CONSOLIDATED OGONI YOUTH MOVEMENTS IN THE DIASPORA (COYID) C/O NATIONAL UNION OF OGONI STUDENTS (NUOS INT'L.) 1743 W. DEVON AVE. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60660, USA. 

TEL. / FAX: (773) 465-4788. 

E MAIL: nuos_intl@usa.com

April 8, 2001

As the Attorneys-General of the "Southern States" head to the Nigerian Supreme Court on Monday April 9, 2001 to defend their position of taking full control of their oil resources which has been extracted and misused by the Hausa-Fulani dominated Federal government for over forty years now, we the members of the Consolidated Ogoni Youths Movement in the Diaspora (COYID), comprising of representatives of the youths organs of MOSOP - National Union of Ogoni Students (NUOS Int'l. USA), National Youth Council of Ogoni People (NYCOP USA), and the Ogoni Students Union (OSU USA), express solidarity to the government and people of the Niger Delta for taking a stand to challenge the federal government at the apex court over the issue of resource control. This determination has clearly sent a signal to the federal government that the people of the Niger Delta have awaken from their slumber and cannot be cheated and taken for granted again. We strongly urge these brilliant and courageous attorneys to remain resolute and not be intimidated by the numerous SAN that would be representing the Federal Government and their Northern colleagues who have vowed take sides with the Federal Government.

COYID wish to alert the people of the Niger Delta and the entire Nigerian public that the dominance of the Nigerian Supreme Court by justices of the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy portends danger, hence the need to be extra vigilant. Another serious threat to the possibility of the Southern Attorneys-General winning the case is the fact that all draconian laws and decrees such as the Land Use Act, etc. which expropriates the right of the ownership of the land and its resources from the landowners to the Federal Government, are yet to be repealed and it is the provisions of these existing laws and decrees that the decision of the Supreme Court would be based. In this regard, we therefore call on the people of the Southern States to consider other options such as taking the issue of resource control to higher quarters such as the United Nations and the International Court of Justice. We also call on the masses to mobilize and declare all transnational oil companies operating in their areas, most especially Shell "persona non-grata", similar to the stand taken by the Ogonis in1993 which has liberated them today.

Finally, we wish to remind President Olusegun Obasanjo that it is only the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference represented by equal representatives of all ethnic groups in the Nigerian federation that can guarantee the desired peace and stability in the country. On this note, we call on President Obasanjo to immediately drop the idea of convening a national conference based on the existing six geo-political zones of the country, a zoning arrangement that further marginalizes the Ogoni and other ethnic minorities of the Niger Delta region.

Anslem D. John-Miller Chairman, Caretaker Committee

KorneBari Nwike Secretary, Caretaker Committee

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