I write to thank you for your letter to President Obasanjo on the Niger Delta crisis. Unless hard truths such as these are told to the politicians and the military-cum-business complex we may continue to be taken for a ride for ever. Let the truth be told. The Niger Delta situation cannot be tackled with quick-fix solutions. It cannot be handled by the hasty Niger Delta Commission bill. No: the people must reclaim their humanity. Yes, the people must be listened to. Who is afraid of dialogue? Who knows where the shoe pinches more than the person wearing the shoe? The plunder, the rapes and the murders must halt.

And we must speak up clearly no matter whose ego is bruised.

Nnimmo Bassey
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ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION [ FRIENDS OF THE EARTH NIGERIA]
#214 Uselu Lagos Road, Benin City, Nigeria
Tel/Fax + 234 52 600 165 <eraction@infoweb.abs.net>

"All people shall have the right to (a) safe and generally satisfactory environment favourable to their development".
(Article 24, African Charter of Human and People's Rights)