Jim Pressman, Abuja Bureau
National Coordinator, Niger-Delta and Middle Belt Youth Council of Nigeria, Prince Michael Newgent Ekamong, JP says his coalition of youths from the two geopolitical zones expect Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state “to reconcile with “his Principal, President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, to end the current national embarrassment, especially to upcoming youth and the people of Nigeria, given the way both parties have conducted themselves.”
Speaking for his group at a “World Press Conference” in Abuja over the weekend, Ekamong who said the coalition worked as “foot soldiers of the Niger Delta and Middle Belt Elders’ Forum, cautioned that “if they (Mr. President and Governor Amaechi) promote the politics of rancor, they will become beacons of negativity; but if they embrace peace, posterity will never forget this.”
Asked if his coalition had made any attempts to reconcile the President and Governor Amaechi before going public, and in view of the President’s denial of any involvement in the troubles in Rivers state, Ekamong said they had earlier written to both parties to solicit evidence and were also planning a Youth Peace Conference in Calabar, with Governor Amaechi as co-host and President Jonathan as Special Guest.
He noted that Governor Amaechi had no business contesting the party Presidential primaries with his big brother the President, arguing that “no other from the same party would contest primaries with a sitting American President [?]”
He concluded the press briefing with the announcement that “in view of the good performance of President Jonathan, the Niger Delta and Middle Belt Youth Council has unanimously endorsed him for a second term in 2015,” daring “anybody else who thinks they can match him to come out, come 2015.”
Branded T-shirts and face-caps with the President’s photograph emblazoned on them were freely distributed at the event.
