He also said that criticizing the Federal Government’s policy that allows Niger Delta people to
play a role in the oil sector indicates that other Nigerians have no interest
of the people of that area at heart.

Dokubo-Asari, 
who is currently in Germany, asked the Nigerian Compass on Sunday in a
telephone interview why the critics saw nothing wrong when the Federal
Government the awarded similar security contracts to people from other parts of
the country.

He also expressed
anger that the critics, whom he called hypocrites, were mute when oil wells in
the Niger Delta were being awarded by previous Nigerian government to
individuals from a particular part of the country.

He asked: “If they
want contracts to guard pipelines too, they should go and drill for oil in
their backyards. They should then watch the Nigerian government award the wells
to people from other zones while the owners of the wells live in shanties and
sleep in make-shift shops in Lagos.”

He continued: “They
should tell us what they are contributing to the national purse before they
start complaining about how money in it is spent. When the oil wells were
awarded to the Theophilus Danjumas, the Aliko Dangotes, and the Alhaji Mai
Deribes, nobody came to our aid. When the policing of the pipelines was given
to people from other zones and how much those other people got, nobody
complained. 



“What it takes to
monitor the oil wells and allow the rest of Nigeria to hold their monthly
Federal Allocation Committee meetings in Abuja  and share proceeds from
our oil wells to Zamfara, Kano, Oyo; none of these people want to know. It is
now that the people of Niger Delta are helping the nation guard the pipelines
and they are having so much more to share from where they did not sow that they
will not sleep. Yet, they are the ones still owning the oil wells, our oil
wells. When ecological disasters happen to our areas, they will all remember
their home communities and leave us with the mess.”



He particularly
lashed out at the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)  which on Friday issued
a statement condemning the contracts that were reported by the United States
Wall Street Journal as being given by the Goodluck Jonathan administration to
him and some other ex-militants, namely: Ebikaowei “Boyloaf” Victor Ben, Ateke
Tom and Government “Tompolo” Ekpumopolo.



Dokubo-Asari, a
former member of the ACN, described the party’s leaders as hypocrites who lack
the moral right to criticize him over oil pipeline security contract. 



He wondered why the
southwest-dominated ACN had not said anything against the named suspected oil
subsidy ‘thieves’, one of whom he said is fronting for its national leader,
Bola Ahmed Tinubu.



Dokubo-Asari
wondered why the ACN  didn’t see anything wrong when oil blocs in the
Niger Delta were being allocated to individuals who are not from the area. 



He stressed that
this is not the first time that contract for pipeline security would be
awarded, all of which he noted were to individuals from outside the Niger
Delta. 



His words: “It is
really unfortunate that a political party that was meant to be a national party
has been reduced to a platform for personal vendetta. 



“Where were the ACN
leaders when oil blocs in the Niger Delta were recklessly given to people who
are not from the area? 



“It is hypocritical
of the ACN and its leaders, who in one breath talk of federalism, and in
another talk about how to share other people’s resources. 



“ACN should not
pretend in anyway that its membership cuts across other nationalities, other
than its preferred nationality. 



“Most of us who,
hitherto, saw ACN as a platform for the articulation of a progressive
leadership, have now reconsidered our relationship with the hypocrites in that
party.



“What have the ACN
and its leaders done or said about the Wale Tinubus, the Femi Otedolas, and
Fola Adeola, the vice presidential candidate of the ACN in the 2011 election,
among others, whose names appear conspicuously on the so-called subsidy fraud
list? 



“Everyday we learn
new lessons. This particular lesson we have just learnt has strengthened the
resolve in us that Nigeria is not a place for us.



“If ACN and its
leaders feel they will use blackmail and coerce  President Jonathan to
become like them, then they have failed. 



“We have known them
for what they are. Even when we were with them, we thought they were of a
different breed, but they have  manifested themselves as no different from
their forebears who pursued an agenda that was different from the agenda they
openly preached.



“We call on all our
people to resolve to stand up, because there is only one river to cross, and
very soon we will cross that river. And there is nothing they can do about it.”



The ACN had in a
statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, described the $40 million reportedly being paid annually to Asari and
some ex-militants to guard the country’s oil pipelines as illegal,
unconstitutional and indefensible, 



The party said in
part:  “The reckless manner political power is exercised and monopolised
by a few individuals is partly overheating the polity.



“We state again
emphatically that it is totally unacceptable and unconscionable – even
unprecedented especially in a fragile federation like ours – for any government
to hand over the security of its entire maritime domain to a private firm, a
group of ex – militants for that matter, given the far reaching implications of
such a decision for trade, security, ports and shipping in the country.



“What is the agenda
of President Goodluck Jonathan in allowing this to happen? Why would a
government so willingly abdicate its responsibility of ensuring the security of
its maritime domain? What were the ministers thinking when they approved this
dangerous memo?