AZUKA, the wife of the Leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Henry Okah, has warned that the incarceration of her husband was capable of escalating the protracted crisis in the region
She said his current prosecution amounted to attacking the symptom of an ailment instead of the cause.
In a reply she forwarded from her base in South Africa on Friday to an email from Sunday Punch, she said the current crisis in the region was the climax of a systematic degradation and exploitation of the Niger Delta by successive administrations.
According to her, the prosecution of Okah, who is also known as, Jomo Gbomo, is counter-productive because he represents the larger interest of the Niger Delta people.
She said, �Imprisoning my husband for the activities of this cause will not help eventually. The worst possible conclusion �� maybe to make him a martyr �� will create an inspiration in a future activist in a much worse scenario.�
She said slamming him with �All manner of just or unjust counts� and sentencing him to �25 years within the prison walls won�t solve this problem. The Niger Delta will still run riot now and in the future.�
The Federal Government on March 6, charged Okah, with treason, which carries a maximum sentence of death penalty under the Nigerian Constitution.
Okah was arrested in Angola in September 2007, and repatriated on February 14.
His associate, Edward Atatah, also faces similar charges as Okah.
In the first count, Okah and Atatah are accused of conspiring with others �with intent to levy war and overawe the legitimate government of Nigeria.�
The second count alleges that the duo�s trip to Angola was to buy a ship for use in arms smuggling to the Niger Delta.
But Azuka said the solution to the crisis was �within our hands�, noting that the rising escalation of the crisis through the years signifies the necessity to stand right and use the wisdom to find a realistic solution.
� You cannot castrate one man for the devastation of a nation. The chaos [in the Niger Delta] is the accumulation of years of deterioration; half-done projects and the changing policies of different governments that didn�t solve the Niger Delta issue.
�It�s complete breakdown will not be the end product of factions �� the Niger Delta People Volunteers Force; the Niger Delta Vigilante Movement; Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta; or the Niger Delta Non-Violent Movement. It can lead to the worse �� in the future. This is not anybody�s wish.�
She traced the Niger Delta struggle to 1966 the time of the late Major Isaac Boro, at 27 years of age, when he declared an independent Niger Delta people�s republic due to their apparent neglect by the system.
According to her, he headed the very first militant group called the Niger Delta Volunteer Service.
She said it was against normal standards to isolate a part from the whole in addressing the afflictions of the Niger Delta.
�I believe an effective solution lies in the direction and type of approach the government impacts on the struggle. The militants will reciprocate in like manner eventually in the future, depending on their state of mind, capabilities and structure,� she said
�The struggle to make the Niger Delta issue a productive future is what is done through diverse ways and methods and this should be given a constructive direction. This is what I sincerely hope for.
�It should be noted that in an organisation, you have a head; but it is made to run smoothly due to its administration. Even in a country, you cannot always hold the head of state for the calamity that a country sinks into.
�It is the collective of the people and not just that an individual is held accountable for a situation or a breakdown. The various ministers in charge of finance, transportation, education or aviation in that administration are all accountable. The same goes for MEND; that is my belief.�
Azuka said no section of the country should be aloof over the Niger Delta crisis because of the general implication for the citizenry.
�We must try to understand and put ourselves in the place of the distressed; how long they have been distressed. We must take a break, a pause to think and achieve the honourable result.
�Let us find the constructive and effective way to end our ills and look deeply into our neighbours� wounds. When we address their ills, we would have inevitably looked after ourselves as well because we co-habit.
�We have one nation, one country in which we call home. This is the way to peace and friendship and a way of nurturing our future,� she said.