President Bola Tinubu has directed the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to begin immediate engagements with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Ogoni leaders, and other stakeholders to finalise plans for the resumption of oil production in Ogoniland.
The directive followed the submission of a report by the Presidential Committee on Ogoni Consultations, chaired by Professor Don Baridam, at the State House, Abuja, on Wednesday.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State led the Ogoni delegation to the presentation.
At the event, President Tinubu also conferred posthumous national honours on four late Ogoni leaders-Chief Edward Kobani, Chief Albert Bade, Chief Samuel Orage, and Chief Theophilus Orage, recognising their sacrifices in the struggle for justice and environmental protection.
The award of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) adds to the honours he bestowed in June on Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other members of the Ogoni Nine executed under the Abacha regime.
Acknowledging the decades-long suffering of the Ogoni people, the President pledged that his administration would not ignore their plight.
“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 back with us,” he said.
He urged Ogoni communities to unite and embrace reconciliation, stressing that renewed oil operations would be anchored on fairness, equity, environmental protection, and community benefits.
“This reconciliation is not an erasure of history but the commitment to write the next chapter together,” he said, assuring that government would deploy resources to support development and prosperity in Ogoniland.
Speaking, Ribadu said the consultation process had been transparent, inclusive, and successful in building trust, citing progress on the East-West Road and the constitution of the governing council for the Federal University of Environment and Technology as confidence-building steps.
He explained that stakeholders had agreed on the responsible resumption of oil production and called for a repositioning of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to align with ongoing dialogue.
Committee chairman, Professor Baridam, praised Tinubu’s commitment to dialogue and lauded the recognition given to fallen Ogoni heroes. Governor Fubara, in his remarks, described the government’s confidence-building measures as positive signals of renewed trust and progress.