The leader of the defunct Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujahedeen Asari-Dokubo, once again took a swipe at President Goodluck Jonathan, stating that the Nigerian leader is a disappointment to the Ijaw ethnic nationality and the South-South in general.
“Jonathan should hit them and he should tell us if he cannot hit them so that we can help him to hit them mercilessly. I have the potential to hit them hard. It is on record that I once held Nigeria hostage and Nigeria could not produce oil for 48 hours and my activities forced the prices of crude oil globally to rise by $30 one day. It was unprecedented and I can repeat it.
Insisting that Jonathan is too weak and unassertive as a leader, Asari said:
It is regrettable that Jonathan could not act like a typical Ijaw man, who is famous for boldness and exceptional courage. He said the President should be guided by an Ijaw famous saying, “Ama Doko Doko Biokpo,” which he interpreted to mean “small, small towns but they are very courageous and keep hope alive.”
The ex-militant commander, who was reacting to the latest crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which has led to the factionalisation of the ruling party, lamented that Jonathan could not take bold and courageous steps to tame the dissidents.
Asari-Dokubo said he was unimpressed by what he called "poor response” to the crisis rocking the PDP by the Presidency and advised Jonathan to emulate former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who confronted and dealt with the dissidents in the party during his tenure.
He recalled how Obasanjo wielded power to quench the insurgency led by ex-Governor, James Ibori, within the PDP, against his re-election in 2003.
To this end, he asked Jonathan to stop further peace talks and negotiation with the dissident governors and their collaborators, including Obasanjo and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
He said Jonathan only needed to sit up and demonstrate uncommon courage to subdue his political enemies, adding that the crisis was orchestrated to frustrate his second term ambition.
Asari-Dokubo decried the recent statement credited to Abubakar Gumi that the killings in the North would stop as soon as Jonathan renounced his second term bid, adding that the cleric and his co-travellers were cashing in on the weakness of the President.
He said: “Jonathan is disgracing the Ijaw people and people of the South-South by negotiating with these dissidents. I am terribly annoyed by the way he is handling this issue, he is a disgrace. If he cannot withstand them he should tell us because there is no basis for negotiation.
“This is the time for Jonathan to act like an Ijaw man and he should stop disgracing us.
“The plot against Jonathan will surely fail but the President should be decisive with these people once and for all. Jonathan should assert himself as President and put these people where they should be. Obasanjo, who is leading these people, did two terms and he plotted a third term.
“There should be no negotiation with dissidents. It should be total war, no retreat, no surrender and let us see who will run first. There is time for peace and there is time for war. This is the time to go into war. Jonathan should know that this is the time for war and if he cannot sustain the war, we will help him to sustain it."
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