Nairaland Forum

afam4eva:

If we take our mind back to years back when the Niger Delta Ijaw were fighting for 50% derivation and resource control, one of the things they fought for was a president of ND extraction. Blaming their woes on the insensitivity of past leaders who paid lip service to their plight. But what i want to know is that: Has anything changed since we've had a south-south president?. I hope they don't go complaining when this president is gone. They have to fight him to develop the Niger Delta the way they fought past presidents. I'm saying this because i noticed that they seem to support any action this president takes whether good or bad.

DONLEKAN:

I am getting something wrong here. @ Afam4ever I thought you were once a supporter of Ebele?. Correct me if I am wrong.

It appears quite a number of people are finally on the same page as those of us who saw it coming long b4 now. At any rate, den say, den no dey catch latecomer for heaven; meaning u can't be too late to do the right thing.

DONLEKAN:

I am getting something wrong here. @ Afam4ever I thought you were once a supporter of Ebele?. Correct me if I am wrong.

It appears quite a number of people are finally on the same page as those of us who saw it coming long b4 now. At any rate, den say, den no dey catch latecomer for heaven; meaning u can't be too late to do the right thing.

You know what, at the end of Jonatha's dispensation, I expect our brothers from the South south to return to the creeks and continue from where they paused.

Those people of South south and some from South East extraction who support (I must admit his support in the East is waning with time) Jonathan no matter what he does are like coulpes who legitimately waited to have a baby. It didn't come in years after marriage. Eventually, the child comes after so many night vigils and prayer and the child is over-pampared by the parents to the extent they don't want anybody to help them correct the child for any wrong doing.

Your guess is a s good as mine what will become of such a child - parents relationship. In one word, the child will become a liability to the parents in the future.

Some of us have taken consolations in the wisdom of our fathers which says that " ti idi ba baje tan, ti onidi lo ma da".

afam4eva:

Southern presidency does not mean anything. There are 6 regions in Nigeria.

DRANOEL:

the same question applies to the entire south!
over the years we were meant to believe that nigeria's problems stem from the fact that the leadership has always been north. now we know better. southern leadership since '99 (remove the brief yar'adua era) and it is clear our problem is from a particular section of the country #THE RULING ELITE#

bashr8:

so from your logic we should continue to have northern crooks , let me tell u  whether GEJ does his job or not nobody cares, after him the SE will get their turn , tribalism did not start from the south so dont blame the south

BlackPikiN:

GEJ is your president untilliiii 2015.
Learn to live with it.

So they see it boldly    . . . .

BlackPikiN:

GEJ is your president untilliiii 2015.
Learn to live with it.

Kobojunkie:

I think you should re-read the question asked. Past debaters on here informed us that the only way that Nigeria could be fine is if South-South got it's turn at the Presidency. We were told by these goons that only then would ND benefit in the entity called Nigeria.

Fast forward a couple of years later, a man of ND decent has been elected and comfortably installed by the people in both the ND and South-Eastern States. It has been 2 years since he has been power and not much good has come to the ND people from it. Matter of fact, those who seemed to have benefited much from this are the touts-turned-terrorists who cried and wailed of marginalism and went as far as to shed blood of their own ND people for attention.

If this happens to continue another 2 more years, are the same group of goons who gave us the "e go only better for ND if ND get presidency" shpeel finally going to give up on the silly argument(maybe finally fight their leaders who swim in millions of dollars meant for the people, for meaningful development)or are they going to then require that another turn at the presidency is what will save the ND?  Better yet, why not start holding the ND leaders responsible now, rather than sit and wait for magic to happen when the President finally decides to wake up to the responsibility his people worked hard to put on him?

South-Westerner, South-Easterner, Middle-Belter, Northerner --- all these should not be criteria for election of a president. Many of us have said it so many times before now, but people continue to blindly pitch their vote with only those from their region, no matter how wicked those characters really are.

dayokanu:

At least after Retardeens presidency, no one would come out and yell marginalisation or MEND again cos he should have taken away all their complaint

dayokanu:

At least after Retardeens presidency, no one would come out and yell marginalisation or MEND again cos he should have taken away all their complaint

“People In The Niger Delta Now Recognize That Jonathan Is A Waste Of Time” – Isaac Osuoka



CO: If that is the case, is he representing the interest of the Niger Delta?

IO: President Jonathan is the worst thing to happen to the Niger Delta. Go and see the East-West road. The road from Warri to Port Harcourt and beyond. The condition of that federal road is worse than ever. This is an outrage! Every year there is a budget allocation for everything. At the end of the year nothing to show for all the billions. Why? This is because Jonathan is superintending over the biggest looting spree in this history of Nigeria. Governors see state funds as their private estate. Ministers see their office as reward for loyalty to governors and opportunity to chop. Local government chairmen. Those are the biggest rogues!

