Home Rebellion For Jonathan

BY OLUOKUN AYORINDE/Abuja

President Goodluck Jonathan comes under criticism of individuals and stakeholders in the Niger-Delta region over allegations of poor performance

At every opportunity, President Goodluck Jonathan claims his government has done well. But not many Nigerians are convinced. Ironically, the most vociferous critics of the President lately have been his Niger Delta people, many of who vowed to give arms and limb to ensure his success at the 2011 presidential election. Many of such erstwhile die-hard supporters are now attributing the continued neglect of the East-West road to the President’s failure to deliver on his promises to, especially, his kith and kin in the Niger Delta.

Leading the charge against the President are former militant leaders and activists in the region, many of who are saying the hope of accelerated development of the region from which Nigeria derives crude oil, through which it earns over 90 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings, now seems unrealisable. “The Niger Delta people are still suffering and that is capable of resurrecting arms. We are aware that Mr. President cannot do it all, but he has a Minister of Niger Delta who does not tell him the truth, particularly as regards the East-West road. Our people are not happy with the performance of Mr. President as it has to do with the East West Road,” said Comrade Paul Bebenimibo, a Niger Delta activist who recently called for assessment of ministers appointed from the Niger Delta by Jonathan and possibly, their sack for non-performance.

Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, leader of Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF, has of recent been very visible in the media with complaints over what he described as non-performance of the President. Asari, who, along with other former militant leaders were busy last January mobilising support for Jonathan against the mass protest that resulted from  removal of oil subsidy, in a recent interview went as far as asking Jonathan not to contemplate running for a second term, except he ratcheted up his performance in terms of delivery of basic needs of people in the remaining two years of his administration. He said his criticism of the President is because the Jonathan administration is engaging in a lot of frivolities. “But if Goodluck Jonathan is in government and instead of representing collective sufferings of our people, he deviates to be doing Owambe, it is in my position to tell him that that is not why we told you to go there to represent us collectively. What you are doing – like using N60 billion to buy 10 million phones for farmers, which farmers? Can that not be used to buy tractors? Why should the government be spending money irrationally?” Dokubo-Asari, who told this magazine that he is not supporting Jonathan as a person, but the interest of the minority that he represents, said he is reconsidering his support for the President. Asari described himself as an Ijaw activist and accused some Niger Deltans in government of shielding the President away from the reality of the situation in Niger-Delta and the country at large. The activist also accused the Jonathan administration of condoning corruption.  On his assessment of the President’s performance since he assumed office, Asari answered sarcastically: “He is doing well and our East-West road is not fixed; people like Orubebe are still in government buying houses? Orubebe that I know was a poor man, how did he come to be buying houses in Abuja? At the time Orubebe came here, I don’t think he was richer than me. That’s the truth of the matter.”

Ebikabowei Victor-Ben, popularly known as General Boyloaf, and Commander Ateke Tom, both colleagues of Asari in the Niger Delta struggle, have joined the train of critics of the current administration’s dismal record in infrastructural development and fight against corruption. In a joint statement they issued about two weeks ago, the former militants, who led hundreds of their boys into dropping their arms and embracing the Federal Government Amnesty in 2009, specifically accused federal government appointees from the Niger Delta region of poor performance. They specifically fingered Orubebe, Dieziani Alison-Madueke, Minister of Petroleum Resources; and members of the Amnesty Implementation Committee as those not living up to the expectations of the Niger Delta people. While applauding the idea behind setting up of the Ministry of Niger Delta, the two ex-militants noted that the expectation that the administration would fast-track development in the region was fast turning into a mirage, and accused Orubebe of feathering his own nest to the disadvantage of people of the region. “Those we supported are now heading the destruction of the region and are busy amassing wealth for their personal gains. There are evidences everywhere: in the East-West road contract, shoreline protection contracts, empowerment and skill acquisition, design and development of coastal roads. From statistics, people that have died along the East-West road are now ten times those that died during the Niger Delta struggle,” they claimed.

On the Petroleum Ministry, Ateke Tom and Boyloaf noted: “The Petroleum Ministry is now a theatre of monumental fraud, where all manner of shady deals are orchestrated. It’s no longer news that things have gone so bad, thereby bringing embarrassment and shame to the government of President Goodluck Jonathan.”

For Nengi James, founder, Niger Delta Development Monitoring and Corporate Watch, the biggest letdown of President Jonathan to his ‘people’ is his failure to implement the Ledum Mittee technical report on Niger Delta, which he said is the best report the President would have adopted to help the region. “All the demands of the region in addition to the demands of our neighbours were incorporated into that report. If that technical report is still left behind and not being adopted by the President, that means we are going nowhere,” he said. Nengi said in a recent interview with a national newspaper that Jonathan’s administration had continued to play politics with major developmental projects in the region such as the East-West and proposed coastal roads. He also said interventionist agencies such as the Niger Delta Development Commission and the Ministry of the Niger Delta had failed to deliver on the promise of bringing development to people of the region.

Recently, a group describing itself as Niger Delta Elders Forum indicated that it will not support President Jonathan’s re-election bid in 2015 if the President’s current approach to development of the region continued. In a communique signed by Etubong Duke, its chairman, and Mr. Nelson Baribote, its secretary, the forum claimed that the South-south geopolitical zone has been faced with greater socio-economic hardship than before Jonathan’s regime. “We have seen that the President and his ministers are more interested in the 2015 agenda than the welfare of the people,” said the Forum. “We wish to state, however, that this time around, Niger Deltans will not be fooled to vote for Jonathan unless he takes practical steps to address our developmental challenges in the region without prejudice to other areas,” it added.

