The people of Ogoniland have commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the ongoing dialogue between the Federal Government, the oil company and Ogoni leaders.

The ex-President of Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People MOSOP Comrade Legbosi Saro Pyagbara, gave the commendation yesterday in Port Harcourt, during an interview with New National Star newspaper.

“Actually, we are seeing some level of commitment on the part of the president. We did not strive for him, rather he is the one that invited Ogoni leaders for a meeting in Abuja. It is the government’s renewed attempt to find a way out, in addressing the issue,” ex- MOSOP leader noted.

On their perception of the government’s efforts in that direction, he noted, the people received the development with cautious optimism.

“In that meeting, he indicated interest in resolving this matter, and further mandated the committee, (i.e. the Ogoni group) to go on and meet the people, so that we can come together and agree, on the what the government needs to do, to restore confidence of Ogoni people, in democratic Nigeria, and to also restore oil production in the area.

He said, they are not seeing it, just as the government’s move for oil exploration, but rather an attempt by the government to address the long-standing issues between the oil company, the Federal Government and the Ogonis.

“So, in essence, it’s more about looking at how to deal with the issues of injustice, non-development, human rights abuses among others, in Ogoniland for a long period, which led to closure of oil production,” he explained.

Pyagbara, who is also the Executive Director, African Indigenous Foundation (AIF), for Energy and Sustainable Development (ESD), observed accordingly.

“For us, it’s not just a look at one area. We are taking cognisance of the history of what the people had gone through, particularly with the deaths of Ogoni ‘four,’ Ogoni ‘nine’ and over 2000 souls lost in the what l call the Ogoni crisis,” he said.

He affirmed that on the Ogoni side, based on the president’s directive, they went round the Ogoni area to meet the people, hear from them and see how they could harvest their views, to form the resolution to present to the president.

In his words, the committee the president called to Abuja, for the dialogue, in January this year, cut across various sections of Ogoni leadership.

“That automatically became the dialogue committee and the committee was then charged with the responsibility to go round to harvest views and opinions and of course the way forward, that has been done, and the report of the exercise, is what we submitted to the president last week, for further action,” he summed up.