The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, Came down hard
\non former President Goodluck Jonathan, accusing him of woefully failing to
\naddress the injustices, poverty and other challenges of the Niger Delta
\nregion.<\/p>\n
A Press Release issued and signed by Gbomo Jomo, spokesperson of MEND
\naccused the former President of spending six years of his presidency
\n“drinking and chasing shadows.”<\/p>\n
MEND said the response of former President Jonathan denying sponsorship of
\nthe Niger Delta Avengers, was not enough to exonerate him from being the
\n“Grand Patron” of the Avengers.<\/p>\n
MEND press release below:<\/p>\n
1. The attention of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
\n(MEND) has been drawn to a statement issued by one Ikechukwu Eze, on
\nbehalf of former President Goodluck Jonathan purporting to dissociate the
\nformer President from the allegation leveled against him by the Reformed
\nNiger Delta Avengers (RNDA) that, the former President was the Grand
\nPatron of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).<\/p>\n
2. With all due respect, the entire statement was deeply provocative and
\nembarrassingly misconceived as it woefully failed to address the core the
\nissue of whether or not; the former President was indeed, the Grand Patron
\nof the NDA.<\/p>\n
3. Rather, the statement employed diversionary Tactics which dwelt
\nextensively on sour grapes! Any follower of events in Nigeria and the
\nNiger Delta who was privileged to read the statement released by Mr.
\nJonathan would immediately observe that the former President had a score
\nto settle with the Okah brothers as well as with MEND who have since May
\n30, 2014, stopped attacks on Nigeria’s oil and gas assets; and are
\ncurrently engaged in dialogue with the Federal Government to find
\nsustainable ways and means of ending the festering Niger Delta crises
\nwhich were exacerbated by the former President’s ineptitude, incompetence
\nand corruption during the 6years he governed the country.<\/p>\n
4. Indeed, the problem in the Niger Delta today has nothing to do with the
\ncurrent Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Far from it! The
\nproblem is simply, the failure
\nof Mr. Jonathan to address the root issues confronting the region when he
\nwas at the helm. Even though he was from the impoverished region; and had,
\nby his own admission in numerous electioneering campaigns, experienced the
\nutter poverty and abject neglect of the region foisted by successive
\nNigerian Governments and the International Oil Companies since the
\ndiscovery of oil in 1958 at Oloibiri (a few meters away from his native
\nOtuoke) in Bayelsa state, Mr. Jonathan disappointingly frittered away the
\nopportunity to rescue his people when the Nigerian Presidency fortuitously
\nlanded on his laps, virtually on a platter of gold. For 6 whole years, Mr.
\nJonathan was busy drinking, making merry and generally chasing shadows at
\nthe State
\nHouse. Such a fellow deserves to be ostracized from the assembly of
\nreasonable men; because the Nigerian Presidency might never comeback to
\nthe Niger Delta region as cheap as it came to Mr. Jonathan; perhaps, in
\nthe next 100 years.<\/p>\n
5. Lest we forget, MEND was at the forefront of the armed struggle back in
\n2006\/2007 which forced the then Government of President Olusegun Obasanjo
\nto consider the option of drafting an Ijaw into the mainstream of Nigerian
\npolitics. That was how the perpetually timid and na\u00efve Dr. Goodluck Ebele
\nJonathan became Vice President and later, President of the Federal
\nRepublic of Nigeria. When he assumed the reins as President, he did the
\nunthinkable; he tracked down perceived MENDleaders and promptly got them
\nimprisoned on a trumped-up charge of attempt to assassinate him. Up until
\ntoday, Mr. Jonathan is still suffering from an assassination paranoia
\ncomplex (APC).<\/p>\n
6. Secondly, a substantial portion of Mr. Jonathan\u2019s statement,
\nunfortunately, dwelt on judicial matters which are pending in various
\ncourts in Nigeria and South Africa. For instance ,Mr. Henry Okah’s Appeal
\nin South Africa’s Supreme Court is due for Hearing this August; while his
\nbrother, Charles’ ongoing trial in Nigeria is pending before Hon. Justice
\nGabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court in Abuja.<\/p>\n
7. The former President’s statement was therefore, most highly
\ncontemptuous, injurious to the credit of MEND and the Okah brothers; and,
\nabove all, prejudicial to the eventual outcome of the ongoing trials in
\nSouth African and Nigerian courts, respectively. Consequently, both
\nbrothers shall, on account of the former President’s prejudicial
\nstatement, institute legal action against him in South Africa and Nigeria
\nwithin 60 days, commencing from today, August 9, 2016. Accordingly, they
\nhave briefed their respective Solicitors to formally engage the former
\nPresident in litigation.<\/p>\n
8. Back to the core issue. MEND cannot hold brief for the RNDA who
\npointedly accused Mr. Jonathan of complicity in fueling the ongoing Niger
\nDelta crisis ;and patronizing the NDA, apparently for political reasons.
\nWe are however ,quick to point out the fact that, the RNDA has merely
\nvindicated MEND’s belief and conviction that, the former President and his
\ncronies who lost the 2015 Presidential election were using the illegal and
\ntreasonable NDA platform to destabilize President Buhari’s Government. 9.
\nFinally, MEND is committed to working with the
\ncurrent Administration to bring peace, stability and development to the
\nNiger Delta region. The process has since commenced with the constitution
\nof the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT-MEND AARON TEAM 2, Dialogue, Peace and
\nDevelopment Initiative. Between August 22, 2016 and October 7, 2016 the
\nAaronTeam shall embark on a tour of the Niger Delta region. The proposed
\ntour is code-named “OPERATION MOSES.” The key focus of the tour is to
\npersuade militants to ceasefire and support President Muhammadu Buhari in
\nhis determined and sincere effort to
\ndevelop the region. The tour shall also help to boost Nigeria’s oil
\nproduction capacity as well as improve host community relations
\nwith oil and gas companies in the country.<\/p>\n
JOMO GBOMO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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