But not all the criticisms against President Jonathan by different groups and individuals in the Niger Delta have centred on the alleged total neglect of the region. Some groups expressed dismay that the President has been focused on aggregating benefits that should be spread around the entire region to his Otuoke community, his home state of Bayelsa and his Ijaw ethnic group, in that order. The accusation of parochialism against the President includes taking sides with his Ijaw people or his home state in matters involving other states or ethnic groups in the Niger Delta.

An instance cited by a critic to this magazine last week was the perception that the President is unduly taking sides with Bayelsa in its yet-to-be resolved boundary dispute with Rivers State. Rivers had accused the National Boundary Commission and Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission of tactically ceding about 80 per cent of the oil and gas-rich communities and settlements in Akuku Toru Local Government Area to the old Brass Division in Nembe, Bayelsa State, by shifting the boundary demarcating Degema Division from the old Brass Division to River Sombreiro, in the 12th provisional edition of the Administrative map of Nigeria. The state added that it went to court to challenge the action, and the court resolved that proceeds from oil and gas in the area should be paid into an escrow account. It however noted that suddenly, the money in the escrow account started going to Bayelsa, with about N17 billion proceed from Soku community in the escrow account already paid to the President’s home state as at October last year. Rivers State accused the President of influencing the payment of the funds to Bayelsa in a series of advertorials late last year. The Presidency however denied the charge.

“How can the largest ethnic nationality in Delta State, the second in Niger Delta and the sixth largest ethnic nationality in the country be treated as if we are nobody by Jonathan’s government? Qualified Urhobo people are not being appointed into federal positions and infrastructures are not being provided in our communities. What have we done? This government is taking our peace-loving nature for stupidity,” the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, the umbrella body of the Urhobo in the South-south recently lamented. Leaders of the Itsekiri and Isoko in the Niger Delta have spoken in a similar vein, alleging that they have not been compensated for their overwhelming support for the Jonathan administration. The Ogoni in Rivers State have also complained about the failure of the President to implement the report of United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, on remediation of effects of oil pollution oin their communities.

Also, the Benin National Congress, BNC, after a recent meeting lamented that though they voted overwhelmingly for the President, no notable Benin son or daughter is occupying any key position in his government. “Benin National Congress sincerely condemns the seeming blackout of Binis from the Jonathan’s Presidency, and seizes this medium to canvass presidential reward for our people for their disposition to peace and hospitality,” read a statement signed by Comrade Aiyamenkhue Edokpolo, its president.

Yet, this magazine gathered that not every criticism against Jonathan by his people is borne out of altruism. Investigation by this magazine revealed that former militant leaders like Boyloaf and Ateke are frustrated by the failure of Jonathan and Orubebe to order the renewal of their N5.6 billion pipeline protection contracts which expired last year. Dokubo-Asari agreed as much in a recent interview with this magazine. Recently, some ex-militants in the region, under the aegis of Leadership Forum for Peace in the Niger Delta, said erstwhile militants engaged to protect the pipelines across the region are now idle due to non-renewal of the contract. It was gathered that the President was not keen on renewing the contract because, with increased attacks on oil pipelines and crude oil theft now at an unprecedented all-time high, he believed the beneficiaries had not justified the payments they were receiving. But the beneficiaries insist that the pipeline protection contracts have led to reduction in the incidence of bunkering and vandalism in the region. They also claim the contracts help in bringing peace and security to the region – thus facilitating increase in Nigeria’s oil production level – because over 10,000 youths are employed by the companies. “I want to advise Mr. President against cancelling the surveillance contract because doing so would unleash a fresh crisis in the region. People have blamed the crisis of Boko Haram (in the North) on poverty; but I can assure you that Boko Haram will be child’s play compared to what will happen here,” Bebenimbo said while emphasising that terminating the contracts would lead to fresh crises in the region.

Apart from the loss of unrestrained opulence revoking the contracts would cause them, erstwhile militants are also disenchanted with the President over what they perceive as his undue favouritism to one of them, “General’ Tompolo. It was learnt that other ‘Generals’ are complaining that the Presidency is according Tompolo prime status by awarding his companies juicy contracts and giving him the opportunity of making nominations for key appointments into federal ministries and parastatals. The erstwhile militants alleged that Tompolo has been a major beneficiary of contracts from federal agencies like NIMASA, Ministry of Niger Delta, and Amnesty Office. Thus, other ex-militants like Asari, Ateke, Boyloaf and Farah Dagogo, according to reports, have taken a decision to not only distance themselves from the President, but from his 2015 re-election plans until there is a remarkable change in their favour. However, sources close to Tompolo have described the allegation as mischievous, arguing that the federal government has not fulfilled its numerous promises to the Ijaw warlord. They cited the example of Tompolo’s pipeline contract which also has not been renewed.

This magazine gathered that some of the former warlords are also working for individuals eager to secure appointments at different levels of government. Presidency officials have described the criticism of the President by the militants and other stakeholders in the region as misplaced, arguing that there is little the President can do to favour his ‘people’ as there are constitutionally laid down procedures for allocation of federal revenue. They also argued that focus should be more on the Niger Delta Governors, who are collecting far more revenue each month than their counterparts in other regions in terms of allocation from the federal purse. They also pointed out that even now, there are different allegations that the President has been favouring the Niger Delta in terms of allocation of projects, appointments and budgetary allocations, especially by interests in the northern part of the country.

.This article originally appeared in TheNEWS magazine of 04 February 2013