President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, to begin immediate engagements with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Ogoni people, and other stakeholders to finalise modalities for the resumption of oil production in Ogoniland.
The directive followed the presentation of a report by the Presidential Committee on Ogoni Consultations, chaired by Professor Don Baridam, at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday. Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, led the Ogoni delegation to the ceremony.
Tinubu also conferred posthumous national honours on four fallen Ogoni leaders, Edward Kobani, Albert Bade, Samuel Orage, and Theophilus Orage — awarding them the title of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). In June, the President had similarly honoured Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists executed by the Sani Abacha regime.
The President praised the Baridam-led committee for guiding the process with wisdom and dedication, while assuring the Ogoni people that government recognises their decades-long suffering.
“We are not, as a government, taking lightly the years of pain endured in Ogoniland. Today, we declare with conviction that hope is here and is back with us,” he said.
Tinubu urged Ogoni leaders and communities to unite, embrace dialogue, and put the past behind them, stressing that reconciliation “is not an erasure of history but the commitment to write the next chapter together.” He pledged the deployment of necessary resources to safeguard the environment, reposition the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), and ensure community benefits.
Governor Fubara commended the President’s confidence-building measures, noting improvements on the East-West Road and the establishment of the Federal University of Environment and Technology.
Similarly, NSA Ribadu highlighted the constructive consultation process that helped stakeholders bridge divisions and commit to equitable, environmentally responsible oil production in Ogoniland.
Committee Chairman, Professor Baridam, expressed gratitude to Tinubu for his commitment, describing his approach as one that has restored hope and trust among the Ogoni people.
