Northern elders have pointedly said President Goodluck Jonathan will not be re-elected in 2015.

They, therefore, said a segment of the Niger Delta people, particularly erstwhile militant leader, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, who said there would be war in Nigeria if their kinsman, Jonathan, is not re-elected, may start their action now.

According to them, the Jonathan sympathisers do not need to wait until their kinsman is defeated in 2015 to act.
The northern elders, under the aegis of Northern Elders Forum (NEF), hinged their opposition to the president’s re-election on non-performance. They added that Jonathan was not entitled to the office of president in the first place.

Prof. Ango Abdullahi, their spokesman, conveyed their position in an interview with Sunday Vanguard.

Abdullahi, a former Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, pointed out that the North was dissatisfied with Jonathan’s presidency.

“We in the North are not going to support Jonathan in 2015 because he has done nothing for this country since he became president,” the NEF spokesperson declared.

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North

Northern elders have pointedly said President Goodluck Jonathan will not be re-elected in 2015.

They, therefore, said a segment of the Niger Delta people, particularly erstwhile militant leader, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, who said there would be war in Nigeria if their kinsman, Jonathan, is not re-elected, may start their action now.

According to them, the Jonathan sympathisers do not need to wait until their kinsman is defeated in 2015 to act.
The northern elders, under the aegis of Northern Elders Forum (NEF), hinged their opposition to the president’s re-election on non-performance. They added that Jonathan was not entitled to the office of president in the first place.

Prof. Ango Abdullahi, their spokesman, conveyed their position in an interview with Sunday Vanguard.

Abdullahi, a former Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, pointed out that the North was dissatisfied with Jonathan’s presidency.

“We in the North are not going to support Jonathan in 2015 because he has done nothing for this country since he became president,” the NEF spokesperson declared.

*Ango Abdullahi
“In fact, things in this country are worse than they have ever been. So far, in terms of the performance of this president, I don’t see how he can stand and win an election if you judge him in terms of the social, economic and political indices in the Nigerian environment where we are now. Things have gone from bad to worse since his coming.

“In the first place, he should not be sitting as the president of Nigeria going by the zoning formula of his party, the PDP. The president should have come from the North based on the zoning policy of the PDP.

“Under the PDP zoning policy, the North allowed the South to produce the president for eight years, which Obasanjo took and, by their own signature, including Jonathan himself, when he was the Deputy Governor, on behalf of his governor, that the North will then run for eight years and we agreed. Umaru Yar’Ádua started by died after two and a half years.”

Abdullahi continued: “Of course, the constitution allows that his vice should serve out the remaining term of the joint ticket and we did not complain. Commonsense should have dictated to Jonathan that he should be honourable enough to respect the zoning agreement which he was a party to.

“He should have been gentlemanly enough to say to his party, ‘look, I’m not qualified to put up myself for election beyond 2011 and that a northerner should run for the post as agreed. He did not do so, but came out to say that he did not know about the zoning.
“So, how do you deal with this kind of a person who cannot honour a simple gentleman agreement? So, from all these perspectives, I don’t see how one can support the president or his ability to be able to lead this country.”

On the threat by ex-militant leaders to cause violence if Jonathan was not returned in 2015, the NEF spokesperson challenged them to start the war now and stop waiting until their kinsman was voted out.

The renowned agriculturist made it clear that the North was not afraid of the threat as no tribe, group of groups of individual had the monopoly of causing mayhem.
Abdullahi said, “The choice to resort to violence or not is that of the militants. The choice for peace or no peace is that of all Nigerians. No individual or group of individuals has monopoly for peace or lack of it.

“My reaction is that but for the fact that I am aware that (Alhaji) Dokubo (ex-N-Delta militant leader) is a spokesperson for the corridors of powers, I would have ignored him. But my reaction now is directed to their leaders, elders, including the president, that if it is their feeling that this is the way things should go, I am saying, on behalf of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, that they should start the crisis now because I’m putting them on notice that Jonathan will not be president in 2015. So they can start now and we in the North are waiting.”

The NEF spokesperson boasted that the North was capable of presenting a common candidate, who would be able to defeat Jonathan in a free and fair election in 2015.

He said, “Look, what I want to see is democracy in practice so that as many candidates who want to contest the next presidential election, including Jonathan himself, can do so freely, without being witch-hunted or harassed by anyone.

