…Says Federal Govt. Must Address issue of neglect in the region

…True Federalism is solution – Uranta

By Francis Sadhere, Warri

President of the Ijaw National Youth Council, world wide, Udengs Eradiri has said that there is no militant group called Niger Delta Avengers anywhere in the region, calling on the Nigeria Government to settle the issue of underdevelopment in the region if it wants to see the end of militancy in the region.

Mrs. Ann-Kio Briggs making a point during the IYC conference held in Warri.

He stated this yesterday in Warri during the IYC conference held in honour of Issac Adaka Boro with the theme, ” The Ideals of Adaka Boro and Renewed Militancy in the Niger Delta Region: The way forward.”

The conference also marked the conclusion of the month long remembrance activities of late Niger Delta hero, Major Jasper Adaka Boro

He said the renewed attacks on oil facilities was as a result of long years of neglect of the Niger Delta region by successive governments.

He also said that the new militant group that is now blowing up oil facilities  were following the footsteps of their predecessors noting that the fight against injustice in the Niger Delta since the time of Isaac Adaka Boro was still the same fight they are fighting now.

While noting that the Niger Delta region had lost power at the national level, Eradiri said the IYC was the only group  standing to fight the Niger Delta struggle.

He warned the Federal Government to stop playing politics with the issue of the Niger Delta struggle and face the issues raised by the Niger Delta Avengers and other ex-agitators.

He said if the federal government does not address the issues on ground, more agitators like the Niger Avengers will continue to spring up in the region.

The IYC president called for the immediate establishment of the Maritime University located at Okerenkoko, and announce a date for the take off of the university, saying that this is the first step to the cessation of hostilities in the region.

He lamented that the Niger Delta people we’re treated like slaves in their own country, saying that unless they are treated like people who have equal stake in the country the desired peace clamored for in the region will continue to be a mirage.

He advocated for the legalization of illegal refineries which  according to him, had created jobs for the unemployed youths in the region in the past, adding that unemployment and proliferation of arms had also contributed the taken up of arms against the federal government.

The lead speaker during occasion, Mr. Tony Uranta, also lambasted the federal government’s continued neglect of the region, saying that they we’re playing lip service with true federalism which it claim to be operating.

He said peace in the Niger Delta region would only be achieved if true federalism is practiced in the country.

He stressed that the Niger Delta struggle which was championed by the likes of Isaac Adaka Boro and others, had always been the struggle for self emancipation of the Niger Delta people, adding that the issue still remains the sole reason for the re-emergence of the Niger Delta Avengers today.

“We did not fight for amnesty but we have been fighting for true fiscal federalism for all regions. All regions must control their resources and look for ways to develop their regions themselves. Nigeria is what it is today because of the intervention of the military.”

He warned the federal government to stop using the military to intimidate the people of the region, adding that the solutions to the Niger Delta struggle is to sit down with the people and dialogue on the way forward.

Mr. Uranta lambasted President Mohammadu Buhari for saying that he will only develop the areas of the people that voted him into power, reminding the president that his statement could trigger of more hostilities in the Niger Delta region and other states who did not vote for him.

He therefore called on the people of the Niger Delta region to change their tactical approach towards the struggle and adopt strategy approach.

He said, “This conference is the beginning of the renewal of the struggle and we must all speak with one voice and start the struggle afresh.”