By Clifford Ndujihe
Leader of the Niger Delta groups and
the President/Founder of Concerned Niger-Delta Youths Initiative (CNDYI), Ebis
Orubebe, in this interview spoke on why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost
the 2015 presidential polls and how to maintain peace in the Niger-Delta.
On why the Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP lost the 2015 presidential polls
There was serious internal crisis
within the PDP, which led to the defection of some important members including
governors, legislators and other leaders. Secondly, this insecurity challenge,
especially Boko Haram, was a key factor the opposition took advantage of.
Thirdly, you know Nigeria politics; politics of North and South. Some northern
leaders accused Dr Goodluck Jonathan of refusing to honour the zoning
agreement. I do not know when that agreement was reached, where it was
discussed. That was a key factor, the entire North felt power should return to
the region. Also, some persons within the party did not do well. We see it as a
betrayal, the way they lost scandalously in their areas.
After the election the problem of
insecurity appears to have increased, what do you think is responsible?
Ebis Orubebe
When the Boko Haram insurgency
started many Nigerians felt it was just Jonathan’s problem. So people rather
than joining him to fight they were busy blaming him. Even the people from
places where this crisis is going on were seeing it as just Jonathan’s problem.
So that is how it basically got to this point. As we can see, this problem has
gone beyond just Nigeria.
These people have connections with
ISIS, Al-Qaeda and other international terrorist organizations. I will call on
all Nigerians to support the current President and the government, to see how
we would put hands together and fight it.
On whether the crisis in the
Niger-Delta region will re-surface under President Buhari
Even before the election there were
some set of youths, let me call them ex-agitators who threatened that if
Jonathan was not re-elected they were going to take up arms again. We reached
out to these agitators and some youth leaders to take the result of the
elections. I still see some forms of threat, especially on the part of the
ex-agitators; arising from what is going on in the current government, which I
may call witch-hunt. As of last count, we have three aides to the former
president from the Niger Delta, who are being detained and no one has come up
to tell us the reasons for their detention. I have my fears, because I know the
role we played to make sure that there is peace in the region; and if this
witch-hunt is not halted with immediate effect, I doubt that we will continue
to enjoy peace in the Niger-Delta.
How do you think this looming crisis
can be prevented?
As a group, we are still planning
some programmes to bring the youths together. First and foremost, looking at
the crisis in the North-Eastern part of the country, we want to work with the
youths over there because they are our brothers, and anything happening there
affects every one of us. We are also planning programmes and activities that
will continue to foster peaceful co-existence among Niger-Delta youths. We have
been trying to bring various warring factions and youth groups in the region
together to maintain peace.
We are planning a meeting with the
newly elected leaders in the region, especially the governors and legislators, to
see how we can pursue a common goal, which is the development of the
Niger-Delta, peacefully.
What is your advice to Mr.
President on the potential crisis in the region?
In President Muhammadu Bahari’s
inaugural speech, he promised to improve on programmes that were already in
place and that Niger-Delta in particular will have a special place in his
government. So, we are hoping that he will keep to his promise.
You are the President/Founder of
Concerned Niger-Delta Youths Initiative (CNDYI), what is the group about?
The aim of this group is to promote
peace and unity among Niger-Delta youths in particular and Nigerian youths in
general.
It was formed as a result of the
polarization of youths’ groups over the years which has become a tool in the
hands of selfish politicians with their divisive tendencies and other
Niger-Delta forces.
We set up this group to bring these
youths together in order to foster unity among them as leaders of tomorrow.
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