“In fact, I would prefer that Jonathan should contest and I can assure you that he would lose. And as far as the North is concerned, there are many credible and qualified candidates and, once a free and fair election is guaranteed, the people would choose who they want to be their president come 2015.”

Former militant leader, Asari Dokubo, last week, warned of dire consequences if Jonathan was not re-elected in 2015.

Although the House of Representatives has raised a panel to investigate him for making provocative statement, Dokubo and other Niger Delta groups have dared the lawmakers to arrest him.

-Vanguard

The ex-militant leaders, who issued the warning while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt on Sunday, expressed sadness over an alleged plot to scheme Jonathan out of the 2015 race for the Presidency.

The former militants, who gathered under the auspices of the Niger Delta Ex-agitators Forum and the Association for Non-violence in Niger Delta, said they would see the outcome of the election as an act of God if Jonathan genuinely loses out in 2015.

NDEF President, Mr. Amaibi Ombi, cautioned that it was better to allow for a free and fair election than to manipulate the process in order to scheme out Jonathan.

On the recent comments credited to the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, and Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, Ombi insisted that such statements could not be a threat to Nigeria as a country.

Dokubo-Asari had warned that Nigeria would be history if he was arrested for threatening violence in the whole country if Jonathan was not allowed to run a two-term tenure as President.

But Ombi described Dokubo-Asari’s stataement as no threat, but a statement to canvass the need for the President’s critics to allow him (Jonathan) run for two tenures in office.

“We will go back to the creeks if the 2015 presidential election is manipulated to scheme out President Goodluck Jonathan. But if the election is not manipulated, and Jonathan loses out, we would see it as the handiwork of God,” Ombi stressed.

The former militant leader claimed that some politicians, especially those from the North, were using Boko Haram to intimidate Jonathan out of the 2015 presidential election.

“They have been sending Boko Haram to harass and intimidate President Jonathan so that he will withdraw from the 2015 presidential race. Asari’s comment was not a threat; he (Dokubo-Asari) just wanted Nigerians to know that there is a need for Jonathan to go for two tenures,” the ex-fighter emphasised.

In his remark, ANND President, Mr. Kenneth West, cautioned Kuku and Dokubo-Asari against making inflamatory statements but warned against any move to arrest them over their comments on the 2015 general election.

West said some well-known political leaders in the northern part of the country had made similar comments in the past without anybody suggesting that they should be arrested.

He alleged that the corruption began in the North and wondered why nobody raised any dust on corruption when the northerners were in control of government.

“Asari only warned that in 2015, if Jonathan is not elected President, Nigeria will not be one. He was only warning; he was not threatening. If we are talking about corruption, it started from the North,” he said.

-Punch

If the President extends presidential pardon to Boko Haram, that’s fine. But it must be done properly and in an inclusive manner. It must be the type of amnesty that is extended to other individuals. (I had alluded to this in the second part of this series). For instance, Henry Okah and Charles Okah are accused of masterminding the death of 12 innocent citizens – with Henry sentenced to 24 years imprisonment by a South African court.

Now, assuming Henry Okah is guilty of the crimes he was convicted of, why can’t he be pardoned for 12-lives, when Boko Haram is likely to be pardoned for more than 3,000 lives and untold number of injuries and property destruction? This must be an all-inclusive presidential pardon. Forgiveness for all!

Because President Jonathan has established a committee to look into the possibility of a presidential pardon, I will not, here and now, provide a roadmap. Only a hint! And so assuming the committee does not recommend a presidential pardon, or if President Jonathan does not sign off on its recommendations – or, in the likely event that Boko Haram refuses it – then, the President must be bold and purposeful on how he handles the matter. He must let loose the law and the full weight of his government on the group.

How did the United States of America deal with the Mafia (Cosa Nostra) beginning in the late 19th Century? And how is she dealing with domestic and international terrorists and criminal enterprises, today? What we have on our hands is not unsolvable, but it will get complicated and more problematic with the passage of time if not properly attended to. So, pardon or destroy! There can be no middle ground. There is no middle ground.

If Boko Haram accepts the pardon, then, the government, civil society, and other institutions must rally around the President to see that the amnesty programme succeeds. I have said this before, and will say it again: I will support whatever decision the President makes. I am a big believer in law and order; and I am also a big believer in doing what’s right for the good of the country. I am all for a new beginning. I am all for forgiveness and redemption. In the end, we must not forget that we have a country to take care of.

