PROMINENT leaders of the South-South geo-political zone have pledged their total support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s efforts to develop the country.
But worried by the violence in some parts of the country and other problems, elders and leaders of the area said the meeting was necessary to find solutions to them just as they cautioned on proper handling of the post-amnesty programme in the Niger Delta.
Operating under the aegis of South-South Peoples Assembly (SSPA), notable Nigerians from the area, including former Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro, President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ledum Mitee, Air Commodore Ndongesit Nkanga (rtd), Brig.-Gen. Sam Oviawe (rtd), Alabo Graham Douglas, met at the weekend in Benin, Edo State capital.

A South-South leader, Chief Edwin Clark, also sent his words to the meeting.
The Chairman of the group, former Governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, stressed the need to tackle the issue of insecurity, particularly the issue of Boko Haram for the interest of the unity of the nation.
Speaking at the opening session of the meeting termed “Towards Building a New Nigeria,” Odigie-Oyegun said the event  “becomes imperative when we discover that whereas four years is like four weeks in the life of a nation, strictly speaking, our son has only three effective years to impact on the lives of Nigerians and live behind indelible positive footprints in the sand of time.
“Consequently, there is a critical need for the selective prioritisation of the myriad of challenges facing government such that meaningful accomplishment in line with the administration’s transformation agenda can be achieved. While addressing the national question for national integration, development and transformation, it may be pertinent to state that the satisfaction of the aspiration of the aspirants of the people of the South-South remains fundamental and relevant to our quest for national rebirth.”
He said the success so far achieved in the amnesty programme could become a mere palliative if the fundamental concerns that ignited the crisis in the first place were not addressed.
In his paper “Building a new Nigeria through sustainable peace in the Niger Delta region”, Mitee said the challenges in the region were not just how the nation’s wealth from the region, crude oil, was being managed but also the difficult terrain “which for instance, in some cases require land first to be created out of swamps before roads can be built.”
He said the problem in the region should not be restricted to the area but as Nigeria’s problem “with profound international implication.”
The MOSOP President said there was serious danger in government’s and oil companies’ erroneous notion of equating peace in the area to the continued flow of oil. “We are thus being told that the crisis has come to or is coming to an end with amnesty and surrender of arms. Evidence for this is obviously the increased oil production following cessation of attacks on oil facilities. Refreshing as these are, the evidence on the ground would seem to suggest that the present situation is one of an unsustainable standoff… Militant leaders who have considerable wealth appear generally satisfied with their new situation. However, there is little in place to prevent a further generation of new armed groups swiftly emerging in an attempt to extract their own benefits from the oil industry.”

-Guardian

Posted by admin on Jul 10 2011. Filed under Niger Delta, South-South. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry