|
BNW |
|
B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Open letter to Niger Delta youths
SIR: In the spirit of nationalism, I want to appeal to the violent youths and cultists in Rivers State to stop their campaign of terror. Every Nigerian and the international community know that Niger Delta is the hen that lays the golden egg. The Niger Delta region generates over 90 per cent of our national income from the oil and gas sectors.
The inhabitants of the Niger Delta had nothing to show for it until President Olusegun Obasanjo gave us hope by establishing the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). With time, I believe much will be done by the NDDC.
My dear youths and leaders of tomorrow, violence, gangsterism and terrorism can never be the answer. The youths in Rivers State in particular and Niger Delta in general should learn a lesson from the case of Isaac Adaka Boro. It was just after independence in 1960 that Isaac Boro started agitation for the Federal Government to remedy the neglect of the Niger Delta area and its inhabitants.
It was a good cause to meet the aspiration and desire of the native inhabitants. But the way he went about it violently amounted to treason. Consequently, he was tried, convicted and jailed for treason. He was later granted amnesty before his subsequent death as a combatant soldier in the Nigerian Civil War.
If Isaac Boro and his group had resorted to persuasion, dialogue and negotiation with the Federal Government, they would have achieved some measure of success rather than doing those things that were treasonable for which Isaac Boro was jailed.
We have no other country of our own other than Nigeria. Our country is great. We must make it greater not by war but operating in an atmosphere of peace which is necessary for development and progress. It is indisputable that there is much to gain than to lose in our unity in diversity. We were under military rule for virtually all the years from independence in 1960 to the first quarter of 1999. So, our democratic government put in place in May 1999 is an eaglet democracy involved a learning process. To correct the ills in the system and cause marginalisation to disappear from our life is a task that cannot be achieved overnight.
President Obasanjo has never minced words about our corporate existence and the need for us to unite as a nation so that we can move forward with democratic dividends. It is my conviction and belief that our President unlike when he was the military head of state is a listening President. We need to put out case properly and legitimately before him and before the Federal Government which he, the President, oversees. If we do so, we must get satisfaction for our demands.
President Obasanjo is a man calm in crisis, comfortable with responsibility and ever determined to do everything to protect the Nigerian nation and Nigerians. The violent youths in Rivers State and elsewhere should show respect for him and the office he holds. Above all these youths should manifest love for Nigeria by refusing to cause trouble that will put Nigerians in jeopardy. Please, think Nigeria and love Nigeria. So, fellow Niger Delta brothers in Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states, kindly abandon armed conflict, terrorism and gangsterism. Violent Rivers State youths, please, sheathe your swords and embrace peace by listening to the appeals from the traditional rulers, law enforcement agents, governments and well-meaning Nigerians.
The only atmosphere for national growth, progress and development is peace and not war.
Pius Ogbewi,
Lagos
|
|
||||||||||||
