The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
(MEND) faults Mr Kingsley Kuku, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta
Affairs in his recent televised interview in the “60mins with Angela” show, on
the Boko Haram abduction of over 200 school girls and the Niger Delta
agitation.
On Boko Haram abduction:
Mr Kuku started by coming in defence of the wife of
the President, Patience Jonathan, whose utterances and actions prompted a
global ridicule and also made a joke of the Nigerian government. He stated that
she “empathised with the mothers of the abducted school girls, as a mother, a
leader, and a Nigerian. We all know that her action was only a desperate act to
gather sympathy due to the fact that the global awareness, which the abduction
had created, exposed the ineptitude of her husband and which also threatens his
chances of getting re-elected in 2015.
If she was so “empathetic”, why did it take three
weeks for her to speak out on the abduction upon realising it had created a
global outrage and condemnation?
Regarding the security in Borno State, Kingsley Kuku
stated that the state Governor is the Chief Security Officer of the State and
hence should be held accountable for the abducted school girls. Mr Kuku fails
to realise that President Jonathan assumed the role of Chief Security Officer
of Borno State upon declaring a State of Emergency and hence should not point
fingers at the governor upon his failure to protect the vulnerable people of
Borno State.
Mr Kuku further contradicted himself by saying there
were “mysteries” surrounding the abduction of the Chibok school girls and later
displays a placard asking Boko Haram to release our girls. Which girls is he
now referring to?
On dialogue with Boko Haram, Kingsley Kuku stated that
the government “initiated a committee that visited jailed Boko Haram members in
Kuje Prison, Abuja ”, and have “set the pace for dialogue and peace with Boko
Haram”. Unfortunately, Boko Haram does not believe in this government and have
seen the insincerity and failure of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, a sure
reason why they are sceptical to come forward for negotiations.
Rather than accepting responsibilities for their
failures, the government is busy playing the propaganda and politicking games,
which is very unfortunate.
On the Niger Delta Agitation:
On the issue of the Niger Delta agitation, Mr Kuku
stated that “President Goodluck Jonathan initiated dialogue and peace options”
with the Late President Yar’Adua, “begged him” and also “went to Camp 5”. This
is an outright and frivolous lie!
There were never any negotiations or dialogue
initiated by President Jonathan of any kind to address the issues that gave
birth to militancy in the Niger Delta.
The late President Yar’Adua was the architect of the
Amnesty Programme who intended this process to be a precursor to formal
dialogue in that achieving a just and lasting solution to the unrest in the
Niger Delta by addressing the root issues that gave birth to the agitation.
Following this, the ‘Aaron Team’ was selected and mandated by MEND to dialogue
on its behalf with the government of the late President Musa Yar’Adua on issues
that led to our insurgency before any Amnesty could be considered. But they
were never given that opportunity after President Goodluck Jonathan became
President following the death of President Yar’Adua.
President Jonathan on the other hand, who is obviously
unwitting as to how the Niger Delta issue can be permanently resolved, hijacked
the Amnesty process with his cronies for his selfish political gains by using a
Divide and Rule tactic where he offered bribes by way of pipeline protection contracts
and political appointments to those susceptible to such compromise. His
government, with the connivance with South Africa , jailed Henry Okah and
others who insisted on integrity and addressing the root issues.
With regards to Mr Kuku’s comments about Tompolo’s
leadership and demands on behalf of the groups in the Niger Delta, MEND wishes
to clarify that Tompolo was never in any position to speak on behalf of any of
the groups. Kingsley Kuku also gave a false impression that the Niger Delta
struggle was about Asari Dokubo and “then came Tompolo”. This is, of course,
complete and arrant nonsense. And not only is it nonsense. It is a morally
abhorrent exercise in nonsense which owes everything to extreme ignorance. Who
is Tompolo? He was only a ‘Commander’ of our Camp 5 whose command was relieved
upon his decision to accept the Niger Delta Amnesty. The lifestyles of these
individuals today are of the contrary when they claim to be “freedom fighters,
fighting for the oppressed people of the Niger Delta”.
According to Mr Kingsley Kuku on the issue of poverty
in Northern Nigeria , he revealed that “there is also poverty in the Niger
Delta region” and cited the Gele Gele Community in Edo State , as an example.
This begs the question: With the Billions of Naira channelled to the Amnesty
Programme, the Ministry of the Niger Delta, the Niger Delta Development
Commission (NDDC) and the thirteen (13) percent derivation from the oil
revenue, why is there still poverty and underdevelopment in the Niger Delta
region?
With all the kidnappings, attacks and vandalising of
pipelines in the Niger Delta and bombings in the North of Nigeria, Mr Kingsley
Kuku, in his delusional state, said, “ Nigeria is at peace today”. What planet
is this man living in?
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
(MEND) strongly advises Mr Kingsley Kuku to desist from paying for televised
shows where critical questions will never be asked, to use as a whitewash when
Nigerians and the world are much wiser than such shenanigans.
Update on our recent Port Harcourt
Refinery Jetty Attack:
It has come to our attention that a statement credited
to a Mr Eric Omare, the publicity Secretary of a tribal assembly known as the
Ijaw Youth Council, that a “three-man committee was setup to investigate” our
recently claimed attack on the NNPC Jetty in Okrika, Rivers State, and
concluded that the “explosion was triggered by an open boat engine used by
suspected oil thieves”.
We not only find this statement laughable but also see
the level of sycophancy in a group of visionless ‘Niger Delta Plebeians’ paid
to discredit our claim. This are the same group of people that threatened to
attack pipelines in the Niger Delta region should the region not get a Fifty
(50) percent increase in oil derivatives.
We are fully aware that these antics are only a means
to justify the renewal of pipeline protection contracts they are currently
being bribed with.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has
failed to date in publishing the findings of its investigation on our Warri
Refinery attack after almost a year but ‘miraculously’, a tribal assembly like
the Ijaw Youth Council, with a “three-man committee”, can conclude their
“investigations” in three (3) working days. What a joke!
Rather than speaking out against misplaced priorities
by this government, corruption, impunity, despotism and absence of the Rule of
Law, these politicised bodies prefer to become government sycophants begging
for political appointments, contracts or cash rewards in State and Federal
corridors of power.
Jomo
Gbomo
