Posted by Isaac Olamikan reporting from Yenagoa on
Chief Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, the Executive Governor of Bayelsa State has predicted that a dark cloud looms over the country if the National Political Reforms Conference fails.
Chief Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, the Executive Governor of Bayelsa State has predicted that a dark cloud looms over the country if the National Political Reforms Conference fails.
The governor was speaking at a public lecture to mark this year's Democracy Day celebration. The lecture was held at the newly opened ultra-modern Cultural Centre in Yenagoa.
He warned about the war drums that some people are beating in readiness for 2007. He was of the opinion that all the struggle to control power from the centre is hinged on the resources that are available mostly in the Niger Delta.
He believes that if there is a proviso that the resources from the Niger Delta would not be available for the development of the country did agitation to rule the country will die down.
On the National Political Reforms Conference, the governor predicted that if it fails, crime rate will be on the increase and there will also be an increase in militia activities as he foresees the Federal Government using the police to fight agitators and this will elicit reactions from the militias.
He said as regards Bayelsa State, the people will take whatever comes out of the confab with maturity and take the minority report submitted by the state commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism and Strategy who also is a delegate to the confab, Hon. Oronto Douglas, to Nigerians in all parts of the world so that they can judge the matter.
"We shall petition Nigeria before the throne of grace and I believe God is not partial", he added.
Governor Alamieyeseigha, however, warned those predicting the collapse in another 15 years.
He asserted that the country will remain an indivisible entity no matter the odds and warned such prophets of doom to watch their utterances.
He said that any problem in the Niger Delta is bound to affect the United States as 15% of our oil is being consumed there.
"In some years to come it (Nigeria's oil export to the US) will increase to 25%. So if there is any problem in the Niger Delta it would definitely affect the US", the governor said.
In his submission, the chairman of the occasion, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, the former External Affairs Minister in the Babangida administration, admonished that the warning about the collapse of Nigeria in 15 years time should be taken with all seriousness and adequate steps taken to forestall such an occurrence.
The United States had warned Nigeria to be careful, urging its authorities and people to be on the alert. The US which has strong presence in Nigeria revealed that its warning is a product of intelligence gathering.
Nigeria is the biggest country in the continent, with its market believed to be the largest. Within its boundaries, there is evidence that the peoples of Nigeria have been able to build a nation.
At the moment there is bad blood over how power is shared among the federating components and controversy over how resource is authoritatively allocated
Surprisingly, all the groups claim marginalization of a sort and the issues believed to be at the centre of what is obviously a crisis of confidence are being discussed at the moment.
Experts think it is not the differences within the Nigerian nation which could trigger off the split of the country. They say it is the power game of the big powers and their economic interests which could more than any other thing trigger an explosion that is likely to tear Nigeria apart.
To buttress their views they cite the experience of Eastern Europe and Latin America and point to the uncontrolled flow of destructive weapons, especially into the Niger Delta and the hands of the authorities..
Within the continent, its influence has been quite a source of concern both to African countries and the imperialist powers that are bent to extend their sphere of influence
Both France and Britain have had at one time or the other to contend with the growing influence of Nigeria in the continent. The thinking among most pan Nigerian observers is that the foreign powers might well be the ones that would plot Nigeria's downfall.