One of the sad ironies of this matter is that Boko Haram is really not that different from the Nigerian government. For decades now, government, at both the state and federal levels, has been killing the defenceless; putting fear in the minds of the people; dehumanising the underclass and the unfortunate; and killing people’s dreams and aspirations. To say that the Nigerian government has been terrorising its people is an understatement. It is! Who in Nigeria does not know how the security and intelligence services frame the innocent, and then collude with the courts to send the innocent to several years of imprisonment while the truly guilty gets probation or a slap on the wrist?

Who does not know of indiscriminate killings and unsolved assassinations by the government? Boko Haram and the Nigerian government have both caused enormous pain and anguish in the lives of the people — the only difference is that one is the state, and the other is a non-state actor. But really, a crime is a crime and terrorism is terrorism no matter who commits it and in whose name the iniquities are committed (God or government, it doesn’t matter).

Every year, thousands of people die because government fails to provide quality health care and proper medicine. Thousands die on our roads and bridges because of poor construction or poor maintenance. Thousands die due to water and airborne diseases. In the Niger Delta region, and elsewhere in the country, people die because of the poor and sickening ecological conditions. People die needlessly when the majority of such deaths could have been prevented. What do you call such a government? Negligence, coupled with institutional indifference, is nothing but criminal. Even though the government is not bombing its people as Boko Haram does, silent bombs kill hundreds of Nigerians every day – all year round.

In spite of my position regarding the similarity between Boko Haram and successive Nigerian governments, and in spite of my thinking regarding the presidential pardon, many of the problems we face require political solutions. Not military. Not judicial. Not religious. Political!

Take the Niger Delta conflict, for instance. A just and lasting solution can only be found through a politically negotiated settlement. The outcome of such settlements needs not be perfect; still, societies benefit more if guns and bombs are silent.

In the end, we must ask why – why is it that year after year since independence – there is one type of skirmish after another in one or all corners of the country. What’s the cause of these agitations and restlessness? There are groups out there that are not totally loyal to Nigeria and would rather secede. Why is it so difficult for many Nigerians to develop an abiding interest in the country? The questions are many. The answers are few, unfortunately.

-Punch

The activities of all federal institutions operating in the region should also be streamlined with those of the ministry in such a way that an intervention agency like the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) becomes a parastatal of the ministry rather than remain under the presidency.

These were part of the recommendations contained in a paper-“The Niger Delta: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, delivered by Prof. Mike Idi Obadan of the Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Benin and his counterpart from the Department of Geography and Regional Planning, in the same university, Prof. B.A. Chokor, at the ongoing stakeholders conference and first meeting of the National Council, on Niger Delta in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

According to them, making the NDDC an agency of the ministry would ensure that the development activities of the intervention body and those of the ministry are complementary rather than competitive.

“The development issues in the Niger Delta region have remained complex and challenging because past development planning efforts and policies failed to address the region’s needs; the political will and sincerity to do the right things in the Niger Delta region were conspicuously lacking. But then, with the government’s recent pronouncements and actions coupled with the emergence of the Niger Delta Action Plan, there is a basis for hope in a Niger Delta region that is peaceful, secure, prosperous and developed in physical and human terms.

“But this requires the concerted efforts of all stakeholders in the context of the collaborative framework being promoted by the government. And very importantly, for the ministry to be effective in its role of coordinating development activities in the Niger Delta, it is crucial for all stakeholders—state governments, local governments, other government agencies, development partners, oil companies, private sector, local communities, among others to buy into the action plan,” he recommended.

The paper noted that the region had witnessed a plethora of failed initiatives at development from colonial times, which ought to be reviewed in order to place in context any new formulations like the Niger Delta Action Plan, aimed at tackling the critical issue of human development.

He listed such initiatives as the Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB) established in 1959; Niger Delta Basin Development Authority, which sprang up from NDDB in 1976, Oil and Gas-Community Development Programmes, Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) and Niger Delta Environmental Survey (NDES).

Others are World Bank: Defining an Environmental Strategy for Niger Delta; NDDC, Council for Socio-Economic Development of Coastal States of the Niger Delta as well as the UNDP Niger Delta Human Development Report.

The paper identified the pitfalls in previous development initiatives as top-down approach to planning, absence of a development plan framework for interventions, lack of an integrated approach, limited funding of programmes/projects as well as inadequate appreciation of the special problems of the core Niger Delta, and inadequate attention to human development.

