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… Says Ijaws ‘no Longer Comfortable with Current Sufferings’
The president of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, Comrade Peter Igbifa, has declared that they are no longer comfortable “with the current sufferings inflicted on the Ijaws by the lopsided constitution of Nigeria, a constitution which is set to heighten our marginalisation and oppress the Ijaw people”
He said the leadership of the Ijaw group has expressed “utmost displeasure over lingering effects of gas flaring, climate change, perennial flooding, constant exploitation and exploration of oil in the Niger Delta region.”
Igbifa made this known while speaking to newsmen at Yenagoa after an enlarged consultation with critical stakeholders comprising past leaders and present officials drawn from three zones of IYC.
He noted that Zamfara State has been given license to mine her gold and bring to the market place for sale to benefit the state and provide remuneration to the Federal Government.
“This has brought light and reawakened the consciousness to the fact that the struggle for resource control of the Niger Delta is overdue. We want to control what nature has blessed us with and it is not difficult to do, if Zamfara can do it, we are more than capable to control ours,” he said.
He reaffirmed that consultations are still on going and that in no distant time, the IYC congress will be called in order to unanimously decide on action plans.
He however said that the military need not prepare for war, as the process will be peaceful, but firm enough to drive home the position of the Ijaw people.
Igbifa explained that the IYC represents the voice of Ijaws in the Niger Delta and condemned all activities of the multinational corporations, international oil companies which has led to degradation of the environment, noting that gas flaring has reduced life expectancy of the Niger Delta people as their farmlands and water bodies, which are their major sources of livelihood had been adversely affected.
Also, IYC’s spokesman, Comrade Ebipade Ekefere, said the Ijaws’ stand on resource control is that the Federal Government should allow the people to control their God-given natural resources.
Commenting on EndSARS, he said it was a call for restructuring and to work in unity in order to engender peace and security.
“The IYC leadership is calling on all leaders in the Niger Delta to work in unity in order to address issues militating against the development of the region,” he said.
