Posted by The Port Harcourt Telegraph on
More than 10, 000 PRONACO members marched through the streets of Port Harcourt Saturday, as the pro-ethnic nationality movement began its sensitization programme.
* Backs Niger Delta demand for resource take over
* Says ethnic nations in Nigeria have right to secede
* Throws weight behind right to self determination
More than 10, 000 PRONACO members marched through the streets of Port Harcourt Saturday, as the pro-ethnic nationality movement began its sensitization programme.
At the head of the sensitization drive was the tested warlord, Asari Dokubo whose opposition to the convoking of the Abuja confab has remained unwavering.
Traffic was nearly brought to a halt in the heart of the city, as the long column of men and vehicles slowly went through, led by the police.
Alhaji Asari Dokubo leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Front which is the political arm of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force most of the time walked the streets, leading the huge mobilization effort and distributing leaflets.
One of the leaflets which urged the people to support the "People's National Conference" outlined PRONACO's objectives and the demands of the Niger Delta People's Salvation Front.
Asari, obviously the author of the leaflets said, "Our people, I ahve jumped all the normal protocol, and greeted you directly, for protocol will not help us as Ijaws or Niger Deltans"
Cashing in on the outcome of the deadlocked confab, the activist remarked, "Today we have been humiliated, maltreated and abused by those who claim to be God on earth, who have arrogated to themselves the powers to decide whether we live or die, whether we are happy or sad, whether we are sick or well, whether we are given or deprived."
He went on, "Today they are at Abuja attempting to decide our fate...who are these leaders representing in Abuja?"
"They are representing 25% revenue based on derivation", Asari accused them, "They are representing 75% revenue based on deprivation"
PRONACO's mass movement is coming against the backdrop of the deadlock in Abuja arising from the protracted face-off between the North and the South-South.
And what many here see as the success of PRONACO's procession was perhaps a sign that South-South leaders may indeed have come to the conclusion that to open little windows to dissenting voices within the polity might not be a bad idea after all.
In a sense, it was proof that in the South-South, people are becoming increasingly disillusioned with what the authorities would like to see as the mainstream conference of the Nigerian people.
The South-South angered by the audacity of the North and its allies in prescribing a paltry 17% as its fair share of distributable revenue under the derivation principle has remained unshaken in its resolve not to return to the confab.