3. Lessons from the Struggle
What lessons could be learned from this movement which gained international attention in the Africa of the1990s? The success of the internationalization of MOSOP’s advocacy for eco-justice could be attributed to three factors among many:
(1) It had an effective leadership and grassroots support: The leadership of MOSOP was well organized, rooted in local processes and social networks, and had a coherent narrative and praxis for realizing the goals of their movement and the yearnings of the ethnic group.
(2) The Ogoni recognized early enough in the life of their campaign the impact of the local-global nexus for maintaining pressure on the Nigerian state. MOSOP had a message clearly presented in the Ogoni Bill of Rights which was well circulated internationally. The Bill of Rights was presented to the United Nations sub-committee of Human Rights on the Prevention of Discrimination Against and Protection of Minorities; to the African Human Rights Commission, and to several organizations in Europe
(3) Environmental concerns are global concerns. The Ogonis were the first indigenous people in Africa to articulate clearly the connection between the devastation of their lands by oil exploration and the global effects of climate change. They argued that environmental pollution, ocean salination, gas emission, gas flaring, and oil spillage in the Delta have great consequences for the entire world and not simply for Ogoniland because they all contribute to Global climate change.
4. The Place of Theology in the Sites of Suffering of African Indigenous Peoples
As we noted earlier, African theologies have largely ignored the plight and fight of the indigenous peoples of Africa. African theologies and theologies of solidarity in World Christianity should emerge from sites of suffering in places like the Niger Delta. The cries of the indigenous peoples of Africa in the face of displacement, exilic and migratory existence, and exploitation by state and international actors should be seen by African theologians as the new sites where God is revealing Godself in African history. African theologies must accompany African indigenous peoples in their search for new forms of community-based resource management (CBRM) using the wisdom of indigenous communities. This was the import of Pope Francis’ speech to authorities and diplomatic corps in Nairobi, Kenya (2015) when he noted that respect for the natural environment and affirmation of the beauty of creation are “values that are deeply rooted in the African soul” because they are grounded in the wisdom of diverse African communities.[9]
[9] Messages of Pope Francis During His Apostolic Journey to Africa. Nairobi, Paulines Publications Africa, 2015, 7.
In Laudato Si, Pope Francis writes of the values and wisdom of indigenous knowledge and cultural ecological knowledge in developing ecological ethics which could make a difference in the world. They “instill a greater sense of responsibility, a strong sense of community, a readiness to protect others, a spirit of creativity and a deep love for the land. They are also concerned about what they will eventually leave to their children and grandchildren” (LS 143-146).
Theology can learn from the struggle of the Ogoni about the force and impact of an indigenous plausibility structure and worldview in developing contextual theologies and praxis for reversing an unjust situation. The leadership of the Ogoni people tapped into these in successfully mobilising the people to resist the state and international oil companies like Shell and Chevron. They did this through appeal to African traditional narratives and myths of creation and stewardship that they used in reinterpreting the biblical creation myths. These spoke not only to the people’s cultural values, but had a strong impact in sensitizing them to the environmental threats which they faced. Furthermore, they used the story of the flight of Israel from Egypt as a liberation motif in linking their suffering and the suffering of the earth in Ogoniland as a form of slavery from which God wishes to deliver them through their collective resistance. Their cause was also framed into ecological prayers at religious worships in both the Christian traditions and African Tradition religions. Finally, the centrality of healing in African religious consciousness was reflected in the advocacy of the Ogoni people. Oil exploitation was framed as the harbinger of death to the spirit of the ancestors; the source of death to the earth which nourishes the lives of the living; and the conveyor of future death for the not-yet-born. The fight for indigenous right to land, religion, self-determination, a natural environment liberated from oil-exploitation is thus properly speaking a fight for abundant life. In African tradition, abundant life is the goal of life for all creation—seas, hills, animals, human beings, the living, the dead, etc. Healing the earth is also associated with healing human beings and the spirit of the dead. Thus, the fight of the Ogoni indigenous people is, properly speaking, a fight for abundant life. This can only be brought about when the integrity of the earth is respected and when the earth and her peoples and natural environment are healthy because they live in a just and harmonious relationship of respect, care and mutuality which alone can bring about human and cosmic flourishing.
Author
Stan Chu Ilo is a Research Professor at the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology, DePaul University, Chicago, USA. He is the editor of African Christian Studies Series for Pickwick Publications, Wipf and Stock Publishers. He is a visiting faculty at the Institute of Social Ministry and Mission, Tangaza University College, Nairobi, Kenya. He is the author of The Church and Development in Africa: Aid and Development from the Perspective of Catholic Social Ethics (2014) and the editor of the forthcoming book, Searching for Abundant Life: Christianity, Money and Africa’s March Towards Modernity.