| Obama: Asari-Dokubo slams political leaders From FEMI FOLARANMI, Yenagoa Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Ijaw activist and leader of the Niger Delta Youth Volunteer Force (NDYVF), Alhaji Mujadid Asari-Dokubo has berated Nigerian political leaders for rejoicing at the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America. Obama made history last Tuesday, emerging as the first Black to win the race to the White House and many Nigerian leaders, including President Umaru Yar'Adua, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and state governors sent their congratulatory messages. However, Asari-Dokubo, in an exclusive interview with Daily Sun, wondered why the Nigerian political class should be happy over the historic victory instead of burying their heads in shame and crying for the miseries they had subjected Nigerians to. He did not also spare the political leaders in other Africa countries especially President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya for frittering away the hopes of their people. According to him, Nigerian political leaders and their counterparts in Africa should shut up as they had no moral standing to rejoice over the election in America because they represented the opposite of what Obama stood for. He said while Obama emerged through a fair and transparent election monitored by people over the world, Nigerian political leaders emerged through questionable elections. His words: "Since the election of Barack Obama as President-elect Nigerians have been happy because what they see in Obama they did not see in our leaders. It is shameful that our political leaders are also rejoicing instead for them to be sad. "Look at the elections how it was conducted and how people were monitoring it step by step. Nobody chased anybody away, nobody disrupted the election. When 20 states were released, John McCain conceded defeat. But can that happen in the black land without violence? The Blackman is not only backward in science but in all ramifications. "Look at Kenya where a man who stole votes to become President is declaring a public holiday because of the election of Obama. Is that not shameful? In Nigeria where we could not hold a credible election, our leaders are also sending congratulatory messages when they should be crying. Most of them are not qualified to be local government chairmen but holding prominent political posts. "Obama's victory is not for them (Nigerian political leaders) to rejoice but cry and bury their heads in shame. If Whites after buying Blacks as slaves would now allow a Blackman to rule them, then we should be weeping that up till now we Blacks are not able to hold free and fair elections in our lands. It is really a pity." On the efforts to develop the Niger Delta region, Asari-Dokubo dismissed President Umaru Yar'Adua as unserious about development in the region. He said besides that Yar'Adua lacked the political will to bring development to the region, his administration was also insincere about policies for the region. He also blamed former president Olusegun Obasanjo for encouraging criminal gangs to hijack the Niger Delta struggle, adding that the situation would remain irredeemable unless a Sovereign National Conference was convoked. He said: "I have lost confidence in the administration of President Yar'Adua to develop the Niger Delta because he is not interested in bringing meaningful development to the region. "There is no sincerity and political will that would bring change and with the active encouragement of Obasanjo for criminal gangs in the region when he was president, Yar'Adua cannot muster enough political will to reverse things. The criminals have taken over and we can no longer control them. "The government is not sincere and the condition would continue to deteriorate because there is no vision to transform the region expect there is a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) where a path of development would be chart for the region." |
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