.There are many like boyloaf here in my state, this ex militants were once bunkerers and are still bunkering,

I do solemnly pray that they get full resource control.

But

'You don't eat where you shít'. 'Quality'education is a must for this bunch of ninnies.

Sabotaging oil pipelines for their own selfish benefits whilst contaminating their ancestral farmlands and waterways even for the next 10 series of their generations.
Makes a lot of sense init...

Gbawe.:
@Topic.

Here we have it. The truth and the "real mission" as revealed by the direct 'representatives' of GEJ. Now you have the glaring confession that we are not dealing with oil theft but with "resource control". I think, for those not dishonest and totally amoral, it is crystal clear what GEJ is abetting. Now, his concession of pipeline protection contracts to militant warlords makes perfect sense

Now looks more like "concession of exclusive thieving rights" to his kinsmen. Jonathan is a monumental fraud!!

I think the media is part of those fighting against the interest of the Niger Delta people. They refuse to interview the real elders and successful men but rather focus on Edwin Clarke and militants. The media has continued persistently to publish only the voice of the militants as the voice of Niger Deltans.

Amaechi is a Niger Deltan and he spoke the truth to Orubebe. He even offered to work on the Rivers section of East-West road only for militants like Asari and Orubebe to accuse him of insulting the President. Why can't the militants threaten the President to speed up development of the region rather than holding on to power without any positive change. Today Amaechi is almost done with a road joining Opobo to Ogoni and by next year Opobians will travel home with their car and not speed boat. That's the kind of news we need from Bayelsa that by the end of next year one can travel by road from Yenagoa to Brass. Amaechi has also commenced work on Trans-Kalabari highway which will link most of the Kalabari area of Rivers State. When completed you can drive from Port-Harcourt through Degema to Bakana. The 1st time Patience Jonathan insulted Amaechi was when he was commissioning the 1st rebuilt ultra-modern school at Okrika. What has Patience done for Okrika people? Amaechi has also built a bridge linking Bolo and is also doing the Okrika ring road.


So my people not all Niger-Deltans are militants or clueless. Amaechi is an example of what majority of Niger-Deltans represent but is being suppressed by the few corrupt ones in Abuja.

Abagworo: I think the media is part of those fighting against the interest of the Niger Delta people. They refuse to interview the real elders and successful men but rather focus on Edwin Clarke and militants. The media has continued persistently to publish only the voice of the militants as the voice of Niger Deltans.

Amaechi is a Niger Deltan and he spoke the truth to Orubebe. He even offered to work on the Rivers section of East-West road only for militants like Asari and Orubebe to accuse him of insulting the President. Why can't the militants threaten the President to speed up development of the region rather than holding on to power without any positive change. Today Amaechi is almost done with a road joining Opobo to Ogoni and by next year Opobians will travel home with their car and not speed boat. That's the kind of news we need from Bayelsa that by the end of next year one can travel by road from Yenagoa to Brass. Amaechi has also commenced work on Trans-Kalabari highway which will link most of the Kalabari area of Rivers State. When completed you can drive from Port-Harcourt through Degema to Bakana. The 1st time Patience Jonathan insulted Amaechi was when he was commissioning the 1st rebuilt ultra-modern school at Okrika. What has Patience done for Okrika people? Amaechi has also built a bridge linking Bolo and is also doing the Okrika ring road.


So my people not all Niger-Deltans are militants or clueless. Amaechi is an example of what majority of Niger-Deltans represent but is being suppressed by the few corrupt ones in Abuja.

Well said!

“Let me take seize this opportunity to appeal to our northern brothers not to mistake our resolve to maintain peace in the Niger Delta region as a form of weakness. Nobody should blame our people when they react forcefully on issues associated with these matters and many other unwarranted attacks on our sons and daughters by those who think they own Nigeria and our commonwealth and think that the Niger Delta people must continue to be subservient to them. A word is enough for the wise,” he warned.

I endorse this message 100%. The desperate Abokis (and their Southern collaborators) should take this with a pinch of salt at their own peril.

