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Tag: Dokubo-Asari

  • Dokubo-Asari  hails Tinubu for reinstating Ministry of Niger Delta

    Dokubo-Asari  hails Tinubu for reinstating Ministry of Niger Delta

    • Makes case  for return  of  OMPADEC

    Niger Delta Leader and freedom fighter, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari  yesterday hailed  President Bola Tinubu for reinstating the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

    The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs was not among the ministries allocated to the new  ministers.

    The omission raised concerns among leaders and stakeholders of the oil-rich Niger Delta, including Dokubo-Asari.  However, President Tinubu  last  weekend, redeployed   Abubakar Momoh, an engineer,  from the Ministry of Youth, and reassigned him to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

    In a  statement he personally signed , Dokubo-Asari  thanked  the President, stressing that among all attempts to address the agitation of the Niger Delta, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs is the direct attempt, and therefore plays a vital role in coordinating and implementing programmes and initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable development, peace, and stability in the oil-rich region.

    He said: “Mr. President, I am grateful and wish to commend your decision to reinstate the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. This decision shows your determination, it  reflects your deep understanding of the challenges and unique needs of the Niger Delta region, and demonstrates your commitment to addressing them.

    “Despite all attempts to address the agitation of the Niger Delta, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs is the direct attempt, and therefore plays a vital role in coordinating and implementing programmes and initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable development, peace, and stability in the oil-rich region. With its reinstatement, there is renewed hope for the people of the Niger Delta that their concerns will be effectively addressed and their voices heard in your administration.

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    “Stressing on the need of the ministry to the development of the Niger Delta, Dokubo-Asari said: “The history, struggle, and agitation of the Niger Delta have been rough and tough, from colonial times, to independent and post-independent.

    “The colonial governments ignored the agitation of the Niger Delta people. They cruelly suppressed it by the treatment meted to King Jaja of Opopo, King Ibani Chuka of Okrika, Chief Ukwujiagu of Okujiagu-Ama of Okrika, King KokoBoy Ockiya of Nembe, Chief Anya’a Amatoru Goodhead, the paramount head of the Goodhead Tariah Group of Houses of Kalabari, Nana of Itshekiri, and several Kings of Bonny, among others.”

    “The agitation necessitated the setting up of the Willink Commission in 1957 to look into the fears and agitations of the minorities of colonial Nigeria. After a thorough investigation, a White-Paper declared the Ijaw areas of the Eastern and Western regions and the Ogoni territories in the Eastern region, as special and endangered territories and people.

     “Several attempts have been made to ameliorate and address the agitation of the Niger Delta people including the setting up of the Niger Delta Area Development Authority, and the establishment of the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) in 1992. In 2000, the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), was changed to Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    The Ijaw-born freedom fighter, requested President Tinubu to consider returning NDDC back to the OMPADEC nomenclature.

    “Mr. President, I know you are aware that OMPADEC was established to rehabilitate and develop the Oil Mineral Producing Areas of Nigeria which had been subjected to the devastating effects of ecological destruction and environmental pollution, this means that oil-producing areas that are not geographically in the Niger Delta, are captured in the OMPADEC programmes.

     “The change of nomenclature from OMPADEC to NDDC suggested that the commission was established to address the agitation of only oil-producing areas in the Niger Delta states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers .

     “Mr. President, I beg you to consider returning NDDC to OMPADEC nomenclature, with its core mandate of addressing issues of rehabilitating and developing the Oil Producing Areas of Nigeria, including Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Imo, Kogi, Rivers and any other area blessed with oil mineral.

     He argued that NDDC was not exclusively established to mitigate only the interest oil producing areas of the Niger Delta, as many erroneously think.

    “From the foregoing, it is clear that NDDC has no relation with the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. Oil-producing areas should be treated on their merit, while the Niger Delta areas of Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, and Akwa Ibom states should be treated solely as Niger Delta from a geographic and scientific point of view. “Your restoration of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs has shown that you are a listening and caring Leader and President. The Niger Delta will not forget this singular action, and we will pay back in multiple folds.”

  • Ijaw leader lambasts Dokubo-Asari

    Ijaw leader lambasts Dokubo-Asari

    Prominent Ijaw youth leader and Niger Delta activist, Famous Daunemigha has asked his compatriot, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, to stop inciting youths against the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    He told Asari-Dokubo to join other former militants to work with the nation’s new leadership.

