by Iyobosa Omoregie
On Wednesday, January 21, some South-south ex-militant generals and commanders announced their support for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 14 presidential poll, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
Speaking in Benin, the Edo state capital, the militant leaders applauded the leadership of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), for endorsing Buhari, saying the group’s action should be treated with every iota of seriousness.
The spokesperson for the group, Mr. Godwin Ogidigba, expressed confidence in the ability of Buhari, saying he was capable of addressing the major challenges affecting various communities in the region which were yet to be addressed by the present administration.
He said: “In recent publications in the dailies, you see MEND endorsing Buhari. People thought it was a joke. It is not. The fact remains that we need somebody that can address the salient issues that affect the Niger Delta region.”
“Our brother has failed in those issues; our brother has failed to take us away from poverty, our brother has failed to bring development to the Niger Delta region.”
“Just take a look at most of the Niger Delta communities. They still remain where they are, in spite of the fact that we have one of our own at the top, at the helm of affairs, nothing positive has changed in the region.”
Ogidigba added: “Somebody who can stand and develop our region, that should be our interest and that is our interest. It is true that President Goodluck Jonathan is from the South-South region; he is our brother. But the problem is this: he came to meet the amnesty programme and since then he has not been able to improve on it, which means that the amnesty programme stopped when the late (President) Musa Yar’Adua died.”
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