-ThisDay

Kuku, who spoke at the weekend in Yenagoa at the launch of the Leadership Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI), a non-governmental organisation floated by ex-militant leaders across in Niger Delta, said the ex-freedom fighters have been transformed.

He said his job, as the head of the Presidential Amnesty Committee would be incomplete without the re-integration of ex-militants into the community to contribute their skills and intellect to the growth and development of the place, where hitherto they were seen as destroyers.

The Special Adviser, who was represented by Mr. Lawrence Pepple noted: “You have shown me that I have a partner in you, together we will draw up a timetable of community tour of all the very seriously impacted communities during the period of the conflict so that healing process can commenced.

“You have taken it upon yourselves to be anti-crusaders against corruption, pursuing issues of good governance within your communities and the Niger Delta apart from being advocates of initiative that bring about proper and sustainable development inline with UN Resolution of sustainable peace and sustainable development.”

The presidential aide noted that some of the beneficiaries of the Amnesty programme are doing well, noting that 17of the pilot trainees including a 20-year old, youngest pilot, have reached the height of their training in piloting after passing the Commercial Pilot License Test and were decorated in Mafikeng, South Africa.

With the graduation of some of the beneficiaries, the Amnesty boss urged the society to stop stereotyping and stigmatizing the graduands upon their return, rather they should be given the opportunity to put to use the skills they have acquired, stressing that this is the crucial stage of the Amnesty programme.

In his speech, the president of Leadership Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI) and ex-militant leader, Pastor Reuben Wilson, said the quest for peace informed the formation of the body to serve as a meeting point and catalyst for peace advocacy in the Niger Delta.

Reiterating their condemnation on the recent gruesome murder of 12 policemen in Bayelsa, Pastor Wilson blamed the incident on anti-peace agents and promised to assist security agencies in bringing the culprits to book to serve as a deterrent to others

Via Guardian

From JULIANA TAIWO-OBALONYE, Abuja

The leader of the defunct Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, has reacted to the planned attack of mosques by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), describing the group as fake. Asari-Dokubo said MEND only exists on the internet and pages of newspapers, insisting the faceless group has succeeded in rubbishing the real struggle of the Niger Delta.

The MEND had in a statement threatened to launch attacks on mosques, hajj camps, Islamic institutions, congregations of Islamic followers, as well as assassinations of clerics, who propagate doctrines of hate, in a crusade code named “Operation Barbarossa,” from Friday, May 31, 2013. MEND said the crusade was to save Christianity in Nigeria from annihilation.

Asari-Dokubo, a member of the Federal Government delegation to the 2012 Hajj was in the State House for the submission of the report and took time out to answer questions from reporters. He insisted that there was no religious war in the country and no group or persons should try to cause religious crisis, as the consequences would be grave.

The Niger Delta activist said MEND was created to push for his release from detention and that of former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, insisting that MEND leaders were not known anywhere compared to other organizations like the Ijaw Youth Council, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC).

He said even Henry Okah convicted for the October 1, 2010 bombing at Eagles Square, had denied being the leader of MEND in court under oath. On what he makes of the latest threat by MEND to attack mosques and Islamic institutions, Asari-Dokubo said: “I am a Muslim, I do not subscribe to attacking religious centres of worship, I do not believe that MEND exists, I have always said that there is nothing like MEND. MEND is just the figment of the imagination of people, it is on the Internet, newspapers, but who is MEND, nobody can really tell you.

“MEND was formed, only for the purpose of my release and the release of Alamieyeseigha when we were in detention. MEND leaders are not known anywhere like other organizations like the Ijaw Youth Council, OPC and so on.

MEND actually is faceless, because Henry Okah himself has denied that he is not the leader of MEND in court under oath.” In the same vein, Asari-Dokubo had condemned amnesty given to any group in the country, describing it as a fraud and a mistake the Federal Government had made that must be corrected before it becomes a vicious circle.

He said the government had only two options according to the constitution under which to grant amnesty: The prerogative of mercy after a person had been convicted or a Nolli Prosequi (withdrawal of a case by the Attorney General of the Federation against a person).

He said government having made the mistake of giving out N65,000 monthly to a group of youths from Niger Delta referred to as ex-militants, the largess must go round other groups in the country for peace to reign.

WARRI—FEAR of a religious war loomed, weekend, in Nigeria, following the threat by Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, to commence the assassination of Muslim clerics, bombing of mosques, hajj camps and Islamic institutions as from May 31.

