A renowned and respected Ogoni leader is about to smear his reputation and expose himself in a bid to pull down the rising reputation of Chief Lesi Maol, whose passion for developing the capacity of Ogoni youths for self-sustainability has now become his undoing, out of envy and jealousy.
This leader, whose name will be published in my next publication if he refuses to toe the path of honour, has been cornering and feasting on government opportunities and largesse meant for the development of Ogoni over the years, appointing and employing only his relatives and cronies into juicy positions at the detriment of other Ogoni youths, unchallenged or confronted out of respect.
I am aware of his clandestine deals, in which he allegedly rakes in billions without impacting any of it on the youths. Rather, he is using the funds to sponsor a campaign of calumny against any rising Ogoni son on the verge of gaining prominence.
Today, his focus is on the towering reputation of the KAGOTE President, Chief Lesi Maol.
Though he, like an ostrich, claims not to be a politician, he lives a flamboyant lifestyle, albeit quietly, so as not to attract public attention.
He has always positioned himself as the prominent figure and the only channel through which every economic accrual, resource and opportunity meant for the development of Ogoni people comes through him only under every government.
For the same reason he pitches Ogonis against elected and appointed sons in government at every opportunity, frustrating their efforts to exercise effective leadership through blackmails and smear campaigns. Many still suffer stigma from those smear campaigns till today.
For several years now, he has been receiving ₦50 million monthly as proceeds from a pipeline surveillance contract on the TNP( Trans Niger Delta Pipeline) through his proxies, who are reportedly not even from Ogoni. He is also receiving five percent (5%) of a negotiated sum with a certain company he is fronting for oil exploration in Ogoniland.
He is yet to explain to the Ogoni people what happened to the 40 employment opportunities ceded to our young graduates by the NNPC during the oil exploration negotiations through the Ogoni Dialogue Committee (ODC), which he facilitated, and of which his own daughter is a beneficiary and number one on the list.
Further investigation revealed that about 18 persons on the list are not indigenes of Ogoni, despite the NNPC employment opportunity being meant solely for Ogoni people.
He solely nominated Uebari Topba (Gani Topba) into the Ogoni Dialogue Committee (ODC) so as to take advantage of his inability to read and write, using him to attack other Ogoni leaders rather than encouraging him to take advantage of adult/non-formal education to educate himself and improve his capacity.
This same Ogoni leader uses proceeds from his deals to lodge in five-star hotels, including the Hilton Hotel in Abuja, and flies business class on international flights without anybody knowing the source of his income.
We are also aware that he is about completing his multi-billion-naira mansion in Old GRA, apart from the massive renovation currently ongoing on his country home, reportedly being carried out by the same contractor handling the construction of one of the health centres sponsored by the NNPC. Could this be a coincidence or an act of God?
This is the singular reason why he is not saying anything about the oil exploration currently going on in parts of Ogoniland.
In due course, Ogoni people will rise up to ask some more pertinent questions about the sources of the money he is using to do all these things, since, according to the facts, he is not helping anyone outside his relatives.
The big question on the lips of Ogoni people is: Why is he using Gani Topba to insult Chief Lesi Maol, who has decided to redeem Ogoni youths from poverty with his hard-earned money, not obtained from Federal or State allocations or government contracts?
Ordinarily, Ogoni had expected this leader to be a bridge for peace among Ogoni youths, but he has rather chosen to become an Ogoni leader who is, as the saying goes, “dancing naked at the marketplace.”
I am equally ready to further undress him with more shocking facts and revelations if he does not stop these anti-Ogoni people antics.
We have credible evidence of his interface and phone calls with some Ogoni youths who tried to caution Uebari Topba (alias Gani Topba), questioning their interest in the matter and advising them to allow Lesi and Gani to “fight.”
The question now is: What does he stand to gain from all the attacks by Gani Topba on Lesi and KAGOTE?
It is very laughable that Chief Lesi Maol is being accused of sabotaging oil resumption in Ogoniland.
If Gani Topba and his paymaster knew the millions of naira Chief Lesi Maol had invested in training and positioning Ogoni youths in various oil and gas-related skills in preparation for the said oil resumption, they would bow their heads in shame.
In the area of entrepreneurship, Lesi Maol has also provided ₦200 million in grants for Ogoni youths who want to do business.
There is also his sponsorship of Science Quiz Competitions in secondary schools across Ogoniland to encourage young Ogoni students to study science-related courses, which are basic requirements in the oil and gas sector.
It is worthy of mention that dozens of Ogoni students are today enjoying Lesi Maol’s scholarships, among several other uncountable positive gestures towards Ogoni youths.
I want to use this medium to inform this leader that, in due time, Ogoni youths will demand the publication of the list of contractors handling various ongoing NNPC projects in Ogoniland, including their scopes of work and costs.
I will also urge Ogoni people to demand details of the bidding and selection processes, including the owners of the companies involved.
This is because if the “goodwill projects” given to the entire Ogoni people by the NNPC to soften the grounds for oil resumption are handled with such a level of secrecy, what is the guarantee that Ogoni youths will be carried along when full-scale oil production starts?
Oil exploration is already going on in parts of Ogoni, yet this leader and his boy, Gani, are pretending not to know and are misleading Ogoni people into believing that dialogue and negotiations are still ongoing.
Ogoni youths will rise up to stop any leader who continues to perpetrate the old-fashioned tendency of greedy leadership.
No such leader will be allowed to continue using the name of Ogoni to enrich himself and his family alone.
We will stop at nothing to expose them, including making public how a book written by Ken Saro-Wiwa was published by this leader without making any reference to Ken.
We will expose these and many other issues in the coming days to unmask the real enemies of the Ogoni people and the youths who do not want the unity of Ogoni youths or any other organised leadership structure to exist in Ogoni.
At this juncture, I passionately appeal to this leader to immediately desist from anything that could bring us back to the dark days of needless bloodshed in Ogoniland.
He should allow the existing peace being enjoyed in Ogoni to continue by allowing Ogoni people to breathe.
A word, they say, is enough for the wise!
Teeh Harvest Deesi Sunday,
Kereken, Ogoni