    Daunemuagha was the Bayelsa State governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2011 and is known for arresting and handing over to the police some of the thugs who stoned Buhari in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, during the 2011 presidential campaign.

    Daunemigha, who was the Vice-President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) when Asari-Dokubo was the President of the council, said the former militant leader’s recent ranting was empty because the region would no longer be a battleground for his selfish benefit.

    On the hue and cry over the December deadline for the Presidential Amnesty granted Niger Delta former militants, the youth leader said former Dr Goodluck Jonathan was President for six years but could not review the date.

    He said the IYC, which faulted the deadline, also failed to mount pressure on Jonathan to extend the terminal date of December 2015.

    Daunemigha insisted that the agitation for a better Niger Delta had shifted from physical confrontation to an intellectual engagement.

    The youth leader said former President Jonathan conceded defeat and congratulated President Buhari, adding that the likes of Asari-Dokubo should stop dragging the region backwards with their empty threats.

    He said: “I expect the likes of Asari-Dokubo to follow the example and accept the realities on ground, instead of mourning more than the bereaved.

    “The youths in Niger Delta should not make themselves vulnerable to the antics of Asari-Dokubo by calling for the resumption of militancy in the region.

    “All well-meaning Ijaw elders and youths should give their support and encourage the the Buhari Presidency as he means well for the Niger Delta region.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Jonathan took Niger Delta for granted, says Dokubo-Asari

    Leader of Niger Delta People Salvation Front (NDPSF) and one of President Goodluck Jonathan’s strong supporters, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari yesterday accused him of taking the Niger Delta for granted. He spoke at a rally in Warri on Monday evening.

    Dokubo-Asari  said the President had been betrayed by those to whom he gave his time at the expense of the region.

    Dokubo-Asari, who spoke at the programme themed “March for Goodluck Jonathan and Stand up for Great Ogboru’’ , which was organised by the NDPSF, also urged the people of Delta State to  vote for the governorship candidate of Labour Party (LP), Chief Great Ogboru.

    The former militant leader warned those he described as ‘fanning the embers of violence’ to have a rethink as any act of violence would be met with equal action.

    “Jonathan took the people of Niger Delta for granted. He favoured others like Dangote, Otedola at our own expense and they have betrayed him. The people of Niger Delta, Northcentral, Northeast, Northwest,  Southeast and the Yoruba masses have become the corner stone for him. We are celebrating Jonathan’s victory, the support in Delta is overwhelming,” he said.

    He described Ogboru as a man with great vision who had contributed to the freedom and emancipation of the Niger Delta people, saying “voting for Ogboru is voting for ourselves. So, we should vote for him on April 11 at the governorship poll.”

    Ogboru thanked the organisers and said he believed in the freedom for all Nigerians, adding “Jonathan means well for this country, his opponent cannot be a better alternative”.

     

     

  • Dokubo-Asari: Henry Okah wanted Jonathan dead since 2007

    Dokubo-Asari: Henry Okah wanted Jonathan dead since 2007

    Leader of the Niger-Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Ahajli Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, alleged that the plot to assassinate President Goodluck Jonathan by Henry Okah and his Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) was hatched before Jonathan became Nigeria’s president.

    Dokubo-Asari, who spoke with reporters in Abuja at the weekend, also said it would be a painful decision for him to vote for the Rivers State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Nyesom Wike, in next month’s elections.

    He said the leaders of Niger-Delta, including Chief Edwin Clark, prevented Jonathan from speaking on the 2010 assassination attempt. The former militant leader noted that the president could no longer be deceived by leaders of the zone to maintain a silence on the matter.

    He said: “For me, what the President said is belated. The President had known since 2007 that Henry Okah wanted to kill him. For not saying it, it is the fault of Ijaw leaders, including Clark, who have been saying hide this thing; sweep it under the carpet.

    “And one day, the debris under the carpet will become too much that the carpet will be undulated. Now, it is undulated, the stench is coming out and the president could no longer hold it.

    “He has now come out to say Henry Okah wanted to assassinate me, which was true”.

    He explained that there were lots of clandestine activities by Okah in 2007 targeted at eliminating Jonathan when he was Bayelsa State governor because of his resistance to donate the state’s budget to him.