The exercise, codenamed, Operation Barborossa, according to spokesman of the militant group, Jomo Gbomo, is to save Christianity in Nigeria from total destruction.

MEND’s threat is obviously in response to the bombing of Christians and Christian worship places by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.

It said: “On behalf of the hapless Christian population in Nigeria, MEND will, from Friday, May 31, 2013, embark on a crusade to save Christianity in Nigeria from annihilation.

“The bombing of mosques, hajj camps, Islamic institutions, large congregations in Islamic events and assassination of clerics that propagate doctrines of hate, will form the core mission of this crusade code named Operation Barbarossa.

“This campaign will not in any way interfere with the ongoing “Hurricane Exodus,” which on Saturday, April 13, 2013, at 1am, swept through the Ewellesuo community, in Nembe, Bayelsa State, leaving the destruction of well 62, belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company in its wake.

“We may only consider a ceasefire of Operation Barbarossa if the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, the Catholic Church and Henry Okah, one of the few leaders in the Niger Delta region we respect for his integrity, intervenes.

“Also, the assurance for a cessation of hostilities targeted at Christians in their places of worship, made privately or publicly by the real Boko Haram leadership will make us call off this crusade.

“We have no problem with their attacks on security agencies including the prisons, for their role in extrajudicial killings, torture, deceit and corruption.”

Via Vanguard

BENIN — FORMER President of Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, Dr. Chris Ekiyor, has said that any plan by the Federal Government to grant amnesty to members of Boko Haram sect will be a fraud, warning that the people of the Niger Delta will resist any attempt to use resources from the region to finance such amnesty programme.

Ekiyor said it will be a misplaced argument to compare the activities of the sect members with that of the Niger Delta militants, noting that the focus of the Niger Delta militants was to attract government’s attention to the degradation of their region due to oil exploration and poverty of the people, whereas Boko Haram had embarked on mass killing of Nigerians and had remained faceless.

He said: “Beyond talking about amnesty for a group of people, who are murderers, I think that government has misplaced its priority in terms of what it is saying. Dialogue with the people, yes. Amnesty, no.

“Amnesty is not an exit window for criminals. These are people who have murdered over 5,000 people in cold blood. When people are in the churches, they bomb the church, killing people who are equally victims of bad governance like you and I.

“Again, 80 percent of these people are not Nigerians. So if you are granting them amnesty, from where will you take the resources to reintegrate them?”

Is it the Niger Delta resources, our oil money to integrate criminals and murderers in the North?”

“That money should be put into infrastructures across the country if the money is too much in the government coffers. They should develop Nigeria. But I have issue in taking Niger Delta people’s money to rehabilitate a bunch of elements, who are extremists in their activities.”

… as Okoko advocates due process

By JIMITOTA ONOYUME

PORT HARCOURT— FORMER President, Ijaw National Congress, INC, Professor Kimse Okoko, has said that the proposed amnesty by the Federal Government for members of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, should follow due process.

Speaking in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, he also appealed to Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND, not to resume hostilities in the Niger Delta region.

He said: “Due process should be followed by Federal Government before granting Boko Haram amnesty. The sect should agree to stop violent activities.

“I don’t think it is proper to grant amnesty before following due process, otherwise victims of Boko Haram’s attacks would suffer so much pain.”

He told Vanguard, that there was no need for former militants to go back to the creeks, as such will not be in the interest of the region and the nation in general.

Okoko also lamented the killing, weekend, of 12 policemen at Azuzuama community, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Via Vanguard

The militant group had last week announced that it would resume attacks in the oil rich Niger Delta by Friday to avenge alleged collaboration between the Federal Government and South Africa to jail its former leader, Henry Okah. Security agencies had dismissed the threat and said they were ready for MEND which tagged its promised resurgence of attacks, ‘Hurricane Exodus.’

MEND, in an online statement on Sunday, also disclosed that two of its fighters died in the exchange of fire with security agents. The crossfire lasted for 40 minutes.

It said it intercepted and engaged government forces in a fierce gun battle and killed the security agents in the process.

According to the militant group’s statement signed by its spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, MEND said it would remain resolute in its resumption of hostilities. It also expressed the hope that Saturday’s clash would serve as a lesson to the Joint Task Force and stop it from making ‘careless’ utterances.

The JTF however on Sunday said its operatives had now been placed on the alert to forestall further violence in the restive Niger Delta.

