Nigeria, a failed state under Jonathan – Prof. Tam David-West
Prof. Tam David-West |
A former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Prof. Tam David-West, on Tuesday described Nigeria as a failed state.
David-West, at a news conference in Port
Harcourt, Rivers State, said that any government that could not protect
its citizens was a failed government.
He said, “We have a failed state in
Nigeria today. I have been reading what is happening in Rivers State.
Any government that cannot protect its citizens is not worth being
called a government.”
The professor of virology expressed his
support for Governor Rotimi Amaechi and any party that would bring
light over the country’s current darkness.
“I stand for a government that knows that
19 is bigger than 16. I stand for a party that I know will bring light
to the darkness in Nigeria. I stand for a party of people of substance
both in words and in character,” he said.
Also at the news conference, the All
Progressives Congress in the state called on the United Nations, the
Amnesty International and other relevant international organisations to
intervene in the continued attacks on its members.
It said through its Chairman, Dr. Davies
Ibiamu Ikanya, that while some of its members had been killed by
suspected Peoples Democratic Party thugs, others had been seriously
injured.
The party urged humanitarian and democratic organisations to send high-powered election monitoring teams to the state.
According to the APC, doing so would help to avert bloodbath and make the election outcomes in the state acceptable.
It said, “We call on Amnesty
International, the International Red Cross, the relevant organs of the
Economic Community of West African States, the African Union and the
United Nations to immediately begin investigation into the gruesome
killings in Rivers State.
“An acceptable electoral outcome is
possible in Rivers State only if the elections are truly free and fair.
There cannot be free and fair elections if the spate of violent high
handedness, intimidation and terror is not halted.
“As the 2015 general election approaches,
the scale, magnitude and intensity of the orchestrated violence against
members of the APC are assuming a frightful dimension.”
The APC which however called on its
members to remain calm and law-abiding, criticised the police in the
state for their inability to arrest any of those that participated in 13
different attacks on them.
It said, “This press conference is our
distress call to all men, women, organisations, nations and people, who
cherish democracy to intervene before it is too late.
“It is unimaginable that a President
(Goodluck Jonathan), who himself claims his roots from Niger Delta would
permit unprovoked and premeditated violent attacks on the same people
he hopes to ride on their sentiments to retain his Presidency.”
Also, the lawmaker representing Rivers
South-East, Senator Magnus Abe, attributed the harassment and
intimidation of APC members to Jonathan’s fear that he might lose
the state during the forthcoming elections.
“Another reason is because the PDP is
bent on taking over power in Rivers State as a result of its (Rivers)
economic significance in the country,” Abe said.
He, however, expressed dissatisfaction
over the attitude of the police, saying, “We have reported many times to
the police, but nothing has happened. There is no pretence about the
partiality of security operatives. There is nothing we are saying that
the authorities are not aware of.”
Also, the governorship candidate of the
APC in the state, Dakuku Peterside, claimed that as of the time of
the news conference, members of the party were being attacked in Khana
and Etche Local Government Areas of the state.
“We have been receiving text messages
from our members who are currently going through distress in the hands
of political thugs,” Peterside added.