N’Delta: Senate Leader Offers Recipe for Peace
By Olaolu Olusina, 07.02.2008
Senate Leader, Teslim Kola Folarin, has stressed the need for the resolution of the Niger Delta crisis, saying the survival of the volatile but naturally endowed region is a sine qua non to the survival of Nigeria as a nation.
According to Senator Folarin, "Nigeria as a nation should bring its legendary resilience to bear on addressing the problem of the Niger Delta," adding " Our collective wisdom and celebrated resilience, if deployed to confront this crisis with sincerity, will break the ice in the resolution of the Niger Delta Crisis."
He said the forthcoming Niger Delta Summit offers one of the best opportunities to finally lay the problem in Niger Delta to rest. "The nation has a lot to benefit from the Niger Delta Summit which President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has promised to hold before the end of the year," Folarin stated."I hope that all parties in the Niger Delta will take advantage of the Summit to sincerely contribute to a workable and sustainable programme for the resolution of the crisis."
Folarin lamented that the situation in the region had deteriorated in the last one year, saying that has been a sad testimony to the reality of the Nigerian situation.
"Addressing the Niger Delta question deserves the attention and commitment of the Nigerian political class. The issue has far gone beyond the precinct of sectional consideration. the survival of the Niger Delta is a sine qua non to the survival of Nigeria as a nation. Nigeria as a nation should bring its legendary resilience to bear on addressing the problem of the Niger Delta.
"Our collective wisdom and celebrated resilience, if deployed to confront this crisis with sincerity, will break the ice in the resolution of the Niger Delta Crisis.
"In this respect, I think there are three approaches to the resolution of the crisis. The first is to make man the index of development in the Niger Delta. For too long, we have sought to assess performance in the resolution of the crisis by the quantum of money going into the Niger Delta. In spite of such budgetary allocations, virtually all surveys on human development index in the country have returned a damning report on the Niger Delta," he said.
