BArrister Mela Oforibika, who specialises in Oil and Gas law, hails from Ogu/Bolo Local Government of Rivers State and had once served as the State’s Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. He tells Soni Daniel, in this interview that although Obasanjo has the right to write to President Goodluck Jonathan on matters of national interest, he does not have the right to disparage the Ijaw people, in trying to express his views. He says Obasanjo should therefore apologise to the aggrieved the Ijaw nation. Excerpts:

Having read the letter from Obasanjo to Jonathan, what is your opinion as a lawyer?
My own opinion is that Obasanjo is entitled to his own opinion as any other Nigerian. He is a former president of this country and his opinion should always be sought and when given it should not be taken lightly. However, I have issues with the manner Obasanjo presented his opinion this time around.

But I find it a bit out of decorum for him to talk the way he did without showing much respect to the sitting president. Agreed that we are a young democracy but we also have to learn from what is happening to other democracies around the world so that we do not make a mockery of ourselves as a country. You rarely find a former president in the United States for instance, criticising a sitting president of their own party.

Do you mean that he spoke out of point on the issue of corruption?
Corruption is crippling the country but it did not start with Jonathan. It is not a Jonathan malaise. Jonathan has not stopped the anti-corruption agencies from performing their statutory duties. As a matter of fact, ICPC and EFCC are even freer under Jonathan unlike under Obasanjo when they were used to terrorise and harass his perceived opponents and impeach governors. Bayelsa State was one of the Obasanjo’s victims.

Obasanjo also accused Jonathan of acting and behaving as an Ijaw leader instead of being the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?
The question is how. Is it in terms of cronyism or appointments? There are overt indices before you can mention ethnicism by Jonathan. What have the Ijaw done to deserve such profiling by Obasanjo? Have the Ijaw expelled the northerners from their midst? Have they taken over the commanding heights of the Nigerian economy, which is in the hands of the Yoruba, Hausa and the Igbo?

In all facets, please let Obasanjo tell us where we have made an inroad into the system controlled by the Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo. The Ijaw are still marginalised and at a disadvantaged position in the country. Their quota is still not filled up in Nigeria. I parade more degrees than others but yet I am not on any of the federal boards.

NPA is an exclusive preserve of certain tribes in Nigeria. So also is ETF and PTDF and others. Obasanjo said in the same letter that he is a Nigerian and a Yoruba but he wants Jonathan to erase his identity as an Ijaw. Maybe he will abandon the Etibo and use Agbada as Obasanjo.

That is why we say that the whole letter is so myopic and unbecoming of a former president of Nigeria. They are very myopic and insulting to the Ijaw people. We are Ijaw and you put the entire Ijaw people in quotes. Even the Willinks Commission in the 1950s recognised the place of the minorities and the Ijaws especially in the scheme of things in Nigeria.

It was under Obasanjo that the infamous Land Act was enacted that has impoverished the Ijaw  that produce the main resource sustaining Nigeria. Let other parts of the country bring the money from mining activities that come from their areas.

What do you think Jonathan should do in the light of the letter?
President Jonathan should not do anything to Obasanjo. He should simply ignore Obasanjo but take his time to implement the transformation agenda to clear all the criticisms. Whether it is constructive or not, it is meant to wake you up. Jonathan should therefore not take any grouse against Obasanjo. I would not criticise him. Nobody should abuse him in anyway. God forbid.

But he owes the Ijaw Nation an apology for putting us in quotes. All other issues, the president can speak for himself. Under our law there is sedition and treason and he should know when to draw the line. Obasanjo should know his position in Nigeria and know when to criticise and when to offer a father admonition.