    According to him, “Henry Okah wanted Goodluck Jonathan to pay him money. Go and read my write-up when I said “When Silence is not Golden” in 2007. I published a very lengthy Part One. Ijaw elders begged me not to reveal more in Part Two. It is ready, but I didn’t publish it because Chief Clark and others begged me not to publish it because I am revealing the secrets of Ijaw people. But I told them that this thing you people are doing will backfire.

    “You are supporting evil. Tompolo and everybody were on me that I was revealing Ijaw’s secrets. I became their enemy and everything. If Henry Okah asks for money and you don’t give him, he attacks you. He asked Goodluck Jonathan when he was governor to share the budget and give him five per cent. Every month, five per cent of what they received must be given to them to service the boys. And Jonathan said No.

    “Henry Okah invaded Government House with his boys, some of the people who are now claiming to support Jonathan invaded Government House, destroyed Government House. My people ran away with Goodluck. They went to Otueke, burnt down his country home in Otueke, thinking he was there. The governor ran.

    “But there are people around him saying there must be unity among the ijaw people. If you recall, I am the only person who has been talking against Henry Okah. That man is a criminal. He is  nobody. He doesn’t have the power they think he has.”

  • Dokubo-Asari: N’Delta groups, youths threaten to attack Beniniose

    Tempers rose on Thursday among youths and groups in the Niger Delta region over the arrest and detention of the former militant leader, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari by the Beniniose gendarmes.

    The aggrieved youths threatened to attack Beniniose residing in Nigeria if the Government of Benin Republic failed to release the former creek warlords unconditionally.

    Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative (IPDI), National Association of Izon-Ebe Law Students (NAILS) and the Committee of Rural Development Movement (CRDM) spoke on Thursday.

    They condemned the development and claimed that it was politically motivated.

    An activist and National President of IPDI, Mr. Ozobo Austin, decried the arrest and accused security operatives from Benin Republic of lacking evidence to justify their action.

    He alleged that Dokubo-Asari was a victim of political conspiracy, adding that there would be breakdown of law and order in the Niger Delta region if Benin failed to set him free.

    He said genuine agitators fighting for the total liberation of the region would not be cowed by intimidation.

    He said: “Dokubo-Asari is innocent of whatever motive behind his arrest and as such he should be immediately released to avoid breakdown of law and order in the Niger Delta region.

    “Asari’s arrest was orchestrated by enemies of Niger Delta and such is a big threat to the peace as it will lead to chaos and insurgency in the region.”

    Also the National President, CRDM, Mr. Asaiyei Enaibo, described the arrest as unconstitutional.

     

  • Dokubo-Asari: I don’t hate northerners

    Dokubo-Asari: I don’t hate northerners

    Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) Mujahid Dokubo-Asari yesterday said it was unfortunate that most of his comments on national issues had been twisted and taken out of context.

    He said some of these comments had been translated to mean that he hates the North.

    At a briefing in Abuja, Dokubo-Asari said having spent the greater part of his life in the struggle to defend the oppressed, it would be wrong for people to consider him as one who hates the North.

    The former president of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), however, insisted that he would never shy away from speaking the truth.

    He said it was time for Nigerians to face realities and come together to fight for their rights.

    This, Dokubo-Asari said, would ensure that they do not go back to the “era of darkness, especially now that the calls for a sovereign national conference have become louder.”

    His words: “Most of my statements have been translated as hatred against the North; this is far from the truth, because the word hatred has never existed in my lexicon.

    “But I will never shy away from stating the fact, not minding who feels happy or sad about it.

    “I have spent most of my life in the forefront of various struggles against oppressions of my people and others, I cannot do this if I hate any part of the country. But I will remain consistent in the fight against oppression.

    “It is time for us to face the obvious realities and come together to fight and ensure we don’t go back to the era of darkness, especially now that the calls for a Sovereign National Conference have become louder.

    “We believe that with the appearance of true and sincere northerners, a new page of interaction has been open.”

    Dokubo-Asari, who said he has many friends and well-wishers from the North, added that he had consistently maintained cordial relations with his northern allies.

    He added: “It is no secret that I have many friends and well-wishers from the North, and I have always maintained cordial relations and constant contact with my friends till today.

    “In fighting for my people, it is important to reassure the North of safety and security and our capacity to contain any threat or attack against them.

    “We will not fold our arms and watch them cow our people to submission. This is not in our character as men of valour and honour to shy away from a declaration of war.

