BY SIMON EBEGBULEM, Benin
City
Alhaji Asari Dokubo, a former
President of the Ijaw Youth
Council and leader of the
Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer
Force (NDPVF).
In this interview with
Saturday Vanguard in Benin
City, he bared his mind about
current political situation in
the country, saying that the
people of the South South
are prepared to protect the
Presidency of Goodluck
Jonathan, and warned the
North against fielding
candidates in 2015.
He insisted that after the
tenure of Jonathan, the
presidency must move to the
South East for the interest of
peace and harmony.
Ahead the July 14,
governorship election in the
state, he expressed optimism
that President Jonathan will
ensure a free and fair
election.He also warned that
the people of Edo State and
the Niger Delta will resist any
attempt to rig the election in
favour of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP).
Excerpts:
Few months ago the PDP in
Edo State threatened to
take you to court after you
endorsed Governor Adams
Oshiomhole,and warned
against rigging?
They say clear conscience
fears no accusation. The
warning was not directed to
any particular party. It was
made in the direction of any
body who attempts to
manipulate the election. But
if the PDP believe that it was
directed at them so be it
because the people of Edo
State cannot afford to go
through the trauma that they
went through the last time
when their mandate was
stolen and it took them time,
as they went through pains
and people even died to
reclaim the mandate. I think
the PDP should be calling for
free and fair election. If there
is no PDP Federal
Government I don’t think the
PDP will be playing God in
Edo state or else where.
Asari Dokubo
The truth is that without a
PDP Federal Government I
don’t think the PDP can
contest election in Edo state
and hope that they can win
up to five per cent of the
votes because of their
antecedent in the state.
Benin City is like my second
home after Warri. For eight
years that the PDP was here
they destroyed the state,
there was nothing to show
that there was government.
Today, the people can see
the difference between
Adams Oshiomhole and the
rest. After Dr Ogbemudia and
Alli the state was dead, every
body went to sleep.
But Adams has rejuvenated
the state, he has woken the
people up. If it was in a
society where opinion polls
matters, by now we would
have known the loser and
the winner. Oshiomhole
would not even go through
the rigours of campaigning.
There is a new Edo State
today and any body who
cannot see it is not fair to the
people of the state and the
people of Edo state should
reject such person.
So the PDP knows that they
do not have any locus to take
any body to court, I am free
to say any thing I want to
say, go any where I want to
go to as long as I don’t flout
the law of the land. And what
I have said in this particular
situation is very very true
that no body should attempt
or even think of rigging this
election. The people will not
allow this election to be
rigged, the peoples votes
must count.
But there is this talk about
Jonathan deploying the
Federal Might in Edo state
to capture the state for his
party the PDP?
I am a supporter of Goodluck
Jonathan and the Goodluck I
know cannot do such a
thing. However, some people
change when they get into
office. But it is not to the
advantage of Goodluck to rig
the election in Edo state for
PDP because it will cause a
serious problem in his base
if he allows the unity that
was there before his election
to be eroded due to pressure
from few cabals.
The whole people of the
South South got up to say to
hell with tyranny, they look at
arrogance eye ball to eye ball
and told them you don’t have
the powers to stop us and
they voted for Jonathan. We
said we will stand you and
any thing you bring we are
ready to bring to fight.
Even though Oshiomhole is
an ACN man, though Alhaji
Dokubo is not a PDP man,
came together with one
voice and brought Jonathan.
It was not PDP that brought
Jonathan to power, Jonathan
enjoyed the popular vote of
the people. Our people in the
South South did not protest
during the fuel subsidy
removal because we are
aware that some people said
if they don’t produce the
president they will make the
state ungovernable for
Jonathan and they have been
doing that.
We did that because
Jonathan is our own. And if
Jonathan with all these now
decides to support those
who want to steal the
mandate Edo people will
freely give to Oshiomhole,
then I think people like us
will start to question our
support for Goodluck
Jonathan.Then he will no
longer be representing the
collective interest of the
people of the South South
and the Niger Delta and the
South East and all the
oppressed people.
Our support for Jonathan
was not because he is
Jonathan, our support was
that look for the first time
after June 12, we are
confronting tyranny and
telling tyranny that you
cannot cross this line.For the
first time after June 12, we
are confronting arrogance
that we are born to rule, that
this line you cannot cross it,
we dared them and they
could not cross the line.
Jonathan may not be the
best in the South South but
he represents the symbol of
our freedom.
If after the people made this
sacrifice, then Jonathan will
now turn round and connive
with some people who for
ten years, held the people of
Edo State hostage, held the
people in darkness, poverty
and penury, then some of us
will say no, you are no longer
representing the interest of
the South South, the
oppressed people.
Look when people talk about
money, I laugh because
Jonathan will give me more
money than any thing I can
get from Edo state or
Oshiomhole. But the battle
we fight people don’t
understand, some people sat
down some where to say we
are minority and we asked,
where have scientific census
been held to determine who
are minority and who are
majority.
That you have the right to
perpetually subjugate us, to
take our resources, to
destroy our environment,
murder our leaders and
nothing will happen.
Jonathan did not fight to
become President, it was the
collective struggle of the
totality of the people of the
South South, the people of
the Middle Belt, the South
East who has been
considered as second class
citizens in a country that
belongs to all of us.
And it will be very wrong for
Jonathan to pay back to the
people of Edo State, by
backing any plot to rig
Oshiomhole out of power
when the entire people of
the state appreciate his
performance. If that
happens, people like us will
say you no longer represents
our interest so go and use
your federal might to
confront those who think
that they are born to rule,
they have the exclusive
preserve for power, if you
can go and confront them
without our support we will
say okay go.
I don’t believe that there is
any might that can stand
against the might of the
people when the people
have spoken. And I don’t
think Jonathan will buy that
because he is too intelligent
for that.
Of what political value are
these so called god fathers in
Edo State other than they will
manipulate the electoral
process to rig election. Will
Jonathan be interested in
seeing the blood of the
people who voted for him to
flow? Because I know that
the people of Edo State, the
people of the South South
who sees what Oshiomhole
represents will resist them. I
don’t think Jonathan is ready
to gambel with the good will
he enjoys from the people,
he will not.
June 12 and renaming of
UNILAG after MKO Abiola
I think the renaming of
UNILAG is a very small start. It
is a step in the right
direction but one comes to
question the sincerity of
those who has been crying
all these about Abiola. Some
of us now come to see that
the MKO who we supported
with out lives, that some
people especially his people
were only using his name, to
get power. The decision of
President Jonathan clearly
exposed their hypocrisy. But
I think it is not enough.
For those of us who believe
in what Abiola did, some
body who was close to MKO
Abiola, I believe the President
of Nigeria should go on and
restore to MKO the status of
a former President and pay
all his entitlements for four
years to his family.
Then June 12 should be
declared an Abiola national
public holiday and it is easy
to do it through an act of
parliament. This will not
totally remove the injustice
but it will go along way in
mitigating the injustice that
was done to MKO Abiola and
Nigerians. And again those
who are responsible for the
annulment of June 12
election should be brought
to book.

Read more on
www.vanguardngr.com/2012/06/its-in-the-interest-of-north-not-to-field-a-candidate-against-jonathan-in-2015-asari-dokubo/

It is in the interest of the Ijaw for them to carry the entire SS and SE along.