Bullying tactics would achieve nothing in the Niger Delta, as it requires a political solution to end the hostage taking and wave of violence in the region, advised Census Ekpu, a journalist turned politician.
Ekpu is a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)�s aspirant to the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and owner of Lagos-based Ceecom group of businesses.
According to him, Nigerians should for once cede the Presidency to the oil-rich region, as they did to the Southwest following the hatred, mutual suspicion and chaos bred by the June 12 debacle.
Ekpu said all strata of the country had let go of Aso Rock to pacify the South West, which brewed hot following the annulment of the 1993 presidential election, which was won by late Moshood Abiola.
He urged Abuja to stop deploying soldiers to the Niger Delta, but should instead facilitate a process that would see a Niger Delta man emerge the next President, saying the reprisals would amount to putting round pegs in square holes.
Ekpu spoke in an interview in Lagos. His words: “The only way to stamp out violence in the Niger Delta is to handover power to the South-South. The South-South people would be assuaged by a consensus of all Nigerians to say let power go to the South-South.
“Don�t forget that few years ago the South-West was in turmoil, caused by the June 12 crisis. And all things were deployed to douse the tension there. It was the native wisdom of all the people of Nigeria � the political class, the military, the business class � that helped stop the crisis. They all decided that the South West should take the lead, and, from nowhere, Obasanjo emerged from jail and became the President.
“That was one way of appealing to the people of the South-West for all the things that have been happening there, the annulment of the June 12 election and the eventual death of Abiola and all that. And immediately Obasanjo took over everything just died off.”