Dokubo, others’ outburst, threat to Jonathan’s presidency -Prof. Tam David West

Posted by admin Goodluck Jonathan (2010-present), Presidency, Top Stories Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

The inflammatory outbursts of some Niger Deltans such as Asari Dokubo are a threat to the stability of Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency and the president would do well to call them to order and distance himself from them forthwith.
That was the candid warning of former Petroleum Minister, Professor Tam David West, a fellow Ijaw as Jonathan, while reacting to comments on national issues by their kinsmen from Nigeria ’s oil rich wetlands.

Referring to the latest by Niger Delta militia leader, Asari Dokubo, in an interview entitled. “If Buhari is arrested, nothing will happen,” published in the latest edition of Saturday Sun, David West deplored the castigation of northerners by the militia leader and his call for former Head of States and Congress for Progressive Change’s (CPC) presidential candidate, Gen Muhammadu Buhari’s arrest for allegedly instigating the post presidential election riots in parts of the north.
According to him, such call by Dokubo was not only reckless, but also senseless since there was no proof to implicate the former leader in the sponsorship of the mayhem.

He said such arrogant verbal excessiveness, which tend to denigrate other sections of the country, “in this euphoria of questioned electoral victory” could inflame passions and inspire “those who schemed him (Jonathan) in, to scheme him out,” reminding the president that “It is one thing to win the war, its another to win the peace.”

The former minister, condemned as “irresponsible” attempts at laying possessive claim to the president or sounding as if it was the wisdom or might of the Niger Delta people alone that put him there, without acknowledging the roles of other sections of the country, saying this could endanger the unity and stability of the nation.

His words: “Jonathan is what he is today because of especially northerners’ support. Nigerians from all parts voted for him to be president, without prejudice to my view that his election is stained. Can the Ijaw or Niger Delta alone guarantee the constitutional provision that he must have 25 per cent of the popular votes cast in two –third , that is 24 states of the federation, the answer is no. They are abusing the people, who helped in putting him there and if he doesn’t call them to order, his administration may be truncated. The abuses may have a backlash.”
David West said Nigeria was today in a perilous time, declaring that “the issue of zoning is not dead but on suspended animation” and would rise again in a fiercer form if Jonathan stayed till 2015.

This, he said called for great circumspection by important stakeholders when making public utterances.
He came down heavily on Dokubo, who he described as a reckless, incoherent and inconsistent individual who has lost following and was merely seeking attention and relevance.
•Watch out for full interview on Saturday.

-Sunwp_posts