President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday posthumously conferred the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) on four late Ogoni leaders—Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Theophilus Orage, and Samuel Orage—popularly remembered as the Ogoni Four.
The President announced the conferment while receiving the report of the Ogoni Consultations Committee at the State House, Abuja. He urged the Ogoni people to embrace reconciliation, unity, and progress after decades of division.
“May their memories continue to inspire unity, courage and purpose among us,” Tinubu said. “I urge the Ogoni people across classes, communities and generations to close ranks, put this dark chapter behind us and move forward as a united community with one voice.”
The meeting comes 16 months after Tinubu pledged to diligently pursue the Ogoni cleanup and expand empowerment programmes for the people. He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to environmental remediation, economic revival, and the return of oil exploration in Ogoniland.
“I am encouraged by the overwhelming consensus of the Ogoni communities to welcome the resumption of oil production. The government will deploy every resource to support your people in this march towards shared prosperity,” he assured.
Tinubu also directed the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to commence engagements between the Ogoni people, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and other stakeholders to finalise modalities for restarting operations. The Minister of Environment was further tasked with integrating environmental cleanup into the dialogue process.
Ribadu, who presented the report, confirmed that the consultations covered all four Ogoni zones and included traditional leaders, communities, and the diaspora. He pledged full implementation of the President’s directives to restore lasting peace in Ogoniland.
Chairman of the Dialogue Committee, Prof. Don Baridam, said the report reflected the collective will of the Ogoni people, highlighting their demands for structured participation in oil production, environmental cleanup, and sustainable development.
Oil exploration in Ogoniland ceased in 1993 after years of protests against environmental degradation, which led to violent repression and the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists by the Abacha regime in 1995.