Abagworo: I think the media is part of those fighting against the interest of the Niger Delta people. They refuse to interview the real elders and successful men but rather focus on Edwin Clarke and militants. The media has continued persistently to publish only the voice of the militants as the voice of Niger Deltans.

Amaechi is a Niger Deltan and he spoke the truth to Orubebe. He even offered to work on the Rivers section of East-West road only for militants like Asari and Orubebe to accuse him of insulting the President. Why can't the militants threaten the President to speed up development of the region rather than holding on to power without any positive change. Today Amaechi is almost done with a road joining Opobo to Ogoni and by next year Opobians will travel home with their car and not speed boat. That's the kind of news we need from Bayelsa that by the end of next year one can travel by road from Yenagoa to Brass. Amaechi has also commenced work on Trans-Kalabari highway which will link most of the Kalabari area of Rivers State. When completed you can drive from Port-Harcourt through Degema to Bakana. The 1st time Patience Jonathan insulted Amaechi was when he was commissioning the 1st rebuilt ultra-modern school at Okrika. What has Patience done for Okrika people? Amaechi has also built a bridge linking Bolo and is also doing the Okrika ring road.


So my people not all Niger-Deltans are militants or clueless. Amaechi is an example of what majority of Niger-Deltans represent but is being suppressed by the few corrupt ones in Abuja.

Tam David-West is also from the Niger-Delta! So you have on one side, mature, articulate performers like Amaechi and David-West and on the other side, the windbags like Dokubo and Edwin Clark!

Its sad because GEJ has shown over and over what side of the divide he is on!

nuclearboy:

Tam David-West is also from the Niger-Delta! So you have on one side, mature, articulate performers like Amaechi and David-West and on the other side, the windbags like Dokubo and Edwin Clark!

Its sad because GEJ has shown over and over what side of the divide he is on!

There are others like http://www.forbes.com/profile/ob-lulu-briggs/ whose LCC company was awarded the conracts for the Trans-Kalabari highway and is a great Kalabari elder statesman.

https://m.facebook.com/pages/OB-Lulu-Briggs-Foundation/200588016659610?id=200588016659610&_rdr

Or King Prof. J.T.J. Princewill, the Amanyanabo of Kalabari or Dr Edmund Maduabebe Dakuro, the Amanyanabo of Nembe. These are repectable men and achievers of Ijaw ethnic group. Why have they not been interviewed?

Imagine! Those openly in support of the President are criminals. I have breaking news for them, they can't do worst than the President who has almost grounded the whole country, they can only bark.

nuclearboy:

Tam David-West is also from the Niger-Delta! So you have on one side, mature, articulate performers like Amaechi and David-West and on the other side, the windbags like Dokubo and Edwin Clark!

Its sad because GEJ has shown over and over what side of the divide he is on!

Well-said. It is not that the ND does not have reasonable voices. The main problem is that it is GEJ who has personally supervised the bullying and disenfranchisement of these folks to create the ND in a new "Might is right" image similar to what OBJ wanted to achieve in the SW when Adebibu, Tokyo and Auxillary et al cowered the voices of Professors and world-class technocrats.

When GEJ is not busy bullying Amaechi then his fans and supporters are occupied calling David-West a senile old man and such ungracious names. As Rev.Ugolor states below, GEJ only has time for those who carry guns.

I do not agree at all with Abagworo that this has anything to do with the media. There is no way, If GEJ wants the opposite to be the case, that it is thugs and criminals who will be the voices of the ND. No need for us to avoid the obvious to be patronising the intellect of each other. We know, especially under a President from the ND, that criminals cannot hijack the image of the region if they have not been empowered to do so and if the Presidency does not wish it so.

Abati, Okupe , Maku are always silent when Clark, Kuku, Dokubo Asari, et al heat up the polity via making horridly incendiary treats against Nigeria yet the media outlet of the Presidency is lightning quick to insult Buhari, Tinubu and Nigerians over trivialities. I want good Niger Deltans to understand that are in a fight for their future and it would do them well to know who their real enemies are.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/05/2015-presidency-itll-be-disastrous-if-jonathan-uses-state-machinery-to-manipulate-another-term-ugolor/

2015 Presidency: It’ll be disastrous if Jonathan uses state machinery to manipulate another term – Ugolor

on May 03, 2013 / in Interview 5:42 pm / Comments


BY SIMON EBEGBULEM,

BENIN CITY
Rev.David Ugolor is a Niger Delta activist and the Executive Director of the African Net work For Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ). In this interview with Saturday Vanguard, Ugolor who was arrested and detained over the murder of the Principal Private Secretary to Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde, condemned what he described as the attempt to use “Abuja magic” to destroy Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, saying that the move was an attempt to ridicule the Niger Delta struggle.

