Posted by From LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja on
President Olusegun Obasanjo has again turned down the request for the pardon and release of detained leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, Alhaji Asari Dokubo who is standing trial on treasonable felony charges.
President Olusegun Obasanjo has again turned down the request for the pardon and release of detained leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, Alhaji Asari Dokubo who is standing trial on treasonable felony charges.
He told a delegation of Ijaw Elders and Leaders Forum that visited him in the Presidential Villa yesterday that 'no individual, no matter how big or small, will hold the country to ransom. We will not allow that".
The presidents had at a recent meeting of the Presidential Council on Socio Economic Development of the Coastal States of the Niger Delta, sounded the same warning in response to a request for the release of the detained Ijaw youth leader.
Reacting to an appeal from the delegation for support from the Federal Government in their efforts to check the recalcitrance of youths in the Niger-Delta, the president said the country must find an enduring solution to the collapse of community life.
'We must find a lasting solution to this problem of the collapse of community life. We must re-create and re-establish the spirit, ethos and values which accord respect to the elders of the community," he stressed.
President Obasanjo challenged the Ijaw elders to give strong leadership and contribute their quota to the Administration's efforts to make a difference in the Niger Delta.
He stated that the Presidential Council on Socio Economic Development of the Coastal States of the Niger-Delta has provided a platform for the youths of the area to hold their elected leaders at the state level and other representatives responsible for their actions or inaction in governance.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Chief Edwin Clark had expressed their condolence to President Obasanjo on the Nigerian Air Force plane and ADC Airlines crashes and commended him for the release of N19 billion for the aviation industry to reverse the inadequacy in the sector.