Ijaw Leaders Warn Trouble Makers, Back Jonathan

Akanimo Sampson

Ijaw Leaders Warn Trouble Makers, Back Jonathan

THE Ijaw people of the Niger Delta, Nigeria's volatile oil and gas region, have warned that they will apply any means necessary to resist any threat to the life of their kinsman, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan.

While declaring total support to the Acting President, they also called on the Nigerian people to rise up and resist those subverting the 1999 Constitution of the country.

The Ijaw leaders at home and in the Diaspora, spoke on Monday on the platform of Ijaw Foundation. President of the group, Mr. Ebipamone Nanakumo, who spoke for the Ijaw leaders said in an on-line statement, ''we are shocked, saddened and horrified by reports of great and increasing instability in Nigeria . Specifically, we are concerned about accounts of clandestine plots to oust Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan from his position as Acting President''.

Equally alarming, according to the Ijaw leaders, ''are accounts of shady movements of certain military formations in the country without the knowledge and authorization of the Acting President''.

Continuing, they said, ''these acts are dangerously subversive of constitutional order. They should be resisted by all Nigerians. In the interest of clarity, let it be known that we are not unmindful of the concerns some of our fellow citizens might have.

''Firstly, some Nigerians, citing the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP)internal rotational arrangement ceding power to the North, feel that Acting President Jonathan’s position robs the North of their turn at exercising power at the national level. In our view, this is totally unwarranted since our nation needs steady hands at its helm. From the attempted airline bombing over Detroit , to the political upheaval in next-door Republic of Niger , it is clear that Nigeria has to be optimally engaged at all times in this fast moving world, with a president who is well and fully engaged. Nigeria cannot afford to stand still in the midst of the fast moving events of the global community''.

According to the Ijaw leaders, ''Jonathan, a southerner, becoming president of the country does not in any way violate or subvert the zoning arrangement of the ruling PDP because Jonathan will be taking over from a northern president, and the PDP can re-zone the presidency to the north after Jonathan’s presidency, in perfect sync with its rotational policy. It would therefore be wrong and unacceptable to deny Goodluck Jonathan the right to be the PDP nominee for the 2011 presidential election''.

Theyb claimed that by his actions and demeanor, Jonathan has time and time again shown utmost loyalty to ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua, adding, ''we wish to stress that, as Yar’Adua’s deputy in a joint presidential mandate, loyalty demands and compels Jonathan to become Acting President to fully and effectively discharge the duties of the President when the later is incapacitated to do so. Thus, Jonathan’s ascension as Acting President is an inevitable act of loyalty to both Yar’Adua and the nation, and not an act of disloyalty. Like Jonathan and others in the nation, we wish President Yar’Adua well and pray for his speedy and full recovery''.

''Secondly'', they went on,''there are yet others, probably well-meaning, who profess unhappiness at the National Assembly’s action in passing the acting presidency resolution without resort to medical certification of incapacitation or to impeachment as ways to resolve the crisis of the vacuum in leadership. The National Assembly’s solution provides, ironically, a properly nuanced understanding of the political dynamics of Nigeria and, presumably for this reason, commands wide acceptance among the citizenry. Some may call the National Assembly’s approach ‘illegitimate’ and ‘unconstitutional.’

''However, no competent judicial body has, so far, reached any verdict of unconstitutionality . At this point, if any can, with certitude, assert that the Supreme Court of the land will invalidate the National Assembly’s ingenious solution to the bourgeoning crisis, they deceive themselves and the truth is not in them. Until-- and unless--such a legitimate and competent judicial pronouncement is made, Nigerians ought to refrain from unduly overheating the internal order. We should all turn the national temperature down. After all, the National Assembly is the institution invested with law-making and constitution- review authority''.

The rest of their statement went thus:
''The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria empowers the National Assembly to enact laws, including Resolutions such as this, for the good governance, order, security and peace of the country. Furthermore, the Constitution does not allow for leadership vacuum at the highest level of governance of the country, as clearly outlined in sections 143, 144 and 145. It is universal knowledge that President Yar'Adua is critically ill and incapacitated.

''Yar'Adua himself declared his incapacitation and inability to perform any of his functions or duties as president in his infamous BBC radio interview. It is indisputable that the BBC interview was an official address of President Yar'Adua to the nation, including the National Assembly, because it was prompted and compelled by the intense clamor by Nigerians to hear from their ailing president. Therefore, Yar'Adua's BBC interview was both proof and official notice to the nation, including the National Assembly, of his incapacitation. Moreover, the Constitution dictates that, whenever the president is incapacitated or otherwise unable to perform the duties of his office, the Vice President shall automatically become Acting President.

''The avoidable failure to comply with Section 145 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had created an avoidable but contrived constitutional crisis, which had to be resolved to avert anarchy and disaster. In the circumstance, the Resolution of the National Assembly to empower the Vice President as Acting President is constitutional, legitimate, legal, proper and right! It is worthy to note that Senate President David Mark's statement/speech proclaiming the National Assembly Resolution empowering Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President was both brilliant and flawless in its articulation of its unassailable basis and constitutionality! !

''Then, also, there may be those who may be tempted to think that Jonathan has no business at the helm of national affairs—simply by reason of his being from the South-South geopolitical zone. The response is that Nigeria is not a monarchy but a secular constitutional political entity. Thus, Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians and not to only a section of the country. Evidently, any Nigerian who is qualified and capable should have the right to rule the country, if a majority of Nigerians agree through either electoral votes or a collective decision of the representatives of the people.

''No one, certainly not Jonathan or anybody else, should attain the position of Acting President—or be disqualified from it—solely by reason of ethnic or regional origin. Regardless of our origins, what binds us together as a nation is the Nigerian constitution. If the constitution is subverted and Jonathan is removed through unconstitutional and undemocratic processes, we shall consider that our constitutional obligations are thereby abrogated. In this connection, therefore, we are issuing this Declaration of unqualified support and affirmation of the communiqué issued by the 26 leaders of the South-South Zone.

''Consequently, we support and affirm that we believe in the oneness, unity and peace of Nigeria (predicated upon the rule of law, social justice and equity); our current constitution binds us all together; no Nigerian is a second-class citizen in our own land; and the rule of law in our democracy is applicable to all. …”

''We warn against any threat, overt or covert, to the life of the Acting President. We shall not tolerate any plot to destabilize his leadership. Such treasonable act will be viewed by us as a declaration to marginalize the South-South and extinct the Ijaw people of Nigeria . Consequently, we are able, willing and ready to activate the forces of the international community under the United Nations charter to assert and protect our rights to survival, human dignity and self-determination as enunciated in the Communiqué issued by the elders of the region. That is because our very survival is under threat.

''Finally, we are reminded of the centuries-old declaration of the American colonies: “When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they declare the causes which impel them to the separation . . .”

''Treating some Nigerians as second class citizens unworthy of the highest positions Nigeria has to offer, is, and ought to be, one such cause. We have not fully arrived at that point yet but what happens to Jonathan will be a critical metric of that determination. Once we decide, however, that we have arrived at that point, we will have no hesitation in taking whatever political and legal actions we deem appropriate''.

ENDS

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