• Dismisses Edwin Clark as a tribalist
Leader of the Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta ( MEND ) ,
Henry Okah , is hitting hard at President
Goodluck Jonathan from his prison cell in
South Africa.
Okah who was sentenced to a 24 -year jail
term in March 2013 for terrorism , sees the
President as timid and cowardly.
In a lengthy interview published by this
newspaper today , the man who President
Jonathan once accused of masterminding
the attempt on his life during the 2010
Independence anniversary in Abuja said he
found it difficult to speak about him
( Jonathan ) without “saying something
uncomplimentary .”
Going down the memory lane , Okah said of
him: “I have met President Jonathan . I
knew him though not closely when he was
the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State . My
cousin Chief ( Diepreye ) Alamieyeseigha
was then governor .
“I had a meeting with Jonathan in Pretoria
in 2007 when the late President Musa Yar’
Adua sent him to speak with me. He was
accompanied by Chief Timipre Sylva. I
have spoken to him on occasions .
“In one instance, he was traumatized
emotionally by the attack on his country
home which he was misled into believing I
had a hand in. The last time I spoke with
him was in April 2010 when he asked for
my support personally. Since my recent
arrest , I have had no direct contact with
him.
“It is difficult to speak about President
Jonathan without saying something
uncomplimentary . I truthfully find him timid
and cowardly. His discussions are
unintelligible revealing a lack of intellectual
depth .
“As governor of Bayelsa State , and a man
whose home had been violated , I expected
him to be angry and indignant at this
sacrilegious act . Rather, he was physically
trembling , terrified and incoherent as he
spoke weeks after the attack.”
Okah said he has been vindicated by the
president with his performance since
assuming the nation’ s leadership six years
ago.
“I warned Nigerians about Goodluck
Jonathan but some people assumed I was
speaking in anger and arrogance , ” he said .
He added : “Nigerians have now seen
President Jonathan for exactly what I told
them that he is . There is little difference
in his speeches and that of Asari .”
Drawing a comparison between Jonathan
and his main challenger in this month’ s
presidential election , General Muhammadu
Buhari, Okah said : “I was quite young
when General Muhammadu Buhari was in
power so I am compelled by this fact to
look at him in awe. This has nothing to do
with his personality . General Buhari kept
quiet for a long time and I have not kept
up with him since after he was deposed in
a military coup. He does not appear vain
and would very likely be a more prudent
civilian leader. This is not to say that I
would vote for him in any elections as
much as I respect him . I am disillusioned
with Nigerian politics and have never voted
or participated in any form of politics at
any level. ”
He prayed that “Nigeria gets a responsible
and sensible president who sees the need
to properly address the situation of the
North and South in the face of Boko
Haram and the Niger Delta issue .”
Okah was also unsparing in his evaluation
of the Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark and
ex -militant , Asari Dokubo.
He dismissed Chief Clark as a tribalist and
an opportunist and “one of those people in
the Niger Delta who parade themselves in
oil companies pretending to have control
over militants.”
He wondered what “this decrepit man can
do with all the money he is gathering .”
Of Asari Dokubo, he said : “He is
unintelligent and has forgotten the different
versions he has given in the past . This
man once said I was fighting against
Goodluck Jonathan because Jonathan
displaced Alamieyeseigha . Another time he
said my wife is Itsekiri which was why I
supported Itsekiris. My wife is from Enugu .
“He has also said in yet another interview
that I am not Ijaw . But Ijaw historians and
scholars will tell him that I am a purer Ijaw
than he can ever be . Even as I say this I
must tell you that the issue of tribe is
unimportant to me because I am not
tribalistic and regard myself first as a
Nigerian before an Ijaw .”
He seems disappointed with Nigeria ’ s
human rights community for showing no
interest in his case . According to him, ”I
don’ t know if any human rights
organization in Nigeria has any interest in
my case . Most African human rights
organizations are lame and can be very
easily influenced by governments through
bribes and intimidation into ignoring rights
abuses .
“Citizens of most African countries receive
no support from their governments or
home NGO’ s leaving them open to abuse
in foreign prisons .”
• EXCLUSIVE SOUTH AFRICAN PRISON
INTERVIEW. thenationonlineng.net/new/jonathan-timid-cowardly-says-mend-leader-henry-okah/