A former Senator, Jonathan Silas Zwingina, has said that the rise in militant activities in the Niger Delta region should be blamed on the carefree leadership style of the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan and not the present government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Zwingina, who represented Adamawa South Senatorial District on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, between 1999 and 2007, in an interview with Vanguard said the issue of militancy became worst under Buhari’s administration due to the ongoing anti-corruption fight.
The former Senator noted that the silence of the militants during Jonathan’s administration may have been due to bribe.
According to Zwingina, “The resurgence of militancy did not start with this government to the best of my knowledge. It arose in a very loose set up that President Goodluck created in this country where the entire system had no authority at all or appear to have no authority.
“There was so much recklessness, so much loose hands everywhere, so everybody tried to test the system; Boko Haram were testing the system over there, kidnappers were testing the system in their own enclave, other people were testing it, Niger Delta were a bit quiet maybe because they had enough offers or probably bribe to keep them quiet and that was it.
“But I would say that the foundation for the testing of the power of the state did not arise with Buhari, he met it there, maybe some aspects became worsened because they were affected by the war against corruption.
“But that is also going to come to an end because you can see clearly there is no future for criminal activity anywhere in the world, it is just for a short term; the moment the state concentrates on your enclave it has to stop.
On the issue of agitation, the former lawmaker claimed that some of the agitators don’t believe that Biafra will be actualised.
“The Biafran thing is almost ill-fated, I don’t think even the fighters of those who are arguing for Biafra expect that they will get a Biafra. Biafra is not an example that came out of joy, it was a painful experience by those who went through it and those who were even on the other side.
“Maybe that is why when you look at the people talking about it, they are young, probably they didn’t have the experience of that time. The old ones who went through it are not talking about it because they saw what it was,” he said.
Meanwhile, reports have it that Buhari in a bid to resolve the crises in the Niger Delta, will on October 31 meet with leaders of the oil rich region.
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