A statement from the Rivers Progressives’ Network
— Port Harcourt, 31 July 2026
The Ogoni people, spread across the four local government areas of Khana, Gokana, Tai, and Eleme, are undoubtedly one of the major ethnic groups in Rivers State and the Niger Delta. Their struggle for environmental justice and economic fairness, led by the late Ken Saro-Wiwa through the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), remains one of the most vital chapters in Nigeria’s environmental history.
The tragic killing of the “Ogoni Four” on 21 May 1994 by locals during a meeting in Giokoo, Gokana local government area and the subsequent execution of the “Ogoni Nine” by the Abacha military regime on 10 November 1995 drew worldwide condemnation. And subsequently attracted unprecedented global attention to the Ogoni cause.
The struggle has since resulted in significant interventions for the Ogoni people, including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) environmental assessment, the ongoing Ogoni Clean-up under the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), the establishment of the Federal University of Environment and Technology in Ogoniland, and numerous other development initiatives by both the federal and Rivers State governments. These achievements are patent and merit full recognition.
However, more than thirty years after the beginning of the struggle and the cessation of crude oil production in Ogoniland, an important question demands an honest answer.
What value is Ogoniland currently contributing to the economy of Rivers State?
This is not to undermine the “rightness” of the Ogoni struggle. Rather, it is a legitimate public policy issue that borders on rights, responsibilities, and shared prosperity.
For the record, crude oil production from 96 oil wells in Ogoniland, within Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11, has remained halted since January 1993, following widespread protests and environmental complaints led by MOSOP. OML 11 is a massive asset that covers portions of Ogoniland and extends across other mainland and riverine territories of some local government areas in Rivers State. The affected Ogoniland oil Fields/Wells are Bomu Field, Gokana LGA; Yorla Field, Khana LGA; Ebubu Field, Eleme LGA; Korokoro Field, Tai LGA; Bodo West Field, Gokana LGA; and Tai Field, Tai LGA.
Publicly available information indicates that, before the suspension of operations in 1993, the 96 oil wells in Ogoniland collectively generated 28,000 to 30,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Industry projections show crude oil output from the affected oil wells could exceed 100,000 barrels per day if production resumes in Ogoniland now.
Over the past thirty-three years, the prolonged suspension of crude oil production in Ogoniland has reportedly deprived the Federal Government of Nigeria and, by extension, Rivers State, of approximately US$226.734 billion in potential revenue. That is a significant economic loss.
Interestingly, while Nigeria and Rivers State suffered economic losses due to the oil production shutdown, many believe Ogoniland has continued to receive unprecedented national attention compared to other oil-producing communities. Successive federal administrations have also entrusted Ogoni sons and daughters with important national roles, including key positions in oil and gas agencies.
Today, Ledum Mitee serves as a Non-Executive Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), representing the South-South geopolitical zone. At the same time, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe serves as Chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). He also previously served on the NNPC Board. Another Ogoni, Professor Innocent Barikor, is also presently serving as the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).
There is no dispute regarding the competence or qualifications of these eminent Ogoni Nigerians.
However, these appointments raise serious concerns about fairness, equity, and public perception.
What message does it send to other oil-producing communities across the Niger Delta that have continued to allow hydrocarbon production in their areas despite facing similar or harsher environmental degradation, pollution, and developmental challenges?
To appropriately emphasise the significance of the discourse, let us provide a brief overview of the crude oil production outlook for Rivers State alone, for the sake of time and space.
Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA) remains a prominent onshore oil and gas hub, containing Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 58, 60, and 61. Historically, these assets have produced over 100,000 barrels of crude oil daily, while supporting vital gas processing and transportation infrastructure that supplies both the domestic market and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Plant on Bonny Island.
Segments of OML 58 and OML 54, including the Ogbele Field, are located in the Ahoada East and Ahoada West Local Government Areas and make notable contributions to crude oil production and domestic gas development. Meanwhile, the Ubeta Gas Field, spanning parts of Ahoada East, Ahoada West, and ONELGA, is expected to supply between 300 million and 350 million standard cubic feet of gas per day to the NLNG Plant once fully operational.
The Akuku-Toru, Asari-Toru, and Degema areas form another major production corridor, encompassing OMLs 15, 18, 23, 24, 25, and 55, with combined crude oil production that significantly exceeds 100,000 barrels per day, along with considerable associated gas output. The Soku Field (OML 23) in Akuku-Toru supplies approximately 176 million standard cubic feet of gas daily to the NLNG Plant.
Petroleum operations in Andoni Local Government Area are within the Otakikpo and Asaramatoru Marginal Fields and assets. The Otakikpo Terminal has a designed export capacity of 360,000 barrels per day and a storage capacity of 750,000. Abua/Odual Local Government Area hosts OML 22 and major pipeline networks.
Likewise, Ikwerre, Obio/Akpor, and Emohua Local Government Areas host critical oil and gas infrastructure, including the Agbada I and II Processing Facilities, the Rumuekpe Field, and the Emohua, Apara, and Elelenwo Fields, all of which support crude oil production, processing, and pipeline transportation.
