The Lekeh Development Foundation has urged farmers in Ogoniland to persist with their agricultural endeavours, emphasising that their contributions are essential for maintaining food security in a region that has been significantly impacted by environmental pollution.
Executive Director Friday Nbani made the call during the 2026 Ogoni Day commemoration in Bori, Khana Local Government Area.
Addressing farmers from various local government areas, he described the event as “a sacred day of remembrance and resilience,” adding that the Ogoni people stand “not as victims of the past but as architects of the future.”
“We have seen our young people reclaim their futures through skills training and entrepreneurship, we have witnessed our farmers cultivate hope from contaminated soil through sustainable agriculture programs, and we have watched our communities organise, mobilise, and demand accountability from those who profit from our resources while leaving us with pollution and poverty.
“The work of Lekeh Development Foundation is the work of Ogoni survival and revival. Every scholarship we award is a seed of leadership, every environmental cleanup we support is a reclamation of our birthright, every health initiative we implement is a declaration that Ogoni lives matter.”
He added, “Together, through organisations like ours and through the indomitable spirit of our people, we are not just surviving. We are building an Ogoniland where development means dignity, where progress means protection of our environment.”
Highlighting agricultural initiatives, Nbani said, “Through collaborative farming, organic methods, and the sharing of indigenous knowledge, no oil company can destroy our land. We are teaching our youth that there is dignity in agriculture, that food security is freedom, and that the hands that feed our communities are the hands that will heal our land.”
Acknowledging ongoing challenges, he said, “Yes, the challenges are enormous — contaminated water sources, degraded soil, lack of government support, and the constant threat of further environmental destruction — but when I see the Ogoni farmers network producing abundant harvests, when I watch young people returning to agriculture with new techniques and old wisdom, when I taste vegetables grown in soil we have rehabilitated ourselves, I know that our struggle is bearing fruit.”
He urged farmers to remain resilient: “Hold your hoes as high as any protest sign. Recognise that every meal we produce from this land is a victory.”
Thisday