He declared that the amnesty program of the Federal Government was a charade, just as he urged the Federal Government to also grant pardon to former Governor of Delta state, Chief James Ibori in order not to give ethnic coloration to the pardon policy of the Federal Government. Ugolor vows that he will continue to fight for justice with a view to finding the true killers of his bosom friend, Comrade Oyerinde.He spoke about other national issues and the recent Local Government Council election in Edo state.
Excerpts:

As a Niger Delta activist, how would you reconcile the current war between Governor Rotimi Amaechi and President Jonathan?

This is another Abuja magic in display, we are in trouble. Just last week, Femi Falana released a statement where he said there is a gradual move towards dictatorship in Nigeria and an attempt to muzzle opposition groups and free speech. You know Falana cannot just make a statement out of the blues.


I raised alarm that this government is not willing to listen to alternative voices.Every attempt to demand justice has been frustrated and the level of impunity today in Nigeria is alarming.It cuts across government sectors and institutions. If you look at the just released human rights report of 2012, it is the same message and the response of this government has been very bad.Yesterday it was me, today it is Amaechi, tomorrow it could be Adams.

The Niger state governor also complained recently, so you can see that there is a gradual trend towards muzzling people with alternative views and even a threat to justice and once there is threat to justice, you cannot talk of the rule of law, you cannot talk of democracy. The Nigerian Governors Forum is a platform for the governors to articulate their positions. They are not arm carriers, the NGF is made up of both governors from the opposition and ruling party and they elected Rotimi Amaechi as their chairman, and all the issues he has been raising are not his personal views.

They are consensus issues. Should he now pay a price for that? But you can see that this Abuja magic have brought politics into the NGF and this we condemn out rightly and as if that is not enough, this Abuja Magic which is interpreted as those old politicians who have expired in their states, as soon as they form partnership with the presidency, they try to undermine everything that happens in the states, they portend danger. The on-going politicization of the NGF activities is condemnable, it is unacceptable and as civil society, we cannot keep quiet.

They brought the judiciary into who becomes the chairman of PDP in Rivers state, they went to Abuja to get a court ruling, something that could be done in Port Harcourt. It is an attempt to muzzle Governor Amaechi and I think Nigerians should rise up against it. If the President wants to contest in 2015, the first thing he should do is to engage all stakeholders from the region, particularly the NGF. I don’t think anybody who wants to be the president of Nigeria should be fighting Amaechi who is the Chairman of the NGF because his position is that of the NGF. They are playing dirty politics. Look at the delay or seizure of the Rivers State aircraft. The differences between the President and Amaechi is dirty politics in an attempt to undermine some persons as we move towards 2015. It is 2015 politics that is at play.

Even at that, does Amaechi not deserve and have the right to aspire to be president of this country? Does any other person from the South-South not have the right to become the president? Now, if you do proper assessment of South-South presidency, what practical benefit has the region benefited from this government?Amaechi raised concern about the East West Road. Who will say that the road is not an issue in the Niger Delta? He said if the federal government cannot handle it, let the South-South governors handle it, is there anything wrong about that?

The politics surrounding NGF has to do with 2015 election and we are saying that everybody, every tribe in the region, the Urobhos, Itsekiris, all have the same right to aspire to become president of this country. But as a matter of fact, I am not too concerned about who becomes president because from the example in Edo state, the issue of tribe does not really matter.

To a large extent, if Oshiomhole was to contest on the basis of ethnicity, he may not even become a councillor in the state. But the people of Edo believed that ethnic background is not the issue but who is able to deliver.Let me tell you, if an opinion poll is carried out in the region today, people are not happy with the current presidency of Goodluck Jonathan. The so called South-South presidency is a ruse, no benefit has come to the region and I think we have a responsibility to begin to articulate views that will help to advance the course of our people.

