Ovie Okpare
An Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has urged Niger Delta militants to give President Muhammadu Buhari a chance to fix the problems in the region.
He stated that the current administration had shown sincerity of purpose towards resolving the crisis in the Niger Delta.
Clark, who also doubles as the leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum which recently met with the President, alleged that some politicians within and outside the region were sponsoring militants to discredit the dialogue team led by him.
He stated this during an interview with our correspondent on Friday in Warri, Delta State.
The elder statesman urged the militants to halt the bombings of oil installations in the region.
He stated, “We agreed that Niger Delta has suffered neglect over the years even as far back as 1958 before Independence. That was why the Willink’s Commission and the Niger Delta Development Board were inaugurated in 1958.
“Then Umaru Yar’Adua came, we were there. Gbaramatu was on fire. My blood pressure rose from 100 to 160. We got amnesty and I have to observe that the amnesty has done a lot for our boys. Twenty-three of the boys who went on scholarship to Britain got 2nd Class Upper degree and four of them First Class.
“The question is, what do we want, particularly these boys? What are they looking for? They are enemies of the people. They are criminals. You have not even waited for the dialogue to take place. Then you have ulterior motives.
“Through the assistance of the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, I led a delegation to Mr. President on November 1. We were about a hundred who presented our case. If the President had no interest in the region, he wouldn’t meet with us.’’
Clark urged the Federal Government to be wary of self-serving politicians from the region bent on causing chaos in the region.
punch
