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By Amos Odhe, Yenagoa
The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide has warned that any attempt “by some selfish individuals or group of persons to scrap or merge the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with another agency of government will spell doom for the country.”
The lYC in a statement by its national president, Deacon Peter Igbifa, said its attention has been drawn to “some reports of a conspiracy of a select few within the corridors of power” to scrap the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and merge it with the ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
The pan Ijaw youth group said though it sounds like a tale by the moonlight, they are compelled not to dismiss the entire report as a fluke, “especially amidst the silence hovering over a collective demand for the inauguration of the substantive board of the NDDC.”
The statement reads: “The Presidency and the Federal Government should distance themselves from any suggestion or advice by any group of persons or individuals to either scrap the NDDC or merge it with any ministry because considering such a sinister idea will nail the fragile peace we currently enjoy in the region to the coffin of avoidable violent conflict.
“President Muhammadu Buhari should know that some of his close aides especially some persons he entrusted with the collective interests of our region have abandoned the region to pursue their selfish interests.
“They have raped the NDDC so much that they can no longer account for the humongous amount of money that accrued to the commission in the past two years.
“They are, therefore, desperate to cover up their tracks and are capable of coming up with wicked suggestions to bury their malfeasance without recourse to the peace, stability and development of the region.
“We are calling on President Buhari to know that these enemies of the Niger Delta are determined to set our region on the path of violence to further deepen the scourge of insecurity plaguing the country under his administration.
“Our people are already provoked with the ongoing delay in the inauguration of the NDDC board and our exclusion from the NNPC road projects.
“Therefore, any attempt to allow orchestrated machinations of greedy politicians to decide the fate of NDDC will trigger crisis of unimaginable proportion.
“It is time Mr. President bypassed some of the people he depends on and personally investigate the correct situations at NDDC. These people have abused the trust reposed in them by Mr. President and should be mandated to steer clear of the commission. They are capitalising on the old age of Mr. President to exploit the system overiching themselves at the detriment of the region.
“Mr. President should as a matter of urgency inaugurate the board of the commission and constitute an independent probe into how the funds of the commission were spent in the past two years. From the vantage position of our leadership, we can tell Mr. President that the non-constitution of the board is already brewing tension that can disrupt the peace of the region.”