Curiously, the Police commissioner in Bayelsa, Kingsley Omire, said the killing of his men had nothing to do with MEND’s threat of last week and said that he believed that the 12 policemen were still missing and their whereabouts was still a subject of intense search.

Omire blamed the fate of the policemen on a dispute between the gunmen and the government over their amnesty payments. The Federal Government has been paying all militants that laid down their arms under its amnesty programme commenced since 2010.

The MEND’s statement on Sunday reads, “For dismissing Hurricane Exodus as an ‘empty threat’ heavily armed fighters from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, at about 17:00 Hrs., Saturday 06, April 2013, intercepted and engaged government security forces in a fierce gunfight lasting over 40 minutes at Azuzama, Southern Ijaw, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

“The clash which happened in the river left over 15 security forces dead as we also lost two (2) of our fighters in the battle. We hope this encounter will serve as a lesson to the Joint Task Force from making careless utterances that cannot be backed as we remain resolute in our resumption of hostilities.”

The militant group advised oil firms and members of the public to disregard the false sense of security being peddled by the JTF even as it disowned one Comrade Azizi who claimed to be its spokesman and advised members of the public to ignore his (Azizi) comments.

“All oil companies and the public are advised to ignore the false sense of security been peddled by the JTF as well as the false comments from a “Comrade Azizi”, who claims to be the spokesman for the group.

“This person is not known to MEND, does not speak for MEND and his utterances and style do not reflect our plans and actions,” it maintained.

The JTF spokesman, Lt.-Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement on Sunday said, “Our maritime and air assets have also been mobilised and we have intensified our patrols to dominate both land and water ways to check any assailant. We will not permit any lawlessness that will jeopardise the peace in the region.

“We again call on all peace loving and progressive Niger Deltans to dissociate themselves, their communities and leadership from this gang of retrogrades parading themselves as MEND.”

Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson on Sunday described the death of the 12 policemen as “tragic and disheartening.”

The governor, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daiel Markson, noted that the killings were “a constant reminder of how vulnerable we are in our collective efforts at pursuing and achieving lasting peace and unity in our state and country.”

Meanwhile, youths in the oil producing region have appealed to MEND to give peace a chance and shelve their planned resumption of hostilities.

National Coordinator of the Niger Delta Youth Parliament, Mr. Imoh Okoko, said in a telephone interview with The PUNCH on Sunday that it was imperative for MEND to sheathe its sword so as to ensure that the Federal Government would not have any excuse not to develop the region.

Okoko said, “We in the Niger Delta Youth Parliament believe that things would only get worse for the region if MEND carries out its threat of resuming hostilities. Creating more crises is not the best for Niger Delta now.

“We are appealing to MEND to exercise patience. President Goodluck Jonathan and Okah are from the same state. There is no need for MEND to strike so that the government will not have any excuse for not developing the Niger Delta.”

Via Punch

There are agitations from the north that the Niger Delta is getting too much of our commonwealth. There are also fears that the NDDC and this Ministry could be scrapped. What is your take on this?

I think that governments all over the world are interested in doing those things that will stabilise the polity, those things that will provide resources to develop the country. Sometimes when I listen to these debates, I find that people react on impulse without actually analysing where we are coming from and where we are. This is a place that produces the resources that we use for development. That was why the NDDC was established. Before NDDC, there were other development agencies that government was using to develop the place. Now, the Ministry of Niger Delta has been established, that is to tell you that the challenges have not been addressed. Two things are fundamental, if these challenges are not addressed, it is not likely that we will have peace in the area. If these challenges are not addressed, we are not likely to have the resources that are needed for the development of this country whether Orubebe is here or not. Like I said, we have laid a solid framework; we have laid a structure that will sustain the peace that we are enjoying now. It is only a government that is not interested in peace and resources for the development of this country that will ever contemplate scrapping NDDC or the Niger Delta Ministry. I believe that this was a noble decision that was taken by government. I quote what President Yar’Adua said, he said, “This is the region that is providing for this country” that he totally agrees that this region should be developed and as President, he will do whatever was possible to do this. He wasn’t from the Niger Delta. He came from another region and he saw that this was what was needed for us to have peace and the resources for development. Any president who wants peace and development for the entire country will never think of scrapping NDDC or the Ministry of Niger Delta.

Some members of the National Assembly have opposed the provision of 10 per cent for host communities in the Petroleum Industry Bill. Do you share their concerns?

