BETRAYAL OF THE NIGER DELTA PEOPLE'S ASPIRATION AND MANDATE

By

OGELE CLUB Nigeria

P.O.Box 11384, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Tel: 08034746918. International office- P.O.Box 43684, Brooklyn, MN 55443, USA. Email: ogeleclub@aol.com 

His Excellency, Obong Victor Attah Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State.

His Excellency, Chief D.S.P Alamieyeseigha Executive Governor of Bayelsa State

His Excellency, Mr. Donald Duke. Executive Governor of Cross River State

His Excellency, Chief James Ibori Executive Governor of Delta State

His Excellency, Chief Lucky Igbinedion Executive Governor of Edo State

His Excellency, Dr Peter Odili Executive Governor of Rivers State

April 6, 2003

We are writing to you because you govern a state where Ijaws have ancestral homes. We have been watching with keen interest the political atmosphere, which has been characterized by the evolvement and metamorphosis of personal and selfish politician interest by politicians given the mandate to protect and defend the interest of the people. This egoistic tendency, appear to be the order of the day in recent political history of Nigeria. But when certain persons, or group of persons, divert from this route, forsaking personal interest for communal interest, such persons or groups need to be commended and encouraged. It is in this light that we bear no apparent grudge against:

(a) The Governors and Houses of Assembly in Northern Nigeria for introducing the Sharia law, whose bill was sponsored by the governors and passed by their various houses of Assembly. This is the desire of the majority of their people.

(b) The Kano Elders Forum and 19 Northern governors for their selfish and parochial statement that General Obasanjo should not sign the onshore/offshore oil bill. This, of course, is the position of the majority of their people, which they their leaders must protect.

It is for the same reason that the people of the Niger Delta were thrown into jubilation when in 2001, you the governors of the South- South, parliamentarians and other leaders met in the ancient city of Benin and pronounced your support and commitment to the struggle for Resource Control. According to you, "for this is the wish of our people." For once, you appeared to have taken over the people's struggle and to champion it. Little did we know that the people's struggle was being hijacked to promote selfish interest, and to destroy it. After your pronouncement, no concerted effort was made to sponsor and pass any bill on any of the vital issues regarding Resource Control in the different states you govern. Instead, you watched and tacitly supported General Obasanjo when he did the following: -

Politicised the development of the Niger Delta by stalemating all developmental projects in the Niger Delta for the first fifteen months of his government, where the bill on NDDC was introduced with procedural abnormalities. And it took over fifteen months for the National assembly to detect and amend some of the abnormalities, and whose bill he refused to sign until the National Assembly overrode his veto and passed the NDDC act.

-Dragged the people and governments of the Niger Delta littoral states to the Supreme Court on their agitation for resource control, while keeping silent on the issue of introduction of Sharia law by some states in the north.

-Refused to abolish the obnoxious land-use decree he introduced into the constitution on his first advent to the headship as Head of State of Nigeria.

 -Delayed the implementation of the provision of the 1999 constitution on derivation [not less than 13%] for eight months on assumption of office.

-Invaded and destroyed a Niger Delta community - Odi. Till today he is still unrepentant, unremorseful, unapologetic, and has made no attempt at rebuilding the community. On the other hand, Mr. President did not destroy communities that committed "similar crimes" in other parts of the country, and for the only one he destroyed, he has apologised and set up a commission of enquiry.

 -And has recently refused to sign the bill on the onshore/offshore dichotomy passed by the national assembly for the good and stability of the country.

-Failed to provide protection for citizens of the Niger Delta despite, their complaints of threats to their lives.

Sadly, while politicians from other parts of the country insisted and bargained for the interest of their people during the PDP primaries before supporting General Obasanjo for his second presidential aspiration, and on the heat of his refusal to sign the bill on offshore/onshore dichotomy, you only bargained to secure your party tickets for your second tenure ambition- your only condition for supporting General Obasanjo! After securing your party gubernatorial tickets, you now proceeded to work assiduously for the candidature of General Obasanjo.

While all these events are awash in several national dailies, none of you have refuted them. Despite all the above, you have met again with Mr. President to amend the bill on onshore/offshore dichotomy to further deprive your people of their natural resources, even the little entrusted to you by virtue of 13% derivation you have failed to properly manage. We view these actions as a betrayal of the trust, confidence and mandate given to you by the people when they "elected" you into office. You have again betrayed the people to secure a ticket for your second term ambitions.

In this light, we demand the following: -

-That you immediately resign from your offices, as you no longer represent our interest but yourselves.

- That you return the gubernatorial ticket of your party back to the party as your ticket was negotiated for selfish interest instead of communal interest.

- That you immediately render an account of your stewardship, especially as it concerns the management of the 13% derivation fund accruing to your state.

- That you stop further pronouncements on resource control, as your recent actions show your non-commitment to its ideals.

Failing these, we shall work with all the peoples of the Niger Delta, whose interest you have mortgaged to obtain your tickets, to ensure the total defeat of your party in the Niger Delta.

We thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

Signed: Felix Tuodolo Rowland Ekperi Francis Ebikefe Porbeni

Cc

(1) His Excellency, Chief Adebayo Adefarati Executive Governor of Ondo State. (

2) Chief Audu Ogbeh National Chairman, PDP

April 2003