Posted by By HENRY CHUKWURAH, Port Harcourt on
Bayelsa State Governor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has come under the hammer of Prof. Tam David-West over the recent anniversary celebration of the late Major Isaac Adaka Boro, held in Yenagoa, the state capital.
David-West blasts Gov. Jonathan over botched lecture
Bayelsa State Governor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has come under the hammer of Prof. Tam David-West over the recent anniversary celebration of the late Major Isaac Adaka Boro, held in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Prof. David-West, who was initially billed to present the Boro anniversary lecture on May 16, this year, entitled Oloibiri: 50 Years After Oil, is aggrieved because he was dropped at the last minute and replaced by Prof. E. J. Alagoa" without apologies, an act he said was master-minded by the governor.
Recounting how the Boro Foundation, organizers of the anniversary, contacted him through one Prof. M. Brambeifa and later by Dr. Amba Ambaowei, Chairman of the Foundation, for the lecture and the juggling of dates, which he later found out, was a ploy to dump him, Prof. David-West believes that the state governor masterminded his subtle exclusion from the lecture presentation.
'They said I am the best to deliver the lecture when they came to me. They saw Prof. Alagoa first before they said I was the best to deliver it. So, the government frustrated it.
'What really shocked me was that the lecture was given on the 16th of May, which the governor said was not convenient for him. The bottom line is that the Governor of Bayelsa State, not the Boro Foundation, stopped Tam David-West from delivering the lecture. I don't even know him.
'I am ashamed that he is less committed to Adaka Boro than a Kalabariman. I hold that view because first, at the government level, they said my views on this Ijaw, Rivers, Niger Delta militants, are so close to the Niger Delta Volunteer Force because I said that theNiger Delta militants are not terrorists.
'Yes, I still say that they are not terrorists. They are freedom fighters. A terrorist has not got humane touch. This people are humane that when one of the hostages said, please give me my happy birthday,' they used their money to organise the birthday party for him.
'You go and tell the Iraqi terrorist that your birthday is March 1. They will kill you on that day.
' I still maintain and hold my stand that the restive Niger Delta youths that have been pushed to take up arms, are not terrorists".
Prof. David-West saw the incident in Yenagoa as a reflection of the calibre of the current leadership of the Ijaw ethnic nation which, in his assessment, is grossly deficient in ideas and focus.
'Within the Ijaw nation, we have many hollow bosoms in so many places. Some of our leaders are devils. They can easily sell the nation for a pot of porridge.
'Our problem is that we have not got a population of leadership from Ijaw that are so spiritually committed to the fight for Ijaw. I am not saying liberation; I am not saying that we secede.
'If our leaders were doing their jobs, articulating Ijaw problem, carry the Ijaw banner safely, they will respect you. They have failed, that is why the youth have come out to do what they are doing".
The university teacher believes that the late Adaka Boro whom he described as the 'Moses of the Ijaw nation", deserved more honour than he has received.
'Adaka Boro to me, is the greatest Ijaw compatriot produced in our time. There is no question about that; greatest in terms of what he was able to achieve, greatest in terms of his commitment, greatest in terms of his spiritual commitment and his dedication to the Ijaw cause".
Prof. David-West hinted that he would, in due course, publish his unpresented lecture.