
A prominent Ijaw leader and former Nigerian minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, and former Minister of Police Affairs, Broderick Bozimo have reminded the militants that they are destroying the lands on which they could make useful contribution to the development of the nation.
They said: “we have observed that the problem of vandalism has affected the national economy and affected us too; crisis does not solve crisis, dialogue is the answer.”
The two leaders, who are among the Niger Delta leaders that are mobilising the militants and other stakeholders in the six states in the South South region toward a peaceful resolution of the crisis in the region, spoke to news men in Warri, the capital of Delta state.
A meeting to engage the militants and stakeholders in dialogue for the purpose of ending the violence in the region has been scehduled to hold at the Petroleum Training Institute Conference Centre in Warri.
Clark and Bozimo said that the stakeholders that have been invited to attend the meeting include serving and past governors, legislators, former and current ministers, prominent traditional rulers and politicians from the six states in the zone. They listed the states as Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Edo, Rivers and Delta.
Clark said: “The problem is not Ijaw problem alone; it is a problem of the entire Niger Delta coastal states.
“We have observed that the problem of vandalism has affected the national economy and affected us too; crisis does not solve crisis, dialogue is the answer.”
Clark said that violence is not a solution to the problem of neglect, marginalisation, unemployment and underdevelopment that plagued the region, but that dialogue is the only way out.
“There is no way you can begin to fight without looking back.
“We are part of Nigeria, we believe in the unity and development of this country.
“There can never be development without peace and there cannot be peace without justice.”
The Ijaw leader said that President Muhammadu Buhari had also recognised the importance of dialogue.
He said that one of the agenda of the meeting is to call on the President to dialogue with a team of stakeholders on the amnesty document currently before him.