I can’t discard Tompolo
•He’s a true leader who stood to the
challenges of the times
From BUCHY ENYINNAYA
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
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Chris Ekiyor
Photo: The Sun Publishing
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Blood they say is thicker than water.
Otherwise what else would make one
claim kinship with someone who has
been in hiding for activities which
the Federal Government allege have
facilitated and enhanced militancy in
the Niger Delta region. But this was the
case of Co-ordinator of the first
Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities Youth
Leaders’ Forum and President of Ijaw
Youth Council(IYC), Dr. Chris Ekiyor
who told Daily Sun that he cannot
discard Mr. Government “Tompolo”
Ekpemupolo.Hear him:
‘He is my brother and friend. I cannot
discard him. He is a true leader of the
region and has stood up to the
challenges of the times.
He may have done it in his own way but
he is a product of the society he lives
in. He is one of those leaders who sat
with me in the same room and said what
we need to get out of the creeks is
amnesty and economic justice which he
worked towards with other Ijaw leaders.
So to me, the attack on Tompolo was just
a distraction and calculated to
undermine the good intention of the
President in terms of resolving the
crisis politically.
The Youth leader further criticized
the amnesty programme, arguing that the
Federal Government was wrong to have
started with amnesty without addressing
the cause of the problem which
necessitated the amnesty. “We have to
ensure that this amnesty deal of the
Federal Government is not just a
caricature. We need something that can
really address the root cause of the
economic injustice which is really the
root cause of the crisis.
You can’t give amnesty to people and
fail to address why they took up
arms.”.On the issue of fiscal
federalism, he argues , “Economic
justice captures what we are talking
about: true federalism, resource
control, human rights, Land Use Decree.
All that the people are fighting for is
a space to exist. When people who occupy
their own land area can make use of the
resources in the land and pay to the
centre that is how a true federal state
like the United States should be.
It brings about some justice where the
people dictate what they want. Until
that justice is brought to bear, this
circle of crisis will continue. And on
the whole , he submits, “There is no
justice anywhere in the country in the
first instance. The issue of the Niger
Delta is centred on economic injustice.
People feel that they have been deprived
of their right to peaceful existence
they have been pushed to a situation
where they feel like slaves in their own
land. We are not going to accept this.
Dr. Ekiyor who describes himself as a
peaceful revolutionary fashioned after
the slain American Civil Rights leader,
Rev. Martin Luther King, (Jnr.), Mahatma
Gandhi, Rev. Desmond Tutu, Prof. Wole
Soyinka and all those leaders who
advocate and who set agenda for their
governments says , “We must hold our
government responsible.” Speaking to
Daily Sun in Asaba, Dr. Ekiyor reacting
to the military onslaught in the Creeks
said, the military option cannot solve
the problem of the Niger Delta.
The crisis is not new to us and we have
seen the consequences of the use of
force. Both militancy and military
option are not the solution. Our people
have suffered a lot of casualties. We
have to ensure that this amnesty deal of
the Federal Government is not just a
caricature. We need something that can
really address the root cause of the
economic injustice which is really the
root cause of the crisis. You can’t give
amnesty to people and fail to address
why they took up arms.
Speaking on what he thinks would be the
panacea to enduring peace in the Niger
Delta,the youth leader declared, “the
big question that we are yet to answer
is economic justice. There is no justice
anywhere in the country in the first
instance. The issue of the Niger Delta
is centred on economic injustice. People
feel that they have been deprived of
their right to peaceful existence, life
and have been pushed to a situation
where they feel like are slaves in their
own land.
We are not going to accept this.Even
before Adaka Boro, there was the
Minority Report and other intervention
agencies which were hurriedly created.
They didn’t achieve their objectives.
When we deliberately begin to look at
government policies that will allow the
people to contribute to the centre and
allow them to participate in driving the
economy, then we are talking of economic
justice.
That way people will be able to look for
jobs in their places of origin either in
or outside the government without having
a feeling that somebody is obstructing
him. In that situation, there will be
mutual respect and we can cohabit in a
truly federal state but when one body
feels that without it the other will not
succeed then there is an injustice that
will push the people to the wall. In
such a situation, they don’t have any
choice but to react violently.
On assessing the leadership of the
country, the Dentist submitted that the
bane of Nigerian society is leadership.
When United States President Barrack
Obama visited Ghana recently, there is
no doubt that all his comments were
directed against Nigeria that is
supposed to be the giant of Africa.
Nigerians are a resilient people who are
proud of their country. With all the
crime and criminality, we are still
proud of our people. The problem is
leadership.
We lack values and morality in those
people who are in the hallowed chambers
leading us. They don’t seem to
understand what is right and fair. I
don’t see why the National Assembly or
the President will, for instance.
relocate the Petroleum Training
Institute from Effurun, near Warri,
Delta State to Kaduna. There is no
moral, economic and industrial basis for
it. It is the spirit of greed and
corruption that is driving it to that
region I am not sure that it was in the
2009 Budget. If it was not there but
through a Presidential fiat or a
Commission Board, we want such
institutions to be sited in the nine oil
producing states of the Niger Delta.
He did not fail to talk about his
relationship with Mr. Government
“Tompolo” Ekpemupolo, whom he said, ‘He
is my brother and friend. I cannot
discard him. He is a true leader of the
region and has stood up to the
challenges of the times. He may have
done it in his own way but he is a
product of the society he lives in. he
is one of those leaders who sat with me
in the same room and said what we need
to get out of the creeks is amnesty,
economic justice which he worked toward
with other Ijaw leaders. So to me, the
attack on Tompolo was just a distraction
and calculated to undermine the good
intention of the President in terms of
resolving the crisis politically. I
think even those who suggested the use
of force to the President will be
regretting by now. You can imagine what
is happening now. In a guerrilla
warfare, the man carrying your briefcase
may just be a member of the Movement for
the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
(MEND).We are talking of the attack on
Atlas Cove in Lagos. God help us that it
is resolved on time. It is like a wind
which will blow all of us away.
On the inallguration of Amnesty
Committees in some states of the Niger
Delta, the youth leader submits that
every reasonable Niger Delta Governor
and lawmaker should by now have taken a
look at the amnesty offer to determine
if it is just offered to secure the oil
revenue. If that is the case, what are
the littoral states going to benefit
from it. Is it being offered to provide
the required panacea for development?
If that is the case, what are the other
matching actions that the government has
put in place in the wheel of progress to
ensure that as amnesty is being offered,
development is following? These are the
questions I expect our representatives
to be asking. An advocacy group is very
important not be made up of politicians
who understand the issues should be set
up.
Politically, he believes that the time
is up for the big one sin the country’s
politics and argues that it is high
time the youths took over power from
the old generation politicians who have
put the country in a mess. He argues,”
We believe that the people’s will is
stronger just like what happened in
Iraq, Zimbabwe and Iran. This country
has to learn from other people’s
mistakes. It is like a time bomb.
A time will come when people will reject
results written. You see what happened
in June 12. We expect the political
space should be opened for other people
to participate in. There should be
electoral reform so that free and fair
elections can begin to take place in
this country. When the reaction begins
to come, the people who hold us by the
jugular will know that their time is up.
