Jonathan is entitled to eight years – N-Delta leaders

UGHELLI — PEOPLE of the Niger Delta region, under the auspices of Niger Delta Leaders Assembly, have told President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2015 presidential election, otherwise he should not return home, insisting that “it is a must do project.”

Speaking during a courtesy call on Chief Edwin Clark at his Kiagbodo country home, Delta State, National Chairman of the group, HRM Carson Agidah, said despite the fact that God has made them feeder station of the country, their brothers in the North, East and West had never allowed people from the South-South region to preside over the affairs of Nigeria, but for President Jonathan, who emerged through divine intervention.

He said: “We have been shortchanged for too long, impoverished by our extreme attention to the needs of our brothers. We have made the bourgeois of the North, East and West feast on our wealth to the detriment of our children. Our magnanimity is taken for granted; we have been mocked for allowing our wealth to be accessed by all; our generosity has turned to an offence as we are rated as those who do not know the value of their wealth.

“Politically, our region has always been known to be the shopping centre for votes and support to make others President of Nigeria. As far as presidential elections are concerned, we have never been qualified to be voted for.

“Respectfully, our dear elder statesman, we are here to let you know that we are set to reverse the tide. We are set to break that jinx in 2015 for posterity. For the 2015 presidential election, we the people of Niger Delta have a candidate. Our candidate is Dr Jonathan. He must contest the 2015 presidential election.”

Responding, Chief Clark said all the regions in the country needed one another to move on, noting that, “Alhaji Shehu Shagari was to do eight years when the military struck; Chief Olusegun Obasanjo did eight years; Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua was to do eight years before his death; so Dr Jonathan is entitled to eight years.”

Urging the group to meet with other regions to seek their consent and support, he said the group or the Niger Delta region alone cannot make  Jonathan president come 2015. He added that he will convey the message of the group to President Jonathan.

He said: “President Jonathan has resuscitated the railways. He has improved on the power situation in the country; air transport has been improved upon; the aviation industry is being improved upon and he has also improved on the educational sector.”

Clark said all the states in the country now have a federal university, adding that “President Jonathan is doing his best. He believes in one man one vote and he has strengthened democracy.”