The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, received the news of the untimely passing of an Ogoni Star, Comrade Patrick Naagbanton, on Saturday, September 21, 2019, with shock and grave pain.
We lack words to express our pains and the dark clouds that the sudden death of a gallant, courageous, steadfast, uncompromisingly diligent and unswayed advocate of justice for Ogoni and all suppressed peoples and minorities of the world, has brought over the entire Ogoni.
Comrade Naagbanton was a Dynamo, an unrepentant ‘fighter’ and frontline advocate for a better life, clean and sustainable environment for our people; a struggle he committed his resources, time and life into, and for which he never withdrew or compromised.
This death is too heavy, costly and extensively traumatizing on our people, and the challenge of moving on without compatriots like Naagbanton is what the Movement and the civil society have to contend with henceforth.
“In his days as a student activist with whom I shared common identity as Ogoni underground warriors, when the Movement was driven underground in the heydays of the Ogoni struggle, he had always been a pillar and dependable ally, a great resource and always available for tasks, even when he had to brave the odds,” MOSOP President, Comrade Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, reminisced.
We would miss him greatly, but we assure that the struggle for justice and equity, which he championed, will never be abandoned.
MOSOP will, in collaboration with other civil society organizations, not renege on the ideals Comrade Naagbanton stood for, but we would initiate a memorial programme in his honour.
We condole with the immediate family and pray God for the repose of the soul of a great Patriot, Comrade Patrick Naagbanton.
_He who lives in our hearts never dies!
Signed:
Sunny Zorvah
Publicity Secretary, MOSOP.
Wednesday, September 25, 2019.
