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President Bola Tinubu has posthumously conferred the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) on four slain Ogoni leaders—Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Theophilus Orage, and Samuel Orage, popularly remembered as the “Ogoni Four.”
The conferment took place on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, during the presentation of the Ogoni Consultation Committee report.
Calling for reconciliation after decades of division, Tinubu urged the people of Ogoniland to unite and heal.
“May their memories continue to inspire unity, courage, and purpose among us. 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 President said.
He assured stakeholders of his administration’s commitment to peace, environmental recovery, and economic revival in Ogoniland, while pledging to facilitate the return of oil production to the area.
“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,” Tinubu stated.
The President recalled that in 2022, the previous administration handed over operatorship of the Ogoni oil field to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its partners, adding that his government would build on that decision. He directed the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, to begin immediate engagement with Ogoni stakeholders, NNPCL, and relevant partners to finalise modalities for restarting operations.
Oil production in Ogoniland has been suspended since 1993 following protests against environmental degradation, culminating in the 1995 execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists.
“A dead asset is not valuable to the community, the country, or the people. The longer we procrastinate, the worse it is for everyone,” Tinubu warned, while instructing the Minister of Environment to integrate pollution cleanup and recovery into the wider dialogue process.
He closed his remarks with a call for transformation:
“Let us together turn pain into purpose, conflict into cooperation, and transform the wealth beneath Ogoni soil into a blessing for the people and for Nigeria.”
Committee Report
Presenting the report, NSA Nuhu Ribadu said the exercise engaged all four Ogoni zones, incorporating perspectives from local communities, traditional rulers, and the diaspora. He stressed that the consultations were about restoring trust as much as producing a document.
According to Ribadu, stakeholders resolved that the report should serve as a blueprint for implementation, recommending an inter-agency task force involving NNPCL, relevant ministries, and the Ogoni Dialogue Committee to drive execution.
Committee Chairman, Professor Don Baridam, explained that the process carried all stakeholders along and reflected the collective will of the Ogoni people.
He said the report captured key demands, including structured participation in oil production, renewed environmental cleanup, and a framework for sustainable development.
