New Telegraph

Nigeria lost $178bn in Ogoni since Shell’s exit –MOSOP

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) yesterday said the country has lost at least $178,850,000,000 since 1993 when Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. (SPDC) exited the Ogoni oil fields. The president of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke, who stated this in an online message to a congress of MOSOP in Bera, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, blamed Nigeria’smismanagementof the crisis for the huge financial losses.

He said that based on information from experts in the oil industry, the oil production capacity of Ogoni stood at 350, 000 barrels a day before the exit of Shell from Ogoni in 1993, adding that with improvements in production, the number of barrels would have been increased. Nsuke noted that the figure, which is an estimated sum of N72 trillion, represents oil revenue alone, noting that the revenue losses from gas is inestimable due to non-availability of statistical evidence. He also pointed out that the Ogoni gas potentials and revenue generation capacity far exceeds that of its oil.

He said: “Based on available evidence from the oil industry, Ogoni’s oil production capacity stood at 350, 000 barrels a day before the exit of Shell from Ogoni in 1993. “At an estimated average of $50 for a barrel, Nigeria has lost an estimated $178,850,000,000 for its mismanagement of the Ogoni crisis.” The MOSOP President, who decried the revenue loss, claimed that the Federal Government decided to adopt a repressive approach by allegedly killing, maiming and torturing genuine stakeholders working towards resolutions of the crisis and Ogoni development rather than listen and engage with them.

He said: “In response, Nigeria deployed its military into Ogoni leading to the death of an estimated 4,000 people especially civil rights campaigners who were members of MOSOP and the eventual execution of nine leaders of MOSOP in November 1995.”

The MOSOP President held that the repressive approach and divide and conquer tactics of the oil industry only worsened the relationship between the government and the people and prolonged the conflicts. He, however, said that the Ogoni people have demonstrated their readiness to resolve its disagreement with the Federal Government with the proposal for the implementation of an Ogoni Development Authority developed by MOSOP. He stressed that the implementation of an Ogoni Development Authority to pave the way for a peaceful resolution of the conflicts, adding that the continual delay by relevant government agencies to accept the Ogoni demands does not only amount to economic sabotage, but also a threat to the security of the country

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