The fact that less than one per cent of those who believe in arms are currently in comfort zone with the present government does not take away our own right to ventilate our concerns and as an Urhobo person, I have a right to articulate issues that will advance my tribe in the region. The fact that we don’t carry arms in the region, does not mean we are stupid because we have our own vision.
Presidential pardon

Pardon is now being given to some tribes and some tribes are not given, what is the difference between James Ibori and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha? As a matter of fact, Alamieyeseigha also have an international dimension to his corruption. That is why I want appeal to the international community that they should not play into the hands of this government because this government’s so called anti-corruption crusade is wrapped up in tribal sentiments.

So, when this government said they were cooperating with the British government to bring Ibori to justice, it was a ruse. The British government is wiser. Few months ago, Tinubu was being paraded before the Code of Conduct Tribunal because of his strong views. Look, we all have responsibilities to defend this democracy. Left alone, I don’t think Jonathan would have become the president of this country if not for Nigerians who fought doggedly.

We also have the right to disagree with him. Anybody from the Niger Delta who has been driving along the East-West road would not be happy with the pace of work there and I don’t think that can fetch him votes from there. Let him not be deceived, Abuja Magic cannot say who will be president in 2015. It is what you are able to do, and what he is able to deliver to the region that will be the basis for who becomes what.

Violence is not exclusive to any particular tribe, now that the federal government is dealing with only those who carry arms, the fact that Urhobos do not carry arms, the fact that the Ogonis do not carry arms does not mean they are stupid. Look at the billions of naira that has been sunk into amnesty which would have been used to build infrastructure, this is fraud. Less than one per cent of the people in the Niger Delta are the ones benefiting from the amnesty.

This government has not been able to justify the billions it has spent on the people of the area to justify the sacrifices the people have made, the sacrifices made by Ken Saro Wiwa and the Ogoni eight and the sacrifices by other tribes in the region. You cannot appropriate such for just one tribe. I think the presidency is heading for disaster in the region and every tribe has the right to defend its own. Governor Amaechi comes from a tribe and every tribe has the right to aspire to be president of the country.
OBJ’s criticism of Jonathan’s administration

As far as I am concerned, Obasanjo has lost his moral right to criticise this government, he is an hypocrite, his daughter who was a senator was accused of corruption. Jonathan is the president of this country, what Obasanjo is doing is unacceptable. When Obasanjo was president, nobody would do to him what he is doing to Jonathan today, what moral basis does he have?

If you want to even compare him to Jonathan in terms of listening to alternative views, Jonathan is better. If he had allowed Nigerians to pick their president, we won’t be where we are. It was because he single-handedly brought in Yar’Adua who later died that brought about Jonathan. If he had allowed Nigerians to pick their leader, it would have been different. We are criticising Jonathan to deliver because we want true democracy. Our criticism is that he should not use state machinery to manipulate his coming back in 2015.
Edo council election

It is still the case of Abuja magic, I will comment on the post election; I congratulate the Edo State government for conducting the election because it was done because of the agitation of Edo people that they needed a democratically elected local government administration and the government responded and election have held. At least, there is a general consensus that election was held and issues arose.

Although I didn’t monitor the election, my colleagues did and from my own appraisal, the key lessons we must learn is that there are areas we must improve on, but the idea that the election should be cancelled is unacceptable, we must move forward. People have invested resources, elections have been organised and people have won and some have lost and the constitution is clear that when you lose an election, you can approach the court. The court is there and we will monitor the court process as civil society groups to ensure that the judiciary does its part.

I also condemn the violence that erupted, people should not see election as do or die affair, election should be for service. When you don’t win election, go and do other things. We must commend the Edo state government for seeing reasons; for listening to the agitation of the people that election should be conducted and then there is the logistic challenge.

I think the idea of printing our materials abroad is not acceptable. We must internalise because apart from the capital outflow, we must learn to trust ourselves. I understand the challenge of the material not being hijacked but I think they should improve on it in future so that those things can be printed here.