In Oyigbo Local Government Area, oil production operations centre on Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17; crude and gas output from the block tie into regional networks, including connections to local power plants and export routes to the Bonny terminal.
Crude production and processing/export infrastructure is active in Bonny, Opobo-Nkoro, Ogu-Bolo, and Okrika local government areas, linked to major onshore and swamp assets of OML 11 and OML 18.
Etche and Omuma local government areas also contain multiple active oil wells associated with OML 17 and OML 11, with crude oil exploration dating back to 1958. Communities such as Umuechem and Odagwa, along with Umuoye and Egbeke, are said to host over 200 oil wells.
It would be a grave oversight not to mention the tragic story of Umuechem in 1990, the second place in Nigeria where crude oil was discovered in commercial quantities.
In October 1990, following a peaceful protest at oil production facilities by unarmed residents and youths over severe environmental degradation and neglect, despite hosting several oil assets, Armed Mobile Police Units raided the community, using tear gas and live ammunition indiscriminately. Houses and properties were destroyed with explosives, and over 100 people were reportedly killed, including the traditional ruler, His Royal Highness, Eze W. O. Ugwu, and members of his family. Decades later, the people of Umuechem still await justice for their sacrifices and losses.
Collectively, petroleum production operations in the aforementioned areas, among others, have kept Rivers State as one of Nigeria’s most strategically important oil- and gas-producing states, with crude oil output exceeding 340,000 barrels per day, contributing substantially to Nigeria’s hydrocarbon output, government revenue, natural gas utilisation, national development, and the nation’s overall energy security.
These communities have continued to bear the environmental, social, and economic costs of sustaining Nigeria’s petroleum industry over the years. As we write this article, Bille Communities in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, hosting key assets within the OML 18 and OML 24 operating corridors, like the Bille-1 (Krakama) and Awoba Fields, as well as extensive critical energy infrastructure, is facing severe environmental and public health issues stemming from uncontrolled natural gas seepage from the ground, rivers, and wells, causing severe environmental and water contamination.
Although the above overview is limited to Rivers State, it sufficiently illustrates the immense contributions of oil- and gas-producing communities and ethnic nationalities across the Niger Delta to the nation’s economy and energy security through continued oil and gas production. Meanwhile, production in Ogoniland has been suspended for more than thirty years, but they continue to receive excessive attention.
Many of these other communities in the Niger Delta rightly wonder why their efforts, goodwill, and detriments have not received similar national or institutional recognition.
This naturally further prompts difficult questions.
Does halting petroleum production now attract greater national recognition than sustaining? Should every oil-producing community in the Niger Delta adopt the “Ogoni approach” and shut down their oil wells?
These questions require careful national conversation.
Another critical issue in public discourse in Rivers State as the 2027 governorship election nears is the prospect of an Ogoni Governor.
While we agree that every qualified Rivers citizen has an inalienable constitutional right to aspire to the office of Governor of the State, it must be recognised that leadership also entails a moral duty to commit to the collective economic well-being of the State and its people.
It is therefore pertinent to ask whether a people who have denied the government access to oil resources within their territory for decades possess a compelling moral right to govern a State whose fiscal stability mainly relies on petroleum revenues.
A more provocative question is: if every oil-producing community in Rivers State were to halt oil production indefinitely, where would the resources to efficiently run the State come from? Wouldn’t the ramifications for public finance, infrastructure, education, healthcare, and overall development be severe?
It is obvious that the Ogoni struggle changed Nigeria’s environmental awareness and forced the nation to pay more attention to decades of ecological and environmental injustice. Nevertheless, every notable struggle eventually reaches a climacteric where resistance must give way to reconciliation, confrontation must evolve into sustained cooperation, and demand for rights must match obligations.
As harrowing as some past events have been, the indisputable reality is that after more than three decades of suspended crude oil production, Ogoniland cannot remain hostile and outside Nigeria’s oil economy while benefiting from the government’s petroleum revenues and simultaneously seeking to occupy the highest political office in Rivers State.
This is why the current efforts of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government to facilitate the safe and responsible resumption of oil production in Ogoniland, overseen by the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Presidential Committee on Ogoni Re-entry, require full cooperation and constructive engagement from all stakeholders, especially in Ogoniland.
The Ogoni struggle received full sympathy and solidarity from the rest of Rivers State, the Niger Delta region, Nigeria as a whole, and the international community. Whether that solidarity has received corresponding reciprocity and commitment to the broader economic interests of Rivers State remains a matter for another day.
But for now, it is time for the Ogonis to lead beyond the bravery of their historic struggle. History has honoured the courage of Ogoniland; the future will honour their wisdom and willingness to contribute once again to the economic prosperity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Rivers State, and Ogoniland itself. Only then can justice be truly balanced with development, and rights be consistent with responsibility.
God bless Rivers State.
God bless the Niger Delta.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Signed:
For: Rivers Progressives’ Network
Chief Dike Godknows
Hon. Raymond Opukiri
Email: riversprogressivesnetwork@gmail.com