The Challenges of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) in Nigeria: From Environmental Movement to Movement for Self-Determination
Keywords:
Keywords: Environmental Movement, MOSOP, Niger-Delta, Political Opportunity Structure, Self-determinationAbstract
The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) is Nigeria’s most impactful environmental justice movement founded in 1990 to advocate for the indigenous Ogoni people’s economic, cultural, and environmental rights. Despite years of pressure, their demands have seen limited success, prompting a need to assess their strategies and obstacles. Thus, this article aims to examine the mobilisation strategies and the challenges or barriers hindering MOSOP’s success over the years. Through the lens of political opportunity structure theory, the article focuses on how political opportunities affected MOSOP’s mobilisation and outcome. Methodologically, qualitative content analysis of scholarly articles, speeches, and relevant documents was utilised. The findings indicated that the leadership crisis was a major obstacle, and MOSOP’s ethnic-based nature hindered its progress. Its shift towards more radical and violent strategies also proved to be another barrier to success. It also faced a major setback with the execution of its leader due to a shift in ideology and strategy. Despite previous successes, its violent approach was less effective than peaceful negotiation in achieving its goals. However, MOSOP deserves credit for its role in government interventions, such as the Niger Delta Clean-up programme and the UNEP environmental assessment report.
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