Buhari would’ve done better for Niger Deltathan Jonathan – Asari Dokubo

Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, one of the
biggest supporters and kinsman of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan,
has declared that the president has lost the support of his political
base, the South-south and the South-East owing to the failure of his
government to deliver on its promises.
Dokubo-Asari, at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, said that it
would be tough for Jonathan to win the presidential election in 2015
if he decides to run based on the poor
showing of his administration.
He said that his decision to speak out was for him and others who are
ardent supporters of Jonathan not to be blamed for his failure in
2015.
He said: "I want to start with an Ijaw proverb, which says: the eyes
watched its seven children to death. Instead of advising them, it was
just looking at them until they died, while the mouth talked its only
child to life and success.
"We have continued as Ijaw people and the entire Niger Delta and
South-South to support the presidency of President Goodluck Jonathan,
but a time has come when silence cannot be
golden.
"We mainly speak out in issues that are very critical to the survival
of our people, the survival of the people of the South-South and the
South-East, which happens to be the political base of Goodluck
Jonathan.
"Jonathan is surrounded by very greedy people who are only in the
Presidency to enrich themselves at the expense of Goodluck
himself.
"This brings us to another Kalabari proverb, which says: where there
are elders, a goat cannot be allowed to deliver tied to a stick.
"If we don't talk and we continue to brush it aside, tomorrow we will
be blamed and people will say: Mujahid Dokubo-Asari was around when
Goodlcuk Jonathan was president and he didn't talk.
"Them I will be an accomplice and accessory after the fact….
"It is alarming because the South-South must have its uninterrupted
eight years tenure, which is constitutional.
"But with how things are going under Jonathan's watch, we are afraid
that we may not be able to have our eight years tenure because there
will be no magic about it if it is going to be one
man one vote."
Dokubo-Asari said he will continue to speak out despite the fact that
he had benefitted from Jonathan, adding that one of those causing
trouble for the President remains the Minister
of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Godsday Orubebe. He said: "I have
benefited immensely from Goodluck Jonathan with my stake but benefit
alone is not enough to make me to keep quiet
when the period is very challenging for our people.
"So, some of us are tempted to ask this question: why are all these
things happening?
"Why has the President allow some ministers like Godsday Orubebe to
continue in government?
"Everyday people die on the East-West Road. "If Orubebe is incompetent
as he has shown himself to be, he should be removed. "Nobody voted for
Orubebe.
"And why is Orubebe so important to the President that he can't remove
him even in the bface of his obvious incompetence and several
allegation to corruption?
"We feel very ashamed and embarrassed. "Orubebe was one of us.
"He was attending meetings with us, sleeping in the ground with
us,entering night bus with us and we nominated him to be appointed a
minister.
"We have gone to him and complained to him that we don't like they way
things are going in his ministry and told him that if the President
leaves in 2015 without the completion of the
East-West Road, we are finished.
"And the man keeps telling us there is no money.
"When IBB (former military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida) was
there, there was money.
"When Abacha was there, there was money.
"When others were there, there was money.
"How come the money disappeared when
Jonathan got there?
"Jonathan and orubebe will account for the death in the East-West Road."
On the face-off between Jonathan and former President Olusegun
Obasanjo, Dokubo-Asari said there was no need for it. He said that no
matter what Jonathan feels, he still remains a beneficiary of
Obasanjo's large
heartedness.
He said: "First, there was no need for Goodluck Jonathan to disagree
with Olusegun Obasanjo.
"I don't like Obasanjo.
"I don't like his face.
"I hate him.
"But he was instrumental in bringing Goodluck
Jonathan to power.
"And the greedy people around Jonathan have not managed him enough to
the extent that the President and people around him will allow
Jonathan to disagree with Obasanjo openly
"And if you check, all the people who supported Goodluck Jonathan and
fought to bring him to power, have openly disagreed with him. "What
was the cause of these disagreements?
"These are the questions we want to put to the president. "Some people
say Obasanjo is manipulating Goodluck Jonathan, that is why Jonathan
is
disagreeing with him and we ask: what has Goodluck Jonathan's
government achieved to show that it is a departure from other
governments that have existed since 1956? "For us, nothing has
changed. "It is still business as usual. "So what are the advice that
Obasanjo gave to Jonathan that were so difficult for him to fulfill,
that made him decide to fall out with
Obasanjo? "Obasanjo was instrumental and manipulated the process that
illegally removed Diepreye Alamieyeseigha as governor of Bayelsa State
and installed Jonathan as governor, made him vice president, fought
for him to become acting
president and also fought for him to become president of Nigeria.
Apart from Obasanjo, there are so many people who supported Goodluck
Jonathan, some have been pushed out by those who were not there to
give him any support, while some others are trapped and they cannot
talk.
I have a feeling that Fulani man Buhari would have done more for
Niger-delta than Jonathan has done so far Jonathan has done nothing
for Niger Delta actually. It is getting more and
more difficult to support him, the second niger bridge is another issue.