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… Calls for Synergy between Ijaws, Sister Ethnic Groups
Bayelsa State commissioner for Ijaw national Affairs, Elder Patrick Erasmus, has broken silence on the leadership imbroglio in the Ijaw sociocultural organisation, the Ijaw National Congress, INC.
Speaking with newsmen at the weekend in Yenagoa, the Rivers State-born Bayelsa commissioner noted that the leadership tussle in the foremost Ijaw group has dealt a blow on the morale of the Ijaw ethnic nationality.
Erasmus described the INC as the voice of the Ijaw people, saying unity is paramount in moving the ethnic nationality forward.
He thanked Governor Diri for reposing confidence in him by appointing him as commissioner to handle issues concerning the Ijaw nation.
According to him, the insinuations that the Bayelsa State government is bent on hijacking the ethnic body is a fabrication from those he described as retrogressive minded, adding that the state government was only making concerted efforts at reconciling the seemingly factionalized group so as to achieve the much needed unity.
He hinted that Governor Douye Diri’s ‘Prosperity’ government is abreast with the problems and contentious issues in the INC.
“Governor Douye Diri is abreast with the issues bedevilling the INC, hence his continued desire in resolving these issues, owing to the status of the state as the only homogeneous Ijaw state”, he said.
“The governor is working assiduously in bringing an end to the contentious issues in Ijaw land and the INC. Remember he once served as the national organising secretary of the INC and so he is in the right position to get it working again”, he added.
Bayelsa State governor, Douye Diri, last week setup a committee to reconcile all factions in the Ijaw National Congress, INC following its botched election in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Ijaw Affairs commissioner has also called on sister ethnic nationalities, which share same states with the Ijaw people, to cede powers to the Ijaws.
He regretted that even though the Ijaws in Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Edo and Ondo produce the bulk of oil and gas reserves from which their states make their much touted revenues, the Ijaw people have not been given the chance of producing the governor of any of these states.
“The Ijaws have no fewer than nine LGAs in Rivers State, about five or thereabout in Delta, two in Ondo, we have some in Akwa Ibom. Infact, what makes Akwa Ibom oil producing state are Ijaw communities and LGAs. We also have about five clans of the Ijaw extraction in Edo which are oil bearing. So other tribes in these states should also work with the Ijwas so they can also install one as governor”, he said.
“The population of the Ijaws in the Niger Delta is enormous, so we can also lead other ethnic nationalities in states co-shared with us”, he noted.
