Ogoni Clean-Up:Lawmaker Urges Caution

A one-time Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the House of Representatives re-run election, Rt. Hon Dumnamene Dekor, has said that the implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report by the Federal Government would be a time bomb in Ogoniland, if wrongly implemented.
The former lawmaker, who spoke with The Tide in an interview in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, said it was the desire of every Ogoni citizen that the environment should be cleaned, warning that the way the process of implementation of the recommendations is being managed could trigger another round of crisis in the area.
He alleged that the APC politicians in Ogoni were the ones politicising the implementation of the UNEP report, stressing that the Ogoni people had suffered a lot as a result of environmental degradation, and deserved a comprehensive clean-up in line with the recommendations contained in the UNEP report.
He accused the politicians of making it appear as if the implementation of the UNEP report could not go ahead, if they did not occupy elective offices.
Similarly, the former deputy speaker, has accused the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of masterminding the crises in the state, as a plot to unseat the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike.
The lawmaker alleged that the plot hatched by APC leaders in the state was to cause violence, so that the Federal Government would declare a state of emergency and sack the governor.
But, he stated: “Declaration of state of emergency, the National Assembly is there and it requires two-third majority. But, the truth is this, nothing has happened in Rivers State to deserve emergency.
“Mr. President (Muhammadu Buhari) is the President of Nigeria and represents the interest of all Nigerians, irrespective of political affiliation. What is happening in Rivers State is something they have to retrace their steps
“Democracy is about the people; most of them causing the crisis lack the support of the Rivers people. They have created a monstrous posture of themselves outside the state. These people have to realise that the state governor was elected by the people.”
“You see a situation where the governor makes a broadcast, only for the former governor to make his own broadcast. Such action generates pockets of crisis. For a former governor to make a broadcast where there is an incumbent governor is to cause friction in the state,” Dekor stressed.
Dekor, who is seeking re-election into the House of Rep­resentatives for Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency, alleged that the APC knew that the people would vote against its candidates, and decided to use the military to intimidate voters.
“Even at that, you saw what happened at the polls. The people voted and protected their votes in the face of intimidation and harassment.
“When you want to lead the people, you don’t impose yourself on them. That is why the APC has to retrace its steps. Our brothers in APC must come to terms with the fact that the people have spoken.”
According to him, the last election would have ended peacefully had the military not targeted PDP supporters for harassment, noting that his agent during the election, was unlawfully detained by soldiers, who, he alleged, were taking orders from an APC chieftain.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana