Apostle Clement Tonfawei is a Niger Delta activist. In this in interview with Tejiri Ebikeme and Francis Sadhere, he talks about 2015 elections, Northerners stand on Jonathan, the EPZ project in Delta State and other issues. Excerpt:
On Jonathan’s 2015 election
As far as the constitution is concerned nobody has the right to stop anybody from contesting. The constitution is the only document that we have that governs us. There is a provision in the constitution that says that you have the right to contest twice. The man has contested once and he has the right to go for a second tenure which the constitution has given him all the legal backing.
Are you satisfied with the performance of President Jonathan?
Compared to past governments, President Jonathan has tried. The man has been able to expose a lot of things that were buried under the carpet. He has given both the rich and the poor an opportunity to go into politics. In the past, government just appoints people but now it is no longer so. In electricity, roads, infrastructure and other area, he has tried, compared to other governments. He has the right to contest for the next election.
Do you believe there was an agreement that he should rule for only one term?
Even if you had an agreement with anybody that you want to contest for only one term, that agreement cannot supersede our constitution. The constitution supersedes whatever agreement he had with anybody. So he has the right to contest.
The northerners are saying that Jonathan cannot contest and most of them are moving from PDP to APC, what do you have to say about this development?
As far as the constitution is concerned nobody has the right to stop anybody from contesting any elective position. People have the right to decamp because it is a matter of choice. Whether you decamp or not it does not change the constitution because the constitution has given him the mandate to contest.
As we approach 2015, what is your advice to Nigerians and politicians?
My advice to them is to play the game within the confine of the constitution that governs us because without doing that, 2015 election will be violent and bloody. We cannot make sacrifices for one individual to be making money. Today, the politicians that we have, do not have respect for the citizens because of the kind of election system we have in this country. People do not vote them into power but they are appointed by the powers that be. And that is the reason why people like Obasanjo will tell President Jonathan that he was the one that installed him. If it was by election, I do not think he will have that right to say that.
Why do you think 2015 election is going to be bloody?
It will be bloody because of the lapses we have experienced in past elections. Even the judiciary which is the hope of the common man could not even address the issue. It was only those who have the money and who are in powers that were able to subdue the judiciary to oppress and suppress the oppressed. So this time around, people are ready to do all sorts of things to gain power.
The federal government is about building one of the largest gas processing companies in Delta State. What is your comment on these?
First I will have to thank the Federal Government for bringing the project to Delta State and for creating job opportunities in the region. I also want to appreciate the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan for his effort in pulling this project to the state.
The project has not yet started and it has already generated bad blood between two communities. How do you see this?
Such things come up when people are trying to play with each other’s intelligence. In our last meeting we held with the Governor in government house, I made the commissioner of Oil and Gas, Hon. Mofe Pirah, to know that it was better not to start the project than to start it wrongly because if you do, we will go back to the foundation again which might lead to lose of lives. But the Commissioner said they have no time. So in the process of correcting it lives might go.
What are the challenges? Tell us the inside story?
One, the Ijaws have about 70% acre of land that is going to be used for the project and as such you cannot call that kind of project, Ogidigben project. If you do that, that means the Ijaws have no stake in the project. Also the state governor is making us to understand that he has been discussing with the stakeholders but he has not discussed anything with us. So we wrote to him that if the government wants this project to be done successfully we need justice. This project is going to benefit the whole world. So many people will work there. So it is a welcome development. It is not just the name that is the problem. They are telling us that they want to bring the people from Sogbolo people from Burutu local government and the Gbaramatu people from Warri South/West together to form a block. This is impossible and we have made the government to understand that this cannot work. You cannot bring somebody from another council to come and form a block with us. We the people of Gbaramatu, we should stand on our own block. If they cannot do this, then we do not see any reason why we will give out our land for this project. We will have to address these standing issues for us to have a peaceful operation. The government knows that if these issues are not settled, the project will not see the light of the day. We have written a letter to the presidency in respect of that. We do not want history to repeat itself. What we want is for the federal government to come and address all these issues once and for all so that we will have a smooth operation. We are appealing to government to come to the aid of the people to avoid another bloody ethnic clash. If governments have respect for its citizens they need to do that because we are complaining and nobody has responded positively. Until this is addressed, I tell you something bad will happen. In 2008, I made the federal government to understand that amnesty is not the solution to the problem of the Niger Delta region because right now the issues that led to the Niger Delta struggle are still pending because they have not been addressed. So if I have the opportunity, I will create problem and put it on that basket. They refused to heed my advice and they went ahead with amnesty programme and what do you see today. Kidnapping and armed robbery and other vices are still going on. The development that the people were agitating for has not been addressed. I told them that if they give amnesty to people, something worst than militancy will come. Look at Boko Haram and I know that something worst than Boko Haram will still come. So let us build our nation on justice.
Are you saying that the amnesty programme has failed?
I cannot say that amnesty has totally failed but what I will say is that those in charge of the amnesty are selfish and that aspect needs to be corrected.
Do you think that the Niger Delta People are having a fair deal under the administration of President Jonathan?
I have taken statistics in terms of development by the president and I found out that the Niger Delta people are the most backward people in his administration compared to people in the North and West. We do not have major capital projects in the South/South that is carried out by his administration. But he has built a lot of projects in the North, West and East. In terms of agriculture, the people they have empowered are the people from the West and the North. We are not benefiting from the fishing which we are known for in the riverine areas while people in the upland have benefited more than us. So they should give kudos to the president and respect him.
