Tinubu Orders NSA to Lead Talks on Oil Resumption in Ogoniland

President Bola Tinubu has instructed the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, to commence immediate engagement with Ogoni communities, oil companies, and other stakeholders to restart oil production in Ogoniland, over 30 years after it was halted.

The directive came on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa during the presentation of the Ogoni Consultations Committee report. Tinubu urged the NSA to work closely with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), its joint venture partners, and local representatives to finalise operational terms and pave the way for renewed activities in the region.

Calling for reconciliation among the Ogoni people, the president appealed to community leaders and residents to set aside decades of distrust. He emphasised that a united front was necessary to heal past wounds and secure future development, adding that the federal government would fully support both environmental restoration and economic progress in the area.

In a symbolic gesture, Tinubu posthumously conferred national honours on four slain Ogoni leaders, Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Theophilus Orage, and Samuel Orage who were executed in the 1990s. Oil operations in Ogoniland have remained suspended since 1993 following years of unrest and environmental protests that reached a peak with the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others in 1995.