The National Assembly is more or less a college of self-serving opportunists – most of whom cannot even get close to winning in free and fair elections. They say most of the big houses in Abuja have been built or bought by civil servants. Where did they get the money? These people, all these people that have continued to loot, are part of the political elite. They are happy that a clueless and spineless person like Jonathan is President. They are the people insisting that Jonathan remove fuel subsidy so that they will have more loot to share. Simple. But Jonathan can’t see it. He doesn’t have that kind of vision. He and those eating with him can’t see the groundswell of opposition to fuel increase. They can’t see that opposition to fuel increase will ultimately result in resistance to everything the ruling class represents in Nigeria. This is just the beginning. In that case, the increase in fuel price is good. For the first time in a long time Nigerians from different ethnic, religious and even class backgrounds are massing together to build a new movement for change. That is what excites me. Supporting the new movement should be the duty of every person who is keen to see Nigeria progress. Neither Jonathan nor his PDP can do anything good for Nigeria. What we need is not just a change of government, we need a system overhaul. This needs struggle and perseverance on the part of the people.

CO: Are you saying Jonathan is a stooge of Western powers?

IO: It is worse than that. Jonathan is a stooge of backward Nigerian political elite who are generally stooges of Western powers. Though as a stooge of stooges, Jonathan has shown that he is particularly spineless and is most amenable to even the slightest of pressure from those he considers powerful. The man is so scared of those he considers powerful. Like the governors. Now let us look at how this backward ruling elite always attempts to selects its weakest elements to act as pawns in the name of president. As far back as the eve of Nigeria’s independence, the Sarduana, who was a powerful leader of the North, selected a weak Tafawa Balewa to be Prime Minister. So we then had a situation where the head of government of Nigeria, the largest state in black Africa, was a mere stooge of powerful northern politicians and contractors who expected the head of government to just represent their interests.

We later had Gowon who was maybe the weakest among northern soldiers that took power at that time. Again, Gowon was a stooge for the main powers who remained behind the scenes to share their loot while Gowon was speaking English in public. The same thing with General Obasanjo who as military head of state was not the main power. The same with Shagari, Nigeria’s first really clueless head of government. Like Balewa the northern political establishment selected a weak Shagari who will not stop them from looting. Babangida, Abacha. Those had their different styles, but were really all continuations of a reprobate regime of waste.

“People In The Niger Delta Now Recognize That Jonathan Is A Waste Of Time” – Isaac Osuoka


CO: The people in the Niger Delta must really be disappointed with President Jonathan.



IO: I can tell you that there was real excitement with the idea of a son of the Niger Delta becoming president of Nigeria. Our people had been treated like second-class citizens since Nigeria was created. So people were happy to see Jonathan as president and went out to vote – even though we know that state governors schemed to inflate the votes for their own purposes. But what has been the benefit of a Jonathan presidency? Symbolic. Only symbolic. Today, the traditional dress of the Niger Delta male, in particular, the Ijaw male, has become something of a national attire. People from the Delta now dress as such and can move in Abuja with a swagger. You did not have this before. Apart from the symbolism and cosmetic impact, there is nothing substantial for the people from the Jonathan presidency.

Environmental pollution and destruction of livelihoods by the petroleum industry is worse now than ever before. Today, we have a major offshore oil spill by Shell and the Jonathan presidency is looking the other way. There is no serious attempt to call Shell to order. Compare that with the response of the Brazilian government to recent offshore spill by Chevron. But with Jonathan in Nigeria, there has not been any serious attempt to address the issue of lost livelihoods for the coastal communities as a result of the recent Shell spill. It is a shame because there are people in Jonathan’s system that had campaigned all their lives for environmental justice. Now that they have the rare opportunity to do something, they are looking the other way. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) produced a report on pollution in Ogoniland.

The recommendations from UNEP should have provided the Jonathan presidency with an opening to address the historical environmental abuse of the Niger Delta. But all he did was set up a committee like he does on everything. Anytime Jonathan sets up a committee, you know the man is not serious. Or he just doesn’t care.
CO: It is a shame because President Jonathan is a major beneficiary of the struggle of the people in the Niger Delta.

IO: President Jonathan is a beneficiary of the struggles of the Niger Delta which he was never part of. Today, he is enjoying the goodwill of even ex-militants who have continued to support the amnesty programme because they feel their son is president. But Odi has not been rebuilt? Even Okerenkoko has not been rebuilt. I agree that the amnesty programme has been very successful in keeping militants off the creeks. The result has been restoration of oil production to optimal levels. The government people are the biggest beneficiaries. But the relative calm or peace as some people chose to call it has not been utilized by the government as an opportunity to improve social infrastructure in the Niger Delta or anywhere in Nigeria for that matter. Things are getting worse every day. A few months ago, people in a village next to Jonathan’s were protesting against Shell for abuses. People in the Niger Delta now recognize that Jonathan is a waste of time. Let me tell you that petrol is very expensive in the creeks of the Niger Delta.

Combined with the fact that the engines of boats consume a lot of petrol, it means that removal of subsidy will affect the Niger Delta the most.