THE Fed eral Government weekend,gave conditions for the acceptance of the offer by the United States Government to assist in addressing the security challenges in the Niger Delta region,saying such acceptance would exclude the deployment of US marines to the region.
The Special Assistance to the United States President on security in the gulf of Guinea,Mrs. Linda Greenfield had last week indicated the interest of the US government to assist President Olusegun Obasanjo to tackles the security concerns in the Niger Delta .
But reacting in Uzzeba, Owan West Local Government council of Edo State,the Special Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo on Policy and Programmes Monitoring,Professor Julius Ihonvbere said the Federal Government would only accept logistical and technological support but not deployment of American marines.
He asserted that the Nigerian government is capable of curbing the restiveness in the area but “for technical assistance,yes.Logistical support, yes.They have satelites so they can see things going on.
“So with their superior technology they can offer this to us.They have training experiences all over the world.But in the sense of dealing with the practical issue on ground in the Niger Delta,the Federal Government of Nigeria is capable of deploying logistical, military,security and other resources needed”.
” President Obasanjo believes in peace,dialogue and consultations and that is what we have been doing in the Niger Delta overtime.I have seen some youth groups, elders of the area coming to Abuja to declare their loyalty to the President. In fact, very soon the Itsekiri youth movement are also coming to see the President. The President has an open door policy. Any group that wants to see him will see him and he will tell them the truth”.
According to him “this administration will do every thing to see that the problems of the Niger Delta becomes a thing of the past but we will never do that to the detriment of the nation.I know that more than any president in this country,this present administration has shown more sensitivity to the plight of the Niger Delta.I am from the Niger Delta too so I feel the pains of our people”. “But it is not the federal government that the people are actually holding responsible because I talk to many of these young people.They blamed years of neglect to the oil companies and others.
, the local government and in some cases the state goverment.So I think the issue is that there is new discuss,there is a new re-allignment of forces and there is a new comitment.And if at all these levels every body join hands together there is no reason why we cannot improve the area” he stated.
On the purported threat by some Ijaw leaders over the recent clamp down on some militant youths in the region by men of the Joint Task Force (JTF),Professor Ihonvbere described it as “unnecessary”,noting that “each time these leaders have meetings, but they should first of all ask themselves what they have done to bring peace to their communities.They are leaders in these communities but tbey see kidnappings ,assasinations,invasions, they have the responsibility to call these boys to order because they know them but they never did”.
“So instead of sitting down always to say they will resist the federal government ,they should resist those who are creating instability,tension and insecurity in that particular area,that is number one.Number two, there is no fight between the federal government and the Ijaws, if they have ideas that will help the government resolve the problem,let them put it forward”.
“Some body who cannot ask a local government chairman how many boreholes he have sank since 1999 have no locus standi to ask the federal government what it had done in the Niger Delta especially whenb the federal government is not owing any state or local government a kobo.So I believe that if they are holding meetings to resist the fedral government thi is uncalled for and it is just an attempt to grandstand politically” he asserted.