PRESS RELEASE BY HIS MAJESTY PERE CHARLES AYEMI-BOTU (JP) AT OSUBI AIRPORT ON HIS RETURN FROM A CONSULTATIVE VISIT TO THE IJAWS OF THE UK/ USA.

It is an absolute fact that every problem under the sun is man made and is only man that can actually provide the necessary solution. The above maxims predicated on the protracted and much talked about crisis in the Niger Delta Region, whose turn is to shoulder the heavy burden of Providing the wherewithal and to keep Nigeria one through her God given natural wealth, the Black Gold aka blood money.

However, the Niger Delta crisis is seemingly beyond solution as a result of the insensitivity of the successive past federal Governments be it military or civilian that had been pursuing shadows instead of the substance. Secondly a region that has become the economic life wire of this great country Nigeria for the past fifty years had no commersurate infrastructural and human development but apparently playing the role of a second fiddle. Nonetheless the area, especially the coastal belt or the core Niger Delta Region is most disadvantaged, inspite of the harsh and perculiar ecological terrain coupled with the environmental degradation and pollution through Gas flaring caused by multinational Oil companies prospecting Oil in these areas.

We are therefore grostly denied of our God-given wealth by the three major ethnic groups- WAZOBIA either through the barrel of the gun or by democratic process at one time or the other rule the country and share the national cake without considering where the cake is coming from. Obviously, in 1998, one of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s campaign manifestoes was the issue of the Niger Delta and when he eventually came to power, after sending the Niger Delta Development Commission Bill to the National Assembly and consequent upon its approval by the National Assembly, the President refused assent and went to sleep but the National Assembly vetoed. The board of NDDC was reluctantly inaugurated by the president after six months of the passage of the bill and next was the failure to release funds due to the NDDC for the development of the Niger Delta, he has thus failed in his verbal promise to turn around the plight of the Niger Delta.
Late 2005, the President ordered the arrest of factional leaders, including Dr. Fredrick Fashaun and Gani Adams of Odua fame, Alhaji Asari Dokubo of NDVF and Chief Uwazuruke of MOSSOB but in 2006, both Fashaun and Gani Adams were released through court bail but the latter two are still kept in the dungeon.


Chief Gani Adams called for Asari Dokubo’s release but OBJ did not. The common parlance says, what is good for the goose is equally good for the gander. The big question is was it not the same Asari Ex-President Obasanjo gave presidential treatment by sending his jet to convey Alhaji Asari Dokubo and held a meeting in the presidential villa for over four hours and later returned him with the presidential jet early August 2004.
Since January 2006, the youths under any guise have been tormenting the territory of the core Niger Delta Region up till date because of Ex. President Obasanjo’s blatant refusal to release Alhaji Asari Dokubo after he had released his Kinsmen. Come to think of the billions of dollars Nigeria has been loosing daily since January 2006 to date due to Mr. Know all intransigent. We are reliably told that between 600 to 800 barrels of crude oil are lost daily, because Obasanjo is running Nigeria like otta farm and totally nonchalant about what the country is loosing provided himself and his cohorts were skinning the country dry.

After much pressure from home and the international communities, a phantom council known as the Niger Delta Socio-Economic Development Council was established as a talk shop to further deceive the people of the Niger Delta with the NDDC footing the bills of the quarterly meeting. After eleven months there had been no positive development in the region.
The thank you from Ex. President Obasanjo to the Nigerian Nation on the Eve of his exit was to create more problems and confusion for the incoming Administration of Alhaji Umah Yaradua & Dr. Jonathan Goodluck and to worsen situation for the down trodden masses of the Country by increasing the Pump price of petrol to one hundred naira and value added tax (VAT) to ten percent which had invariably jerked up the cost of living in the country. All in all, OBJ had unpardonably, increased petroleum products more than five times in eight years but failed to provide turn around maintenance of our ailing four Refineries, so that he would use his household to import finished Petroleum products after we have exported our crude oil to neighbouring countries. Some countries in Europe and America are having more than twenty eight refineries without producing crude oil but the contrary is the case in Nigeria, no wonder Professor Awojobi the Mathematical Icon of the blessed memory wept for Nigeria in 1983 during the second republic elections. The immediate past Minister of finance, in a bid to cover-up the trillions of Naira stashed away shamelessly made a blanket statement in their twilight that a whopping sum of N6.7 trillion naira was spent for power, works and railway in the past eight years. But she cunningly did not decipher or give a break down of how it was spent.

I think this is a test case for the EFCC to unfold but we pray that it should not go the way of the brazen PTDF saga that the former National Assembly exculpated Ex. President Obasanjo & Vice President Atiku of grossly defrauding the country of billions of dollars that could have been used for providing more refineries and technical man power.

During the 9th Boro Day celebration organised by the Ijaw Nationality Alliance of the Americas in New York last may and was attended by the Ijaw Peoples Association of Great Britain and Ireland Ijaws at home and in Diaspora, it was unequivocally resolved that the Ijaws being the fourth largest ethnic group is subtly gaining her rightful place with the election of His Excellency Dr. Jonathan Goodluck as the Vice President, General Owoye Azazi as the Chief of Defence Staff, Mr. Timi Aliabe as the Managing Director N.D.D.C as well as Chief P.Z. Aginighan acting Executive Director Finance and Administration and Chief Wellington Okrika Executive Chairman Delta State Oil Producing Areas Commission (DESOPADEC) have called on all ijaws in the Niger Delta to prevail on our youths to give peace a chance in order to facilitate the urgent need to provide infrastructural development of the Niger Delta.

All the revolutionary forces in the Niger Delta should sheath their swords and guns and allow the multinational oil companies and other expatriate construction or servicing companies unfettered access to the nooks and cranies of the Niger Delta Region.

They also called on President Umar Yaradua to grant the unconditional release of Alhaji Asari Dokubo and other political detainees without further delay and increase the principle of Derivation from present 13% to 25% and stagger the remaining twenty five percent in the next five years as being practised in true fiscal federalism through out the world.

Lastly to provide adequate funds to the NDDC to actualise the Niger Delta master plan.
Having fulfilled the above requirements, the hitherto protracted Niger Delta quagmire will be a thing of the past. To be continued.

His Majesty Pere Charles Ayemi-Botu (JP),
Paramount Ruler of Seimbiri Kingdom &
1st Elected National Executive Chairman of ATROMPCON