By RAZAQ BAMIDELE, NDUBUISI ORJI, CHINELO OBOGO, SAM OTTI (Lagos) and JULIANA TAIWO-OBALONYE (Abuja)
Several years after the bombardment of Odi Community in Bayelsa State by the military, President Goodluck Jonathan said it did not succeed in curbing militancy in Niger Delta.
Jonathan said rather, it worsened militancy in the region and attracted international outcry against the Federal Government.
Jonathan, who disclosed this yesterday during a presidential media chat in Abuja, also said it was too early for him to declare whether or not he will contest the 2015 election. He said if the military action in Odi had stopped militancy, there would have not been any need for the amnesty programme for militants in the Niger Delta initiated by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
He said the bombardment of Odi in retaliation for the killing of 12 policemen in the community only succeeded in killing old men and women, pointing out that no single militant was shot dead in the action.
His words : “After the invasion,I and the governor entered Odi. Ordinarily, the governor and his subordinates would not have moved in at the same time. We entered houses and we saw some dead people. Most of the dead were old men and women, but none of the militants was killed. None. Bombarding Odi was meant to solve the problem, but it never did. If the attack in Odi had solved the problem of militancy in Niger Delta, then the late President Yar’Adua’s government of whom I was privileged to be his deputy, would not come up with the amnesty programme.
That is to tell you that an attack on Odi never solved the problem of militancy, rather it attracted international outcry and many people began to say things rather than the attack on Odi.” On the issue of his second term, the President said he will declare his stand in 2014. He said this is because making his stand public at this time would heighten tension in the polity and affect the running of the government. According to him, if he says at this time that he would run in 2015, the activities of government will be affected. And if he says he would not run, some members of his cabinet might even resign for the purpose of contesting the election.
However, he said that four years is too small for any government to really make an impact. His words :“You are asking whether I will contest in 2015. It is too early to ask a sitting president whether he will re-contest. If a president says I am contesting, it will generate tension. If I said I am not, it will generate tension. If I say I am not contesting, some of my cabinet members may even resign. All of them are qualified to contest the position. Four years is small for a person to make an impact. Before you ask if the president will contest, wait until 2014”. On the issue of fuel subsidy, Jonathan denied ever saying that the palliative would be removed next year.
He said already the subsidy is provided for in the 2013 budget, asking rhetorically, why should he put it in the budget in the first place if he had plan to remove it? He explained that the issue came up when a group of students from National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru presented a research work to him. “In the research work, Canada was said to have 16 refineries while Nigeria has only four. I then asked my Economic Adviser to find out who owns the refineries in Canada and he said they are privately-owned,” the President stated, lamenting that “we also issued licences to private people to build refineries, but they are not building.”
And to reach the level of Canada, Jonathan insisted, “then, a policy which operates in Canada should be adopted here in Nigeria,” enthusing, if that policy is in operation in the country and the private sector also build refineries, the issue of subsidy would be resolved.” In addition to that, the President informed that part of efforts to address the issue of scarcity of fuel was the on-going process to sanitize the oil industry, assuring that “when we conclude the process to sanitize the oil sector, the issue of queues in filling stations will be put behind us.”
While explaining that there is no need for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) beyond what the National Assembly is currently doing, Jonathan explained that “the feelings of Nigerians are that this Constitution was written by the military and that it is not the Nigerians’ Constitution and they are clamouring for Nigerians to write a Constitution for themselves.” According to him, the process embraces all Nigerians, “where individual groups, social groups, religious groups, socio-cultural groups, ethnic groups, youth groups or all other interest groups, would have an opportunity to have input in the process.”
His words: “The issue of Sovereign National Conference (SNC), when you mention the word, sovereign, people get frightened. But if there is anything I believe as President, I swore to an oath to defend the Constitution, that whatever we do, we should keep in line with the Constitution. Anything that Nigerians have, they can communicate to the National Assembly. But if today we jettison the position of the Constitution, we will run into another anarchy.”
On the issue of referendum, the President said that “what the National Assembly is doing now has satisfied referendum.” On the recent governorship election in Edo and Ondo states, where his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost to the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria and the Labour Party (LP) respectively, Jonathan said the party gave a very good account of itself, resulting in it coming second in the two elections.
However, he said the PDP will win the two states after the tenure of the incumbent governor expires. President Jonathan urged the PDP chapters in the respective states to put their houses in order. He said out that it is not in the interest of the country’s democracy for the PDP or any other political parties to control the entire states in the country. ‘PDP is doing wonderfully well. In any country where you have presidential system and you practise true democracy, you don’t expect the ruling party to win all the states.
The ruling party will not win all the states. It will be dangerous for the country if the PDP for example, controls all the states. “In Edo and Ondo states, you mentioned we contested against incumbents. If you contest against an incumbent governor, everyday he is campaigning because his activities speak for him. We believe that in the next election, the PDP family will come together and win the state. We will win naturally’, he said
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