Elder statesman, Chief E.K. Clark is very angry at the moment and bared his mind recently: “It is getting late for President Muhammadu Buhari and the federal government on the issue of dialogue with the aggrieved Niger Delta agitators who have stopped the bombing of pipelines and other oil facilities.”

“If the dialogue fails to commence as soon as possible, the boys may feel betrayed and go back to the creeks and resume hostilities. I saw the president’s media man (Femi Adesina) claiming that we are not one and not united, and that the federal government was still looking for people to negotiate with. That was a great insult to us. I was in government before he was born. On July 30, 2016, I summoned a meeting of all Ijaw leaders and traditional rulers to my house in Warri and the Deputy Governor of Delta State was in attendance. After that first meeting, I decided to call for another one with paid adverts in national dailies, since it was not only the Ijaws that have oil and gas.”

“Yet, this government is saying that it does not know whom to negotiate with. We are ready to negotiate, the earlier the better. Therefore we are using this opportunity of you coming to see me, to tell the federal government that it’s getting too late. We are Nigerians and we are nationalists.”

“Let us come together and fight our cause as one. I am happy that you realised that for us to achieve our aim we must come together and fight our common enemy. I do not see any reason why people are opposed to the Maritime University in Okerenkoko as this was something that was recommended as far back as 1998.”