The ascendancy of Dr Goodluck Jonathan to the number one position in the country has not brought significant rewards to the people of the Niger Delta, a militants group, Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) has said.
In a statement by its spokesperson, Cynthia White, the militants body condemned leaders of the Niger Delta for pressuring the president to contest the 2011 presidential election, when most of his kinsmen wanted him to conduct credible elections and leave.
The militants pointed out that the heated debate whether Jonathan should contest or not was causing great harm and neglect in the Niger Delta.
According to the group, too much energy is being channelled to the Jonathan Must Run project the same way Nigerians canvassed for the late military dictator, General Sani Abacha, and former President Obasanjo’s third term project.
The group described the Federal Gover-nment’s amnesty programme under President Jonathan as flawed because it only focused on the rehabilitation of ex-militants without moves to see to other recommendations.
The statement reads: “The people of the Niger Delta are a deeply challenged people at the moment. While they know that their son is the President, they are also agonised that their son cannot do anything for them because he is scared of making a wrong political move that could jeopardise his future political ambitions.
“With the coming of President Goodluck Jonathan, there are hopes in certain quotas that the Niger Delta may get a far better deal. It is beginning to dawn on these people that it will certainly not be so.
Apart from a deeply flawed amnesty pro-gramme that focuses on the rehabilitation of the so-called ex-combatants and bandit elements from the creeks, nothing else is being done.”