In an open letter to the President, made available to Vanguard, he urged him not to judge him by the wicked things his (Tompolo) traducers say about him, but by his deeds and activities, adding that some persons were desperate to demonize him and give ethnic hue to Niger Delta issues for flimsy and egotistical reasons.
Tompolo, who recalled his meeting with the President, last year, and the advice he gave him on how to maintain peace in the region, asserted that ethno-political merchants were laying the foundation for crisis in the Niger Delta region.
His words: “I make bold to say that there are several APC elements within and around your government who see anything Ijaw as criminal and anti-Buhari. Unpretentiously too, certain non-Ijaw ethnic merchants cum bigots have expressly displayed open hatred for Ijaws in the Niger Delta region.”
“Such persons have almost succeeded in warping a governmental mindset against Ijaws, whether in or outside your government. Please, Mr President, this very dangerous dimension is avoidable by your government.
“They will be happy to see a ravaged Gbaramatu Kingdom and by extension, Ijaw land under the pretext of looking for me. This is a very dangerous template such persons are laying and it is only good for Mr President to deploy the inner mind to stratify this unwholesome gimmick,” he stated.
On his support for former President Goodluck Jonathan, he said: Just as your people supported you as of right, throughout the presidential campaigns, I do not think it was criminal for me to openly support one of my own, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for the presidency in 2015. I did so out of conviction not because I hate you or because you are a northerner.”
“After all, most of my personal friends and acquaintances are from the north. To cap it all, the memories of my robust relationship with your Katsina brother, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua are still painfully fresh and reminiscent of brotherliness,” he added.
(Vanguard)
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