Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to dialogue with the Niger Delta Militants, especially the Niger Delta Avengers so as to end hostilities in the oil rich region.

This, he said, will also save Nigeria’s economy from imminent collapse.

Fayose said the president’s failure to attend the flag-
off of the clean-up Ogoni project today, because of
the threat from the Niger Delta militants was a
demonstration that the President had surrendered to the superior powers of the militants.

Fayose, according to a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said it was shameful and
embarrassing that a retired military general could
succumb to threat from militants despite what he
told Nigerians that he was going to lead from the
fronts.

The governor, who wondered why the president was
not always interested in visiting states in the country
as against his penchant for overseas trips, added that it was time that the President stopped acting like a foreign president.

Stating that the president’s approach to civil unrests
of any kind under the government was causing more
security problems in the country, he added that, “the
President cannot afford to continue to talk tough on
issues that dialogue can resolve.”

“Now that the president has surrendered to the
threat and intimidation of the Niger Delta Avengers,
he should emulate late President Umaru Musa
Yar’Adua by having a roundtable talks with the Niger
Delta militants.

“By not going to Ogoni today, because of threat from
the NDA, our president has shown that he is actually
afraid of the militants and the best thing to do in a
situation like this is to dialogue with the militants so
as to save Nigeria economy from imminent collapse.

“It also shows that the president’s ability to secure
Nigeria and its people is doubtful, because if the
president could succumb to threat from militants and abandon his official function for his deputy, ordinary Nigerians should seek help elsewhere.

“The president should therefore save Nigeria the
agony of military misadventure in the Niger Delta by
holding dialogue with the militants with a view to
resolving their grievances.”

Fayose also reiterated that “the Niger Delta region as at today is still the golden goose laying the golden
egg on which all other regions are surviving.

“Diversification as good as it sounds, takes time. We
need to appreciate these regions as our only source
of income,” he added.