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Warri Crisis: We Are Destroying Ourselves Says Governor James Ibori

The News (Lagos)
NEWS
September 1, 2003
Posted to the web September 2, 2003

By Michael Mukwuzi
Warri
Governor James Ibori of Delta State spoke with TheNEWS in Warri.
Excerpt:
Q: For the umpteenth time we are talking about the position of a cease-fire in
the intractable Warri crisis. By your projection, what is the life span of the
latest cease-fire?
A: Very good question. It is for eternity. I hope that it is going to be for
eternity. I don't want to rule out the occasional mad man running into the
street and firing shots, but with this things this afternoon we must verify if
those shots are to the birds or shots across from the other ethnic group.
So we don't just pick up arms. I also heard two days ago that some little
children have also started firing canons and people will think that one bazooka
has gone up and they will start running for their dear life. So you cannot rule
out such possibilities. This cease-fire, I hope will give us enough wisdom to
go into dialogue.
Q: Let's talk about your holiday abroad. What was on ground when you left?
And it seems you never did enough security work before you left?
A: No, you see, you journalists you are always happy when you discuss negative
part of any event. For the fact that I was away for a week has nothing to do
with the crisis. It may interest you to know that the reason why we have
governor and deputy governor is that when the governor is ill, his deputy can
take over. So, when we jump into this conclusion that the governor was away, of
course, I have an acting deputy governor who has been doing very well. But yes,
I was away for one week and I used that one-week to do something for the state.
I can tell you that I have visited places where shrink farming is done to see
whether I can replicate farming of shrink in four areas for those boys that
have no jobs to do. And that was like a working holiday. So it is not that I
went our for nothing. Anywhere I go it is for the Delta people because whether
I'm asleep or awake, my mandate covers all that time, I think Delta all the
time. It is unfortunate that this incident occurred while I was away but it
doesn't mean that the structure of government was not functioning.
Q: It's being rumoured that the last peace initiative was calculated to allow
the Ijaws to surrender their arms, leaving them empty handed. And there are
reports that you have soft spot for the Itsekiris because of your maternity?
A: Anyway, rumours always abound everywhere, not only in Delta but also across
the nation. But facts are facts and rumours are just rumours. I have been
accused from all parts. Urobos have accused me, Ijaws have accused me, and the
Itsekiris have also accused me. So, I felt very happy to be accused because
that is the price you pay for leadership. I 'm happy to do my job. I do my work
conscientiously, knowing that when I get to the end of the road, I will say,
hurray! Thank God: I will leave office and go to bed.
Q: Do you think you will be able to solve the problem within your tenure or are
you just buying time?
A: Yes: I think so with God being my helper and guiding me, I think I would be
able to solve the problem.
Q: What is your strongest point in approaching the problem?
A: It is because I think youth and leaders of thought can see very clearly that
this violence will lead us nowhere because we are on the part of self
destruction and we can't continue to destroy ourselves. So that is the angle
that I 'm harping on. I 'm playing on it very strongly and I think they can
hear me loud and clear.
Q: You said that you have been talking to people concerning dropping down their
arms, do you think you have been speaking to the right people?
A : The way our communities are organized, you might not believe it but they
are very structured communities in terms of command and control. The leaders
that I talked to today, especially the expanded Security Council meeting was
supposed to embrace the elected and the appointed leaders of these communities
but we also stretched it a little bit further to accommodate one or two persons
from these communities. What we have agreed to do is to pass the message round
comprehensively that these have been a commitment on both sides for the
cessation of hostilities in other to create a window for dialogue and in the
process of dialogue, all of these issues that we have been discussing for past
four years, will then be addressed. Because it seems to me that most of the
youths that are actually fermenting this suicidal war are ignorant of some
these issues. You find your self-talking to them about a particular issue and
you hear them bringing the issue of Niger Delta. But you see we need to
separate the Niger Delta question from criminality and vandalizations of oil
installations. We need to separate Niger Delta debate from ethnic clashes
because both the Ijaws, Itsekiris, Urhobos are all equally deprived when it
comes to issue of Niger-Delta.
I'm even glad to say that I never expected that it would be as calm as this
because I thought the way it was reported on the papers the place was finished.
But I think I have seen it before and it has gone worse then, but the question
I kept asking today is who is going to gain from the destruction of our city.
The city belongs to everyone, to all of us, if we continue in this suicidal
war, we will end up destroying our city.
Q: Finally, what's your view on reports that the FG is toying with the idea of
inviting or in fact had invited detectives from Scotland yard to deal with the
issues in the Delta.
A: Once again, I cannot claim to speak for the security agencies, they have
their strategies, they have their operational orders, and they will follow it
very strictly. But let me correct the press report and I believe that the
Deputy Governor has already tried to correct that erroneous report, that
policemen from Scotland Yard came to Nigeria to resolve the issue of kidnap,
that is not my understanding of what transpired. Somebody working for a company
had a relationship with a local girl and there was a payment that was due for
the local company, and in an effort to try and get money from this local
company arranged and participated in a scam that landed all two persons in a
house and there was this cry of kidnap. On close investigation, we find out
that there was kidnap. It was a scam, as it were and it took sometime to be
able to unravel it. Between when this incident occurred and when it was
unraveled, the British Authority had somebody from the embassy to come to the
state to discuss with us to find out exactly what was going on. And I think we
made all those explanation to the persons that came. They never came here to
effect the release of anybody that was kidnapped; they never came here to
impose their will on the security agencies on the ground, because it was still
the same Nigerian Police that unraveled the situation behind that particular
incident.

   

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