By Francis Ajuonuma
A former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday responded with strong words to claims by the Leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Ijaw National Congress, Chief Edwin Clark, that he hated people of the Niger Delta region.
In a response to an open letter by Clark who accused him of acting against the interest of the Niger Delta region, Obasanjo said the natural resources found in Nigeria belong to the country and are not a part of it. Earlier on December 22, Clark had in a letter titled: My disappointment over your unprovoked outburst against the people of the Niger Delta region’, Clark accused the former President of double standards over resource control in the country.
Clark’s letter was the fallout of an attack by the former President in Abuja on the National Secretary of the INC, Ebipamowei Wodu, at a peace and security parley convened by the Global Peace Foundation and Vision Africa on December 13.
He accused Obasanjo of betraying the interest of the Niger Delta region when he was the military Head of State. Clark noted, “Your Excellency will recall that a summit was organised by a group, Global Peace Foundation, on Monday, 13th December 2021, the same day you came to visit me, to which various groups and individuals were invited, and Your Excellency happened to be one of the invitees.
“I was equally invited. But because as Your Excellency knows, I am recuperating from an ailment, and since I have been told by my doctors to take things easy, I asked His Excellency, Ambassador Godknows Igali, a retired Permanent Secretary with the Federal Civil Service, and a former Ambassador, to kindly represent me at the Summit together with Mr. O’Mac Emakpore, a retired Director with the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) and Engr. Ebipamowei Wodu, the Secretary-General, Ijaw National Congress (INC).”
The PANDEF leader expressed shock at watching Obasanjo’s outburst in a video which he described as unbecoming of his standing in the society. Clark said Obasanjo’s outburst was a huge disappointment to those present at the meeting as his hate for the people of Niger Delta who dared to agitate for resource control was obvious, specifically, when he interjected Wodu and Emakpore, each time they tried to put the interest of the Niger Delta in proper perspective.
According to him, he has known Obasanjo for 46 years, even before he became the Military Head of State, wondering why he continued to push for the marginalisation of the region. “Your Excellency, we have known ourselves for several decades, since 1975, when we served as Federal Commissioners (Ministers) in the cabinet of General Yakubu Gowon’s government, together with His Excellency, late Alhaji Shehu Shagari, late General Murtala Mohammed, amongst others,” Clark said.
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According to him, the agitation for resource control has been there even when it was earlier captured in the 1960 Constitution, wondering why Obasanjo has been consistently working against the region that produces the nation’s economic mainstay. “As a former Military Head of State of Nigeria, 1976-1979, and later a democratically elected President of the country, 1999-2007, I am certain Your Excellency knows that the principle of derivation, has always been top on the agenda of our national discourse, before and after the country’s Independence.”
But reacting swiftly in an open letter yesterday titled: My response to the open letter by Clark’, Obasanjo said, “I have never shown any anger, distraught with Niger Delta region nor any part of Nigeria. Some of the languages you have deployed to describe me in your letter are offensive, uncouth and I totally and completely rejected them, I am not inconsistent, hypocritical, un-statesman, and nor am I anybody’s lackey.
“You use your yardstick to judge others. I hope you think and adjust. Negotiation achieves better results than dictation. Revolution for sea-change may rarely happen and then we may continue to languish in frustration and regret with dire judgment in posterity.”
Stressing that he has never hated Niger Delta, adding that his stance that oil found in the region belonged to the Nigerian federation, Obasanjo in his six-page letter, said, “I have never shown any anger or distraught with Nigeria nor with any part or region of Nigeria. I will rather pick points on leadership or policies and I will continue to do so.”
Obasanjo further said his records before and after the civil war in Niger Delta Region were without blemish and it was all goodness and goodwill to all Nigerians. He added, “But if you take my holding a constitutional position on federalism and reiterating the position of our past constitution- 1963 Constitution as I understand it as anger or grievance against the Niger Delta or Nigeria Delta people that will be a very wrong position to take because until I can be legally and constitutional persuaded, otherwise I will continue to hold my ground.
“The gold in Ilesha, Osun State, and the lead in Ebonyi State all come under the same law and constitution. There is no part of Nigeria whose interest is not dear to my heart. And stating in your letter that it’s only that interest of the North that I continually hold dear to my heart is the type of Bukah gossip that knowing you as I do since 1975, I am not surprised that you echoed. “Some of the languages you have deployed to describe me in your letter are offensive, uncouth and I totally and completely rejected them.
“Even when a particular part of Nigeria decided not to vote for me and their leaders told me that in clear terms, I showed understanding and not anger or distraught and disabused their minds on what I believed they got wrong. “I am not inconsistent, hypocritical, un-statesman, and nor am I anybody’s lackey. You use your yardstick to judge others. I fear God and I respect those who respect themselves and I hope it is about time you change from a tribesman to a statesman.”
