BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE
Mr. Seigha Manager is the chairman of the Niger Delta Nationalities Forum, a coalition of 25 Niger-Delta tribes and sub-tribes. In this interview, he described the activities of Boko Haram insurgents as a move to intimidate President Goodluck Jonathan out of the 2015 election contest and gave reasons his group raised N100 million for President Jonathan to purchase the PDP nomination form for the 2015 presidential election.
On why they want Jonathan to contest the 2015 polls
Our group has long echoed the point that Mr. President has to declare his interest for the 2015 presidential election. If he fails to do that, he will not only disappoint the people of the Niger Delta but also the entire good people of Nigeria.
After all, he has performed creditably well within the last three years. His opponents have refused to take him on that sphere, rather, they are quick to point to insecurity in the polity and declare him clueless, whereas, they
Mr. Seigha Manager
are largely behind the insecurity by way of tacit support or indirect sponsorship. Even a critical overview of the much talked about insecurity indicates that he has surpassed the credit point in the sense that he has operated as a tactful General by listening to every sensible advice.
His die- hard opponents from the North would not see anything good in what he has done and so would do anything to stop him in 2015. In his three years in office, the president has established 12 universities, out of which nine were allocated to the North and only recently, he gave northern farmers N40 billion for dry season farming. Earlier, he had launched the Almajiri School Calendar. Yet, they insist he has not performed. We know that their strategy is to get more while continuously castigating him, meanwhile the Niger Delta region is suffering.
Although, many are quick at pointing to the amnesty programme for the Niger Delta ex militants, they forgot that it was an event of late Yar’ Adua even though Dr Goodluck was involved in the conceptualisation/implementation.
If that programme was to take off during President Jonathan’s administration, they would have opposed him and of course they would have had their way as usual. The point is that, the Niger Delta region seems abandoned since the start of this administration because other parts of Nigeria ought to survive.
If President Jonathan refuses to contest the 2015 presidential election, we would have been shortchanged and our hope to also access that seat for eight years would have been dashed. You can trust that those benefiting today shall ask the pertinent question: why did Jonathan not attend to the developmental needs of Niger Delta during his four years tenure? That is why our group contributed this N100 million as a widow’s might for his PDP nomination form. However, he has 100 days within which to access the cash or we shall return the money to contributors.
On insurgency and inability to rescue the abducted Chibok school girls over two months after and calls on Jonathan to resign
The call for the president’s resignation as a result of Boko Haram activities is absurd, nonsensical and uncalled for. For three years that Late Yar’ Adua was in office and the Niger Delta was in crisis, including when Gbaramatu was burnt down, he did not visit the Niger-Delta even for once and the heavens did not fall. But, Yar’ Adua turned out to be the hero of the Niger Delta. This attitude of some Nigerians wanting President Jonathan to visit every where Boko Haram has bombed must stop.
A serving senator accused by a jailed Boko Haram member, Kabiru Sokoto, is still in our National Assembly making laws for Nigeria. Some Northern leaders said Boko Haram is a function of poverty in the North. Did poverty in the North start with Dr Goodluck Jonathan’s administration? Is there no poverty in the Niger Delta where the nation’s oil resources come from? Is there no poverty in Yoruba or Igbo land? Why justify Boko Haram activities with poverty in the North?
We believe Boko Haram is all an attempt to intimidate Jonathan from contesting the 2015 election. So, if he wins the election, Boko Haram will come to an end because their aim would have been defeated. In fact, it will be in the interest of the country that Jonathan has his second term in office peacefully.
Niger-Delta will continue to support the North, East, South-West and wherever leadership comes from but if anything happens to Jonathan or he is intimidated out of office, we will tell them that what is happening in the North is a great show, but a greater show awaits them all in the Niger Delta and it will take place at the source of Nigeria’s economy.
His take on National Conference
We thank Mr. President for constituting the conference but we condemn him for not allowing the delegates to discuss the most critical issue, which is whether we want to continue to live together. Our group believes that the answer to that question would determine the way forward for all of us. For example if the answer is no, then every zone or region can begin to prepare for the doomsday.
On the other hand if the answer is yes, then the conference should go ahead and announce to the world that Nigerians are prepared to continue to live together. At that point, the conference can move to the nitty-gritty of how we want to live together.
Do we want this presidential system or parliamentary democracy? Do we want laws that discriminate between Christians and Muslims? Or such laws that would jail a man who stole a goat because of hunger, but fine his counterpart who stole billions of naira? Such laws that will sentence a man to death for killing his wife but his counterpart to prison terms for killing 45 persons with bombs?
Knowing that the basis of our present Nigeria is the amalgamation of the South and North in 1914, delegates should ask if we want to continue with the North having more states, more LGAs and more House of Representatives.
Though, South and North dichotomy is quite visible in the on-going national conference, we still reason that the conference should allow various regions to come up with their own positions or demands, most of which should not be put into vote, but rather be discussed by the other five regions so as to arrive at a win-win situation. For instance, the Niger Delta people’s demand is resource control.
Therefore, even if the 70 percent voting ratio is not achieved, the issue of resource control remains in the heart of the Niger-Delta people. South-west wants regional autonomy, no matter what the rest of the country says. Southeast wants the issue of state imbalance and citizenship addressed.
Out of the six geopolitical zones, only the South-east has five states. Whereas Northwest has seven states, the remaining four zones have six states each. So, whether you put it into vote or not, that remains the spirit of the southeast. The North-central believe that though they are from the north, they are being shortchanged. The Northwest and Northeast, possibly want most of their states to be governed by Shari’a law not minding the Christian minority.
These are the most crucial issues that affect our national equation, spirit, body and soul. They don’t have to be voted for or against. They need to be massaged in such a way that there is no loser. A situation where 31 percent votes against 69 percent to carry the day is most injurious to our national psychology.
We are very sure that when it comes to resource control, the South-south will not get the required 70 percent. All that is required to scuttle our demand is a 31percent vote against it. This is unacceptable and it is dangerous. Therefore, we will go for plan B.
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