Ex-Niger Delta militant leader, Ebikabowi Victor Ben, popularly known as Boyloaf , has slammed President Goodluck Jonathan for not doing anything to benefit his home state, Bayelsa, describing the outgoing President as a disappointment.Boyloaf, who spoke in an exclusive interview with Premium Times, vowed not to welcome the President back home after handing over on May 29, adding that the ordinary folk in Bayelsa is even more aggrieved about the way the President treated his kinsmen and may not get the hero’s welcome he may be looking forward to in Bayelsa.
He said: “To me, as a matter of fact Jonathan disappointed us. That is my own opinion. He disappointed us. To me, he disappointed us. He might be good to some people. There is nothing to tell if you get to my own state. We didn’t benefit. People like us did not benefit from his government. His government focused on one side. The Bayelsans did not benefit. It is only the Arugbos – that is Ondo State and Delta State – that benefited from his government. So, someone like me will not welcome him. I will not welcome him at all. The struggle continues.
“They ordinary people in Bayelsa are even bitterer than I am. Jonathan empowered many foot soldiers, the Niger Delta ex-agitators, and foot soldiers. But in Bayelsa, he didn’t empower people and that is the state he comes from.
On threats by some ex-militants to go back to the creeks if Jonathan does not win the 2015 presidential election, Boyloaf asked: Who will go to war? Is Nigeria for one ethnic region? Nigeria is for everybody. It is not for one ethnic region. When you want to oppress one region that is when the region will stand up for their right. But we are all Nigerians. Nobody will go to war. Who will go to war?”
On allegations that the North and the South West ganged up against Jonathan to wrestle power from him because of feelings of marginalization, Boyloaf insisted it was rather the North and the SouthWest that benefitted from the Jonathan administration.
“Did people from the South-South benefit? If you come to Bayelsa State, can you count how many people benefited? That is the president’s state. When the APC was going for campaigns, they made a statement that there is a town that they didn’t have light, and people said Otuoke. Then (Gov. Chibuike) Amaechi said “I didn’t mention name”. But can you imagine that in that place there is no road? You see, what Jonathan did was that he favoured the North and West. Go to the Niger Delta and see. He favoured the North. He did Almajiri. Then go to the West you will see the railway, you will see all what he’s doing there. What is happening in Niger Delta? Nothing! It is better to go there and see things for yourself. Jonathan did not do anything for his people, for his region.
“Charity begins at home. Jonathan was supposed to have started from his area because anything can happen the next day like what has happened now. What about (late President Umaru) Yar’Adua? He did the airport in Katsina. He started from his own area. See, that is what Jonathan was supposed to do to. I have that belief right from time because they never wanted a Niger Delta person to be in government. We know that one because they will seal a lot of deals. I am a mariner. I know what is going on at the sea. For instance, like we are talking about subsidy, we know the people that do deals.
The ex-militant leader however gave conditions with which the Niger Delta will work with the incoming administration of General Muhammadu Buhari, insisting that the government must be ready to continue with the East-West Road, the Amnesty programme and the continuous existence of the Niger Delta ministry.
Referring to the East-West Road, Boyloaf said: “I am not afraid of anything. I am fully confident and if they terminate it the better for us because we will know that the government doesn’t want peace. So, that’s my own belief. I’m not afraid of anything. We will be ready to work with any person that has the Niger Delta people at heart. If you come with good ideas I think we will also work with you. We will see what will happen. God is not a man. If he terminates the contracts, I think there are other ways we can make it from. So, nobody cares.
Continuing, Boyloaf said if he (Buhari) wants to work with the region, they will be ready to work with him also. “I think there is nobody that will come into this country that will not want the assistance of the Niger Delta. This is because that is where the major resource of this country comes from. So, you must need the Niger Delta people except you want division in the country. That is when you don’t have the love for the people of this nation”.
On calls from different quarters for the scrapping of the Niger Delta Amnesty programme, Boyloaf insisted those making such calls do not have the interest of the nation at heart. According to him, the Amnesty programme has ensured great increase in the volume of production of crude oil production in the country.
“The production of crude oil this time around compared to some years back is increasing and the amnesty is something that has come to stay. And if the government wants to scrap the amnesty, it means the government doesn’t mean well for the nation. That’s my own belief. Let me tell you something – people were also inciting others that the government wants to scrap the amnesty. I have been in the Niger Delta trying to pacify them and telling them that it is a lie and that the government will work with them. They wanted to start destruction. There is no way that you will come out and say you will scrap the amnesty. How many people can you kill? How many? The Niger Delta terrain is very different and our struggle is very sacrosanct. That is one thing you get. So you cannot kill everybody. Look at Boko Haram – their area is a desert and it is easy for vehicles to move.
“When you talk about our area, it is not a desert. It is not passable by vehicle but strictly on water and by the time you use your chopper in the day and come and finish and go, what will happen in the night? All these are just sycophants that don’t mean well for this nation. With what I have seen in Buhari, he will want peace. That is my belief”, Boyloaf said.
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