NIGER Delta Consultative Assembly, NIDCA, yesterday, told
the Federal Government to suspend engagements with all claimants to the mandate
of Niger Delta’s represent-tation...
until stakeholders from the oil-producing
ethnic nationalities meet and agree on an acceptable umbrella platform for the
region. It warned that other stakeholders in the Niger Delta will not accept a
“situation where a group of persons will shove Chief E. K. Clark aside and
install another Ijaw forum and leadership for the region. “With the shameful
face-off between the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, and Pan Niger Delta Peoples
Congress, PNDPC, the legitimate struggle of the Niger Delta people for justice
is being brought to ridicule in the eyes of right-thinking men and women in
Nigeria. Advocates balance “The cacophony of voices arrogating the mandate of
representation of the region to themselves,” NIDCA, in a statement by its
Chairman, Chief Fred Obe, said: “The rest of the region was taken aback when a
group of persons from the same Ijaw ethnic nationality as Chief Clark executed
a coup d’etat against him. “The rest of the region accepted PANDEF as a
mouthpiece of the region largely because of Pa Clark and a handful of other
credible leaders, otherwise PANDEF would have been roundly rejected at
formation because of the undemocratic way it came into existence and it is
unrepresentative and lopsided architecture. “At formation, persons who, in the
opinion of the convener, were leaders of the region were invited to form PANDEF
as against giving the privilege to the concerned ethnic nationalities to
nominate their representatives to the maiden meeting and the subsequent forming
of PANDEF. “This has occasioned a grave injustice against almost all the other
ethnic nationalities in the region as most of them did not have their first 11
in that body. This injustice saw the Ijaw ethnic nationality dominating all
aspect of PANDEF from the number of persons it has in the body to the Ijaw
occupying all strategic organs of the body. “Pa Clark, an Ijaw, is the leader
of PANDEF, while another Ijaw, Alfred Mulade, is the Coordinating Secretary.
“The rest of the region accepted this blatant injustice because of Pa Clark,
who has over the years paid his dues in the Niger Delta struggle for justice.
“I know HRM Ayeni Botu as a real and authentic royal activist for the region,
but if Pa Clark were to be retired from Niger Delta leadership by the Ijaw
themselves, then the leadership must go to another tribe in the region. “The
Niger Delta struggle is not about one tribe alone. On Niger Delta Republic “We
in the Niger Delta have been crying about marginalisation by the Arewa North
and others, but it is becoming clearer by the day that we are also not our
brother’s keeper in this region. “This is why any misguided talk of a Niger
Delta Republic can never see the light of day. In fact, some of us will fight,
if necessary, to stay in a restructured Nigeria against anybody talking of
secession in this region. “If on the other hand the Almighty God were to
dismember Nigeria, there still will be no Niger Delta Republic, rather there
will be many republics because of the overbearing attitude of some of our
selfish Niger Delta brothers. “So, on this issue of mouthpiece for the region,
the way forward is for stakeholders to get together to give a proper mandate to
PANDEF and also cause it to be democratised and truly representative, if Niger
Delta people were still to accept it as the umbrella platform. “If that did not
work out, then a brand new, truly representative and democratic platform will
be formed to drive the struggle to the next level.”
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