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Nigeria: Niger Delta Summit - Gambari Should Step Aside - NLC Insists
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Leadership (Abuja)
4 July 2008
Posted to the web 4 July 2008
Chuks Ohuegbe
Abuja
The Nigeria Labour Congress has warned Professor Ibrahim Gambari to step aside following the lingering controversy over his appointment as the chairman of the proposed Niger Delta summit.
The summit they said, will be compromised from the very beginning if the serious objections of the Niger Delta people against Prof. Gambari, based on his antecedents in the Abacha's regime are overuled.
In a press release issued to LEADERSHIP by its General-Secretary, Mr. John E. Odah, Nigerian Labour Congress is of the view that the summit will not be a success if the person who chairs it is a subject of controversy, especially amongst key stakeholders.
According to the labour group, having made offensive comments in relation to the self-determination struggle of the people of the region in the past, Professor Gambari's suitability is questionable. The group further stressed that the nature of the crisis in the region and the unprecendented protest against his appointment clearly showed that he is not suitable for the job.
In their words, "we expect Professor Gambari to know that where a peacemaker, arbiter or adjucator becomes a serious source of controversy by contending parties or stakeholders, such a person should remove himself from the scene, so as not to divert attention from the primary objective. We do not think that he has ulterior motives, nor personal interest to be served at the summit. So he should therefore execuse himself from the summit."
The labour group further warned that if Professor Gambari fails to take the path of honour, then President Yar'Adua should save the summits' integrity by forcefully dropping him and appointing another chairman who will be accepted.
Meanwhile, the group re-affirmed its support for the regions summit, stressing that the regions development master plan enunciated by this administration cannot be implemented without far-reaching political consensus over the concern of the Niger Delta peace. Disclosing further its plan to organise a complementary summit with focus on addressing the labour, human capital, as well as social dimensions of the crisis.
The Nigerian Labour Congress, however, prayed that the current travails of Professor Gambari will let others realise that the actions and utterances of military apologists will continue to haunt them.
In a related development, the recrimination of Professor Ibrahim Gambari as the chairman of the steering committee on the Niger Delta Summit received further recrimination from the Niger Delta Youth Movement (NDYM) calling for a total boycott of the summit.
NDYM said yesterday in a statement signed by its President, Onengiye Elekima that the governors of the state that comprise the region and its elders should prevail on the indigenes to shun the summit which it described as a sham.
The statement which was tittled, "No to Summit", read in part, "The NDYM hereby warns further and calls on the people of Niger Delta to boycott the summit in its entirety no matter who chairs it.
"We call on the governors and the elders to prevail on the indigens of their states to shun the sham called summit. They should boycott the summit to protect their dignity and pride."
Professor Gambari on Wednesday, reportedly said that he would consult with President, Umaru Yar'Adua and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan on the criticisms traiting his appointment.
Justiying its call for a total boycott , NDYM said that the intention of the conveners of the summit "is fraudulent, hypocritical, baseless and diversionary. There have been several summits and reports on Niger Delta since 1922 that have been dumped and ignored. The recent General Ogomudia's report, for instance, is still begging for implementation till date."
Furthermore NDYM called on the governors of the region to stop attending the National Council of States meetings and other meetings in Abuja until President Yar'Adua withdraws the military from the Niger Delta.
"Their continuous attendance of these meetings where decisions on the deployment of military and subsequent killing of the Niger Delta people are taken runs counter to the oath of office they (governors) took to protect the people of the region," the statement said.
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On the proposed amendment to the 2008 budget by President Yar'Adua wherein, a statutory transfer of the sum of N40.57 billion and N28.33 billion as Presidential intervention on NDDC, the group said that it viewed the gesture as "their usual ceremonial crumbs to an agency that is spreading its intervention to nine states of the federation."
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