The Action Congress (AC) has said the agreement between Britain and Nigeria to set up a �security training force� to help battle the militants in the Niger Delta can only worsen the crisis in the oil region.
In a statement issued in Abuja Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the pact should be rescinded immediately, while the ongoing efforts to employ �dialogue� to resolve the crisis should be pursued, especially now that the planned jamboree, tagged �summit�, has been dropped.
It said the violence in the region is only a symptom of a more deep-rooted problem, caused by years of neglect of the goose that lays the golden egg by successive governments, many of which only paid lip service to efforts to lift the oil producing communities from poverty and environmental degradation.
�Britain is putting the cart before the horse by its unnecessary and incendiary offer of military assistance to Nigeria to quash the militancy in the Niger Delta. This strategy amounts to curing the symptoms of a disease instead of the disease itself. It cannot work,�� AC said.
�We are perplexed at the reason behind Britain�s offer of military assistance, at a time the militants have shown they could have their way even with the massive military deployments in the region.
�There is no doubt that Britain was not driven by altruism in taking that decision, but by enlightened self interest. Or may be it is pay back time for the Brits, after all Baroness Lynda Chalker backed Yar�Adua�s controversial election at a time local and international observers tagged it the worst in the country�s history,�� the party said.
AC praised Nigerians in the Diaspora who demonstrated in London against the Greek Gift from Britain during President Yar�Adua�s visit to Britain this past week, saying their views are shared by millions of their compatriots at home who believe that only a just and fair approach can help resolve the crisis in the Niger Delta.
�We have said it before and we will like to repeat it, that there can be no military solution to the Niger Delta crisis.
�Therefore, all genuine friends of Nigeria should come in with ideas on how to provide jobs for the millions of unemployed youths in the Niger Delta; reverse the years of environmental pollution that has wiped away the people�s means of livelihood; provide quality education for the youths and social infrastructure for the impoverished oil communities.
�Anything short of these prescriptions will not work, even if Britain deploys its entire military to the Niger Delta!�� AC warned.