People should sit and also ask the question: How much money have we got from the Niger Delta for the development of this country? That is the fundamental question. I think that all the money that we have been talking about, and the money that region has generated from 1957 to date; what has gone into the Niger Delta is not up to five percent of the money that region has contributed to the development of this country. And so, it is not an issue for debate and that is why governments from 1960 to date have always talked about one agency or increasing (derivation) — remember, we started from 1.5 to 3 percent to 13 percent and these people were not from the Niger Delta but they came and saw the need for it and I believe that even Pharaoh, needed money to develop Egypt and so, he didn’t do those things that would make it impossible for him to get resources to develop Egypt. And I think that any President who wants to be a President of a country wants to develop the country and for you to develop, you need resources. There is no way you will have resources for the development of this country if the Niger Delta is not developed.

People have argued that the money so far given to the Niger Delta has not translated into concrete developments. Do you agree?

Again, I will like to say with all sense of seriousness that so many people that come on television and newspapers to talk are ill-informed about the Niger Delta itself. Development in the Niger Delta is very expensive. If you are not involved and they tell you, you won’t believe it. To construct a road in the Niger Delta, the first thing you need to do is to create land. You have to develop this first before you can even think of how you can construct the road. Money that you will use in creating the land will even be more than the cost of constructing the road and so, if in other areas you grade, you just cut some stones and you construct, in the Niger Delta development is very expensive. I can tell you that over the period, if anybody says that they have not seen anything on ground, let them visit the Niger Delta. Yes, we are not there yet but I think there is resonance of progress in terms of development in the Niger Delta considering where we were coming from where there was no hope. I can tell you that in a few years to come, the economic environment of the Niger Delta will turn around. You don’t expect development overnight but I can tell you that in years to come, that is the place people will love to go.

Would you say the governors have judiciously used the resources sent to the region?

The Niger Delta governors are trying their best. Now, take only the issue of security, the sustenance of security, the peace we have there today could not have been possible if the governors and the federal government were not working together. A lot of resources are being used, these are resources you can’t feel, these resources are producing results, particularly peace and because oil production has increased a lot of money is now available for the federal allocation committee to share. This could not have been possible if there was no peace. Coming from a polluted environment, for you to do any meaningful thing, you have to do a lot to address the challenges of the Ecosystem. These are things that if you are not there and you are judging from outside you will think that people are playing. There is a silent revolution going on in the Niger Delta. Governors are also coming together to do things jointly. It is a question of time.

You were recently engaged in a war of words with the Rivers State governor, Rotimi Ameachi. What went wrong?

What is important to note is that we are all adults that is the most important thing to know. Number two, we all have passion for the development of the Niger Delta. The only area of disagreement is the approach to developmental issues. It’s like you came to Abuja by flight and some people came by road. We don’t have any personal grievance against each other, we are Niger Deltans, people that have passion for the development of the Niger Delta, we have discussed in close quarters and there is a meeting point now and so that is where we are now and we are moving forward.

You are said to be nursing a 2015 governorship ambition, how true is this?

First, a number of people have speculated about my governorship ambition and sometimes they bring a lot of coloration. They talk about zoning and I think that is one of the challenges we have as a country, you talk about north, you talk about west, and you talk about south. Nobody is talking about the minorities. In Delta State for God’s sake, you have the Urhobos, you have the Itsekiris, you have the Ijaws, you have the Isokos, and you have the Igbo people. We have five ethnic nationalities. The Urhobos even when you are sharing had their turn; the Itsekiris have had their own, what of the Ijaw people? What of the Isoko people? What of the Igbo people? I am not against the idea of the thing rotating around the nationalities. If you are talking about Senatorial Districts, you are depriving other people. If you are talking about Senatorial (districts) you should talk about ethnic nationalities. But for me, as a student of political science, my take has been that if we are really a people united by geography I will say we are a people, we are working together; let us look for the best irrespective of where he is coming from. The Ijaw people in Delta State must be made to feel that they are also entitled to the governorship, the Isoko people must be made to feel they are entitled to it, the Igbo people the same thing but if that is the thinking, let us get the best material, somebody who will offer himself for the development of Delta State. That is what I talk about but today as Minister, my major concern is to support Mr. President to move Nigeria forward. What will happen in 2015 is still pregnant. Nobody knows but when 2015 comes then, we can talk of governorship and some other things.
Via Punch