13). "Magnus Abe Remains Our Gov'ship Candidate In Rivers – SDP" . Retrieved 2023-04-29.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Saro-Wiwa</span> Nigerian environmental activist (1941–1995)

Kenule Beeson "Ken" Saro-Wiwa was a Nigerian writer, television producer, and environmental activist. Ken 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 has suffered extreme environmental damage from decades of indiscriminate petroleum waste dumping.

The Ogoni Nine were a group of nine activists from the Ogoni region of Nigeria who opposed the operating practices of the Royal Dutch Shell oil corporation. Their members included outspoken author and playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine.

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), is a social movement organization representing the indigenous Ogoni people of Rivers State, Nigeria. The Ogoni contend that Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), along with other petroleum multinationals and the Nigerian government, have destroyed their environment, polluted their rivers, and provided no benefits in return for enormous oil revenues extracted from their lands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niger Delta</span> The delta of the river Niger

The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitical zone, one state (Ondo) from South West geopolitical zone and two states from South East geopolitical zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shell Nigeria</span> Nigerian regional subsidiary of Shell plc

Shell Nigeria is the common name for Shell plc's Nigerian operations carried out through four subsidiaries—primarily Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC). Royal Dutch Shell's joint ventures account for more than 21% of Nigeria's total petroleum production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conflict in the Niger Delta</span> Ongoing military conflict

The current conflict in the Niger Delta first arose in the early 1990s over tensions between foreign oil corporations and a number of the Niger Delta's minority ethnic groups who feel they are being exploited, particularly the Ogoni and the Ijaw. Ethnic and political unrest continued throughout the 1990s despite the return to democracy and the election of the Obasanjo government in 1999. Struggle for oil wealth and environmental harm over its impacts has fueled violence between ethnic groups, causing the militarization of nearly the entire region by ethnic militia groups, Nigerian military and police forces, notably the Nigerian Mobile Police. The violence has contributed to Nigeria's ongoing energy supply crisis by discouraging foreign investment in new power generation plants in the region.

The Nigerian Mobile Police (MOPOL) force is the paramilitary arm of the Nigeria Police Force and operate under orders from the Nigerian federal government.

Environmental issues in the Niger Delta are caused by its petroleum industry. The delta covers 20,000 km2 (7,700 sq mi) within wetlands of 70,000 km2 (27,000 sq mi) formed primarily by sediment deposition. Home to 20 million people and 40 different ethnic groups, this floodplain makes up 7.5% of Nigeria's total land mass. It is the largest wetland and maintains the third-largest drainage basin in Africa. The Delta's environment can be broken down into four ecological zones: coastal barrier islands, mangrove swamp forests, freshwater swamps, and lowland rainforests. Fishing and farming are the main sources of livelihoods for majority of her residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owens Wiwa</span>

Monday Owens Wiwa is a medical doctor and human rights activist. He is the brother of executed Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa, and the son of Ogoni chief Jim Wiwa. Wiwa is an internationally renowned expert on the effects of globalisation, especially as it relates to the highly controversial business practices of Royal Dutch Shell in the Niger Delta. Vice-chairman of the Toronto chapter of the Sierra Club Canada and an active member of Amnesty International, Wiwa is frequently called upon to advocate for development programs in Canada and abroad and to campaign for increased corporate responsibility. This work has taken him to Ireland, which he visits in support of the Shell to Sea campaign. Currently, he is the Global Vice President Human Resource for Health, Director for West Africa and Central Africa and Country Director, Nigeria for Clinton Health Access Initiative.

<i>The Politics of Bones</i> 2005 book by J. Timothy Hunt

The Politics of Bones: Dr. Owens Wiwa and the Struggle for Nigeria's Oil is a book by Canadian journalist J. Timothy Hunt. It was published by McClelland & Stewart in September 2005 just before the tenth anniversary of the controversial execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Bori City is a city in Khana Local Government Area, Rivers State, southern Nigeria. It is the birthplace of author and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Major Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro, fondly called "Boro", was a Nigerian nationalist and soldier of Ijaw descent. He is considered a pioneer of minority rights activism in Nigeria.

The Wiwa- family lawsuits against Royal Dutch Shell were three separate lawsuits brought in 1996 by the family of Ken Saro-Wiwa against Royal Dutch Shell, its subsidiary Shell Nigeria and the subsidiary's CEO Brian Anderson. Charges included human rights abuses against the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta, summary execution, torture, arbitrary arrest, and wrongful death. After 12 years of Shell petitioning the court not to hear the cases, they were heard 26 May 2009.

Lt. Colonel Dauda Musa Komo was Administrator of Rivers State, Nigeria from December 1993 to August 1996 during the military regime of General Sani Abacha. He took office at a time of escalating violence between the Ogoni and Okrika people over crowded waterfront land, combined with Ogoni protest against Shell Oil activities and the environmental destruction of Ogoni land. He reacted aggressively, sending troops to break up demonstrations and arresting leaders of the Ogoni's MOSOP movement.

Gokana kingdom is among the six kingdoms of the Ogoni people in Ogoni in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Gokana kingdom has geographic, historic and ethno-linguistic elements with some 130,000 Gokana language speakers located in the Gokana Local Government Area in Rivers State. Gokana contains a tremendous number of villages, including Lewe, B.Dere (Barayowa-Dere), K. Dere (Kegbara-Dere), Nwe-biara Kpor, Mogho, Bomu, Bodo, Gio-koo, Nwe-ol, Bera, Biara, Deeyor, Gbe, Goi, Barako, Deken, and Yeghe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy in Nigeria</span> Overview of energy in Nigeria

In 2018, Nigeria's primary energy consumption was about 155 Mtoe. Most of the energy comes from traditional biomass and waste, which accounted for 73.5% of total primary consumption in 2018. The rest is from fossil fuels (26.4%) and hydropower.

Six awards were awarded in the categories: National Print; Periodicals; Photojournalism; Radio; Television Documentary; and Television News.

Ogoni/Niger Delta News is a news website that publishes daily news about Ogoniland, the Niger Delta, Rivers state, Nigeria and the world at large. Most of its news is taken from sources such as Vanguard, the Leadership, newspaper and the DailyPost Nigeria.

The Kaiama Declaration was issued by the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) of Nigeria on 11 December 1998 to attribute the political crisis in Nigeria to the struggle for the control of oil mineral resources, while asserting that the degradation of the environment of Ijawland by transnational oil companies and the Nigerian State arise mainly because Ijaw people have been robbed of their natural rights to ownership and control of their land and resources. The council was formed in the town of Kaiama after 5,000 Ijaw people representing over 40 Ijaw clans, chose to articulate their aspirations for the Ijaw people, and to demand an end to 40 years of environmental damage and underdevelopment in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ogoni nationalism</span>

Ogoni nationalism is a political ideology that seeks self determination by the Ogoni people. The Ogonis are one of the many indigenous peoples in the region of southeast Nigeria. They number about 1.5 million people and live in a 404-square-mile (1,050 km2) homeland which they also refer to as Ogoni, or Ogoniland. They share common oil-related environmental problems with the Ijaw people of Niger Delta.

References