No Oil Exploration In Our  Land, Until Past Issues Are Resolved – Ogoni Women 

By Suleiman Anyalewechi.

Ogoni women, on  Wednesday, February 26, 2025, warned the Federal Government and Multinational companies  against any plans to  resume crude oil explorations in the area without first resolving teething issues .

They have, therefore, expressed readiness to go naked on the streets of major towns and cities in Rivers State to press home their demands .

The women, under the aegis of “Ogoni ,Women Coalition for Sustainable Environment, OWCSE, in a statement, insisted that certain grey areas have to be straightened before the resumption of oil extraction in the area.

The Source reports that the Federal Government recently commenced moves to resume oil exploration activities in Ogoniland after many years of break owing to restiveness from the communities 

But making its intentions known, the people of the area have continued to oppose the idea on the grounds that the conditions that precipitated the halting of oil extraction remain unresolved.

In the statement jointly issued by over 10 groups, Spokesperson, Dr Patience Osaroejiji, noted that oil explorations in Ogoni will only resume  after the resolution of some fundamental issues that led to the suspension of oil explorations in the 1990s .

The women expressed serious concerns over the decision by the authorities to re-commence activities without first taking practical steps to amicably resolve existing areas of disagreements.

They described the posture of the authorities as highly insensitive, and disrespectful to the plights of the Ogoni people in the face of the well known environmental hazards caused by past activities.

However, the women warned that they are ready to hit the streets of Rivers state nude should the authorities turn deaf ears to their demands.

“If the Government disregards our position and goes ahead with oil exploration, we, the women of Ogoni, will come out en masse and protest naked until the world hears us.

“It is disconcerting that in the rush to resume oil extraction, concerns in the Ogoni Bill of Rights remain unaddressed.

Families who lost loved ones, livelihoods and properties, due to repression have not received justice”, the women stated. 

Dr Osaroejiji decried the poor level of Government’s engagement with all relevant stakeholders in the countdown to the resumption of oil exploration activities in the area .

Particularly, she lamented the deliberate exclusion of women from the ongoing consultations among stakeholders.

According to her, Ogoni women, having endured neglect and disrespect over the years in matters concerning  their land,  especially environmental issues, have resolved to resist further mistreatment .

The women, therefore, called on the authorities to, as a matter of urgency, revisit some of the contentious issues such as the UNEP-brokered framework for the cleaning up of decades long oil pollution in Ogoni land.

The Women coalition, among other things demanded the prioritization of the implementation of all existing blueprints for the restoration of the environmental integrity of Ogoni land.

They, also, sued for the deployment of modern and eco-friendly equipment by oil exploration  companies so as to avoid  a repeat of the activities that brought about the massive environmental degradation in the area.

In the same vein, the women insisted on justice for all victims of past  repressive activities  as a necessary precondition for the resumption of any further oil extraction .