The era of Jomo Gbomo spokesman of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta people (MEND) issuing threats to oil companies in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria and the Federal Government is far from over. The Leader of the umbrella militant group for all freedom fighters in the region Henry Okah has added his voice to the calls and threats. I am still at loss if that interview was conducted before the October 20 2009 meeting where President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua summoned up enough political will to engage the leader of MEND,Henry Okah who recently accepted the amnesty along with other militants, in a close door meeting over renewed threats by MEND to resume attacks following the expiration of their ceasefire. Maybe the interview was conduvcted long ago and just aired on Sunday.Whatever be the case,the most important thing is the massage it was tried to get across.We cannot ignore MEND.We know what they are capable of doing.For those who don't know.They can cut off 1,000,000 million barrels from Nigeria production capacity of 2.5 million if they chose.I watched this interview which was aired on Sunday the 1st of November 2009 live around 9pm by Al Jazeera TV.watch the interview through this link. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/11/200911195852610722.html.
But the excerpts of that interview I have sketched out here. Responding to the questions Okah confirmed what Jomo Gbomo,the MEND spokesman said in their reaction to the amnesty when it commenced describing it as 'charade',he said that out of the over 15,000 repentant militants only about 500 of them are genuine that the others are criminals,rogue and kidnappers who saw the opportunity as an avenue get a presidential pardon.
When asked to juxtapose his claims to the large cache of arms that were displayed,he referred the reporter to the Federal Government for the answer. He went further to state that 'thousands and thousands' of freedom fighter are ready to take up arms against the FG if they don't start talking to the right people. But he did not mention who the right people are,but the Aaron Team quickly comes to mind. He also threatened the oil companies to pack out of the Niger Delta. Judging from MEND track record,their words are not mere words it is marched with decisive action.
This has confirmed my fears that the Yar'Adua administration unilateral usual disposition of Nigeria leaders in handling our national affairs spells doom for us. Democracy is all about consensus building. Since every interest group in the region wants peace and development why not make the paradigm shift and start a multilateral approach by engaging everyone in an all inclusive summit. This is a subject of consideration in the advice I have for Yar'Adua which I will post here before the week runs out. The articulated advice of over 20 pages is for Yar'Adua to resign or forget about the 2011 elections to save Nigeria from collapse.Okah made it clear that he did not arm the militants as he was accused and that he did not have such funds.I was not also surprised at the militants because I know that after the loss of some of their confirmed 'generals such as Tompolo,Africa and Boyloaf,they will need sometime to regroup. I think they have done just that.
As I boarded a bus to where I use a public cafe to browse the Internet,trust Lagos Danfo drivers,the driver was blasting late Afro-beat King Fela Kuti's
'Am sorry for Nigeria!
Am sorry for Nigeria!'
Need I say more. I will hold my peace until I confront the President with my calls which is in inconformity with recent developments.
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