The former governor of Rivers State and the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, and the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers, King. Godwin Gininwa, have described immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan as a disappointment to the people of Ogoniland and the Niger Delta region at large.
He said Jonathan made a great mistake for failing to implement the United Nations Environmental Programme report on Ogoniland.
Amaechi and Gininwa made the statement on Thursday in Bodo City, Gokana Local Government Area of the state during the official flag-off of the cleanup of the area by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In his speech, Amaechi observed that he (Amaechi) did everything possible to ensure that Jonathan implemented the UNEP report on Ogoniland, but regretted that his efforts yielded no fruit.
The minister said that Jonathan refused to carry out the project that would have benefitted the people of the state, adding that Jonathan was never a brother to the state.
He added that the cleanup would bring a positive change to the economic life of the people of the area, stressing that the president had kept to his promise.
“We did everything possible to make our brother the former president to implement the report, but, he refused.
“But with President Muhammadu Buhari, we are here today in keeping with our campaign promise.
“The economy of Ogoni people will change through this cleanup. There is no way the people will not receive anything from the money that would be invested for this project. Through that, the economy of the people will change”, he stated.
On his part, Gininwa noted that Jonathan made mistake for failing to implement the cleanup of Ogoni and the entire region during his time in office.
Gininwa emphasized that Jonathan disappointed the people of Ogoni even after the people led campaign of his election to monarchs in the Northern state.
“I want to plead with Nigerian leaders to keep to their promises. We campaigned for Goodluck Jonathan. During the campaign we met with traditional rulers in other parts of the country. Good enough we took over government.
“Personally, I have nothing against Jonathan because he is my son, but he made mistake for not implementing the report. He disappointed us. The time for mourning is over because Ogoni is now happy,” he said.
