The latest threat by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta, MEND, to resume war in the Niger-Delta is a consuming personality battle between one of its leaders and other ex-militant leaders, who faciliated the current peace programme in the region.
However, the ego war was further compounded by the perceptible misreading of the power dynamics by Henry Okah after he was made to accept amnesty in exchange for his freedom in 2009.
The delicate intrigues actually started in 2007 when President Goodluck Jonathan visited him as vice president in South Africa to seek his cooperation for the peace in the region. By a twist of fate, Henry was arrested in Angola, months after Jonathan’s visit on the grounds of arms running, and deported to Nigeria in 2008 after spending some months in incarceration in that country.
MEND alleged it was a frame_up for his refusal to buy into the peace programme and, since then, Henry detested Jonathan. He never wanted to deal with him again on anything concerning the Niger_Delta. He preferred to deal directly with the former president, the late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, but the man died, and Jonathan, who he abhorred, became not just the defacto president but also the president. It became a clash of personalities.
While Jonathan did not want to deal with MEND, as represented by Okah, Henry, on his part, believed Jonathan was out to humiliate him. Both men gave no slice to each other until the 2010 National Day twin bomb blasts at Abuja, which resulted in the death of some innocent Nigerians.
Security sources traced the incidents to Henry, compelling his arrest and trial in South_Africa, as well as his brother, Charles, in Lagos. Charles is also in the cooler. This report x-rays the controversial ego war that is at the verge of creating another implosion in the region.
