Posted by From TIMOTHY OLA, Maiduguri on
Second Republic politician and national chairman of the defunct Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Alhaji Khalifa Hassan Yusuf, has called for the arrest and prosecution of former governors of the seven oil producing states in the country, as well as ministers and political leaders from the Niger Delta area, accusing them of being responsible for the protracted crisis in the area.
Second Republic politician and national chairman of the defunct Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Alhaji Khalifa Hassan Yusuf, has called for the arrest and prosecution of former governors of the seven oil producing states in the country, as well as ministers and political leaders from the Niger Delta area, accusing them of being responsible for the protracted crisis in the area.
'The governors, ministers and political leaders in the Niger Delta connived to impoverish their people in a way that forced the youths to be restive, thereby turning to militancy first as a way of expressing their grievances and later as means of survival,' Khalifa, a presidential candidate in the 1983 general elections, told Daily Sun.
He said the Niger Delta militants should have directed their grievances and activities against their leaders who feasted on the resources meant for the well-being of their people, rather than kidnapping oil workers and making the area unsafe for economic activities, human and infrastructural development.
His words: 'The situation in the Niger Delta is so pathetic. One would have expected those who governed these states for eight years to do something meaningful with the 13.5 percent derivation and huge monetary allocations to them. Sadly, these leaders have only succeeded in turning themselves into billionaires overnight and it is expected that the psyche of the youths was hurt with such crude display of wealth by their governors and political leaders.'
He said until the Federal Government made the governors account for and return what they stole from the resources of their people, the crisis in the area would continue unabated.
The septuagenarian took an overview of the state of the nation, declaring that things were falling apart. Said he: 'President Yar'Adua would have changed things because he has always been committed to good governance right from his days at the PRP, but the problem is that he is operating on a very faulty, rotten foundation. As Achebe puts it, things have fallen apart, the centre can no longer hold and that is why the man cannot find his bearing.'
He declared that the president's vision 2020 might be a mirage after all, comparing the Abuja government to a rickety chair which could not weather the storm because of the poor renovation it underwent. 'Tell me, how did Obasanjo manage this country? It is the same thing that is going on because the system was bad. Except Yar'Adua steps on the toes of leaders who have stolen the nation's resources, I don't see how he will move the nation forward,' he stressed.
He contended that no nation could progress on a foundation of corruption, adding that Nigerian leaders had stolen billions of naira with impunity, an ugly development which had become a tradition or way of life for most Nigerians.
Speaking on the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Khalifa lambasted governors in the North for turning the socio-cultural group into a political party.
He said the forum which ought to be a voluntary organization for the interest of the entire Northern region had been turned into political machinery of governors from the region.
'It was not established for political parties or for the political agenda of certain individuals but sometime ago, it became a political party. There was a time I was even barred from attending one of their meetings because my state governor then never liked my opposition to his government back home and he had to instruct them not to allow me.
'Again, there was a time the former governor of Jigawa State, Saminu Turaki was manipulating the forum for his political agenda, spending money to get the forum to toe his political line. This is the level the ACF has degenerated into and once you are not in the good book of your governor, you are declared as persona non grata.
They politicized the aims and objectives of the forum and derailed totally. Are they actually representing the interest of the Arewas as they ought to do?' he queried.
While calling on the governors in the North to increase allocations to education and agriculture, he canvassed for political education for the people, noting that such would help in electing the right leaders and correcting such leaders whenever they go astray.