President Bola Tinubu has posthumously awarded the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) to Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Theophilus Orage and Samuel Orage, collectively remembered as the Ogoni Four.
The announcement was made on Wednesday during a meeting with the Ogoni Consultations Committee at the State House, Abuja.
The four men were killed and burnt in 1994, a tragedy that became the basis for the trial of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others—later executed by the military regime of General Sani Abacha in 1995.
“May their memories continue to inspire unity, courage and purpose among us,” Tinubu said, as he called on the Ogoni people to reconcile after decades of division and conflict.
He assured the communities of his administration’s commitment to peace, environmental remediation and economic revival in the region, while expressing optimism about the resumption of oil exploration in Ogoniland.
“I am encouraged by the overwhelming consensus of the Ogoni communities to welcome the resumption of oil production,” the president said. “The government will deploy every resource to support your people in this march towards shared prosperity.”
Tinubu directed the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to begin immediate engagement between the Ogoni people, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), joint venture partners, and other stakeholders to finalise modalities for restarting operations.
He further instructed the minister of environment to integrate environmental cleanup and recovery into the dialogue process.
“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,” Tinubu added.
Presenting the report of the Ogoni Consultations Committee, Ribadu described the exercise as a “transformational process” aimed at restoring hope and trust after years of neglect. The report captured community demands for active participation in oil production, environmental cleanup and sustainable development.
Don Baridam, chairman of the dialogue committee, affirmed that the recommendations reflect “the collective will of the Ogoni people.”
The latest honour comes just three months after Tinubu, on Democracy Day, granted state pardons and national awards to Saro-Wiwa and the other members of the Ogoni Nine, nearly three decades after their execution.