Tinubu directs Ribadu to engage Ogoni communities, NNPC on resumption of oil operations

President Bola Tinubu has directed Nuhu Ribadu, national security adviser (NSA), to begin engagement with Ogoni communities, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, and other stakeholders to finalise the restart of oil production in the region.

The directive followed the president’s posthumous conferment of the national honours of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) on Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Theophilus Orage and Samuel Orage, collectively known as the ‘Ogoni Four’.

The four men were killed and burnt in 1994, and their deaths became the basis for the trial of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others, known as the ‘Ogoni Nine,’ who were found guilty by the military regime of Sani Abacha and executed the following year.

Speaking at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday while receiving the report of the Ogoni consultations committee, Tinubu said dialogue and reconciliation remain critical to achieving peace, justice, and development in Ogoniland.

“I am directing the NSA to immediately begin engagement with the Ogoni people, NNPCL, its joint venture partners, and all relevant stakeholders with a view to finalising modalities to begin operation,” he said.

The president called on the Ogoni people to close ranks and embrace unity.

“I urge the Ogoni people across classes, communities and generations to put this dark chapter behind us and move forward as a united community with a single voice,” Tinubu said.

‘OIL PRODUCTION TO RESUME UNDER EQUITABLE TERMS’ 

The president pledged his administration’s support for peace, environmental cleanup, and economic revival in the region.

‎“I am encouraged by the overwhelming consensus of Ogoni communities to welcome resumption of oil production under the equitable terms,” Tinubu said.

“The government will deploy every resource to support your people in this march toward shared prosperity.”

He recalled that the previous administration handed operations of the Ogoni oil fields to NNPC and its joint venture partners, and said his government would build on that decision.

Tinubu also directed the minister of environment to integrate pollution remediation into ongoing dialogue with the Ogoni people.

While speaking with State House correspondents after the event, Ribadu said the consultations engaged all four Ogoni zones and the diaspora, focusing on structured participation, accelerated cleanup, and sustainable development.

“Peace is being restored already, and Nigerians will soon see the benefits, not just in Ogoniland but across the Niger Delta and beyond,” Ribadu said.

Don Baridam, chairman of the dialogue committee, said the report reflected the collective will of the Ogoni people, urging the creation of an inter-agency task force to implement its recommendations.

Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, praised the president’s confidence-building measures, citing progress on the East-West Road and the establishment of the Federal University of Environment and Technology in the state.