Jonathan only took care of Patience, close relations – Rev. David Ugolo

Niger Delta Environmental activist and Executive Director of African Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor, has said that former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan did not attend to the needs of the Niger Delta people but only took care of his wife, Patience and close relations” while in power.

Ugolor said this while reacting to the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Force, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, who earlier told other ethnic groups in the Niger Delta to leave Ijaw to enjoy the benefits of its armed struggle against the Nigerian nation.

Asari had while warning Vice President Yemi Osinbajo against frequenting Ijaw land for peace-building visit, said “This jamboree by the vice president is funny. Are they our overlords or are we being colonized that they are coming to visit here and there? Don’t they know what is right? The oil belongs to us; it does not belong to Nigeria. Ijaw oil belongs to us.

“If Itsekiri say their oil belongs to Nigeria, that is their business and if Urhobo say same of their oil, that is also their business and same applies to others. But we, Ijaw, are saying that Ijaw oil belongs to Ijaw, they should leave our oil alone.

“God put the oil there for us to develop ourselves, so there is no need for any Yoruba man called Osinbajo to be perambulating Ijaw land.

“What is he perambulating about for in the Niger Delta? Don’t they know what is right? Okay, in trying to be good neighbours to others and share with them, are they the ones that would decide for us the percentage that we would give to them? Their groundnut, did they share their groundnut or give it to us?

“Which road was built in Ijaw land with groundnut money or with revenue gotten from cocoa? So the thing is that this jamboree should stop, they know what is right and they should leave what is ours for us because they do not have the right to give it to us.

“That is the issue at stake and people are not addressing these issues as it should be addressed. So for me, they are only postponing the doomsday, they should do what is right because the oil of Ijaw people belong to them.”

In response to Asari’s comment, Ugolor cautioned the former militant leader to avoid actions that could tear the region apart, adding that it was indecorous of him as one of the celebrated arrow heads of the struggle, to impute that there was nothing like Niger Delta struggle but Ijaw struggle.

“Niger Delta struggle is a common agenda for all the ethnic groups in the region and should not take an individual ethnic coloration. All the ethnic groups Urhobo, Ogoni, Itsekeri, Isoko and others have played their role. Gun is not the only option.

“For example, Ken Saro-Wiwa and Comrade Sunny Ofehe of the Hope for Niger Delta Campaign, are not carrying guns, Nnimmo Bassey is not carrying gun and nobody will discount their contributions to the Niger Delta struggle. We also need to be careful not to play into the hands of Abuja agenda.

“Even when Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was president, he did not deal with Niger Delta Question. What was responsible? He managed to take care of his wife and close relations.

“If the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo’s visit will turn around things for the Niger Delta people, which include the poor Ijaw, not the self-centered war entrepreneurs, we should all rise up and support him and allow new thinking to shape the future of the region,” he said.

“We cannot continue to create division and think we will succeed, Dokubo – Asari has played a useful role to draw global attention to the plight of our people, but he should not invest in narratives that will split the common agenda.

“United we stand and divided we fall, I think Dokubo-Asari’s interview with Vanguard today (yesterday) will not help to build a common agenda, so I strongly appeal to him to use his goodwill to strengthen inter-ethnic cooperation and also give chance to the Vice-President to implement the new agenda.”