    “When I embraced Islam, my first point of call to study the Quran and understand the religion was in Gamboru Ngala in Borno State.

    “The Chief Imam of the mosque I built in my community, Mallam Sani Mohammed, is from the North. The Imam of my household, Alhaji Salisu Marafa, is from Marafa in Zamfara State.

    “My younger brother and friend, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, the president of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, (AYCF), who named his son after me, Mujahid, is my best man. The list is endless.”

  • Dokubo-Asari vows to cripple oil production if arrested

    Dokubo-Asari vows to cripple oil production if arrested

    Leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, yesterday vowed to halt oil production in the country, if he is arrested.

    Asari-Dokubo, who spoke at a news conference in Abuja, was adamant and insisted that he stands by his comment for which the security agencies are now being prevailed upon to arrest him.

    He challenged the House of Representatives to order his arrest, if they could.

    Asari-Dokubo said:“The last time Obasanjo arrested me,” Asari-Dokubo said, “my arrest reduced Nigeria’s oil production to 700,000 barrels per day, this time, it will reduce it to zero barrel, and we will match violence by violence, intrigues by intrigues, we are ready for them.”

    He said if some of those calling for his arrest fail to carry out their threats, he will regard them as cowards.

    The former President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) also vowed that Nigeria would become “history” if he is arrested.

    He wondered why those now clamouring for his incarceration did not do the same when some northern leaders threatened to make the country ungovernable, “where the dog and baboon will soak in blood” and how there will be no more Nigeria, if a Northerner did not occupy Aso Rock Presidential Villa in 2015.

    He went on: “I stand by my statement which I made in my earlier press conference; there will be no peace, not only in the Niger Delta, but everywhere, if Goodluck Jonathan is not President by 2015.

    “I want to add that the Fulanis, who migrated and invaded our lands and continue to show disregard and disrespect to the owners of the country they came into, and people have tolerated them for a very long time, but that will no longer continue.

    “In 2010, a Fulani, one Lawal Kaita said and I quote: ‘Anything short of a Northern President is tantamount to stealing our Presidency. Jonathan has to go and he will go. Even if he uses the incumbency power to get his nomination on the platform of the PDP, he would be frustrated out…The North is determined, if that happens, to make the country ungovernable for President Goodluck Jonathan or any other Southerner who finds his way to the seat of power on the platform of the PDP against the principle of the party’s zoning policy.’

    “That was what Kaita said in 2010, and today insurgent groups in furtherance to Kaita’s call and from the feudal Fulani occupiers of our land, are wrecking havoc, attacking military barracks and seizing weapons and their foot-solders in the army are planning a coup because at the top they can’t plan a coup.

    “But Goodluck Jonathan is sitting and watching; but we will not sit and watch. For every action from them, there will be an equal and opposite reaction and it will be disproportionate.

    “ Kaita made this statement, nobody arrested or call for the arrest of this fellow, today he is walking free.”

    The Niger Delta activist added: “After Kaita, another Fulani, General Muhammadu Buhari made this statement and I quote: ‘God willing, by 2015, something will happen. They either conduct a free and fair election or they go a very disgraceful way. If what happened in 2011 (alleged rigging) should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood.’

    “Buhari made this statement in 2012, he was never arrested and nobody ever called for his arrest.

    Reacting specifically to Aliyu’s alleged claims that the Ijaw people of the oil-rich Niger Delta do not have the population to match the North, Asari-Dokubo said: “This Fulani invader is talking about population, we all know that they don’t have the number they claim to have and we know that we are more populated than them. No figure they bring will be accepted by us. This Fulani invader said this, nobody called for his arrest and he was never arrested.”

    He added: “Let me tell them, we are not afraid of them, and I am not afraid of arrest, I’ve been arrested before, I was put under SSS underground 10 months and 11 days, I was buried alive and I came out alive, I was detained for 22 months and 10 days, I did not give up the fight, I did not capitulate, so am not afraid of arrest, and they cannot arrest me because if they do, the consequences of my arrest, Nigeria will be history.

    “I am saying it bold and clear without mincing words, that the consequences of my arrest, Nigeria will be history.

    “The last time Obasanjo arrested me, my arrest reduced Nigeria oil production to 700,000 barrels per day, this time, it will reduce it to zero barrel, and we will match violence by violence, intrigues by intrigues, we are ready for them.