‘Kachikwu, Usani, Dokubo alone cannot fix Niger Delta’

Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSO) in the Niger Delta under the umbrella body of United Niger Delta Energy Development Security Strategy (UNDEDSS), have condemned move by the Federal Government to impact the region negatively by attempting to pass the Water Resources Management Bill, currently before the National Assembly.

In a statement after it’s 12 annual General Assembly meeting held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, UNDEDSS, which has been in the forefront of the region’s non-violent struggle for security, stability, justice and development, admitted that though the government has tried to win over the Niger Delta, without the expected degree of success. This the body said was because of an absence of focused sincerity.
[ad]
According to UNDEDSS Executive Secretary, Mr. Tony Uranta, “Whilst we commend the efforts of Ministers of Petroleum and Niger Delta, Mr, Ibe Kachikwu and Pastor Usani Usani, who are working in tandem with the President’s Special Adviser on the Niger Delta, Professor Charles Dokubo, to coordinate and expedite development and security within our beleaguered region, it is important to know that these men will never achieve any sustainable progress until the full political will of the Federal Government is seen to back their efforts to the fullest.”

UNDEDSS added that it cannot understand, for example, why Dokubo has not been saved by the Presidency, from running a gauntlet, by staffers he inherited, who appear hell-bent on not letting him operate optimally according to good governance standards.”

According to UNDEDSS, “The Niger Delta has tolerated government’s inability to fulfill many promises, including not commencing any substantial work regarding the Ogoni clean-up and others? But we cannot guarantee that the region will remain calm with the introduction of the obnoxiously irredentist Water Resources Management Bill.”

The body also said there is a suspicion, even in foreign diplomatic circles, that there may be a very unpatriotic design to provoke the region into exiting it’s status quo, which supports amity, peace and national well-being; and, prays that the government will continue to pursue peace Nigeria approaches the 2019 elections campaign season.

[ad]