By Our Correspondent
A prominent Niger Delta activist, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, has accused governor Ifeanyi Okowa of lopsidedness in the appointment of the board members of DESOPADEC, stating that Ijaw nation has been short changed in the scheme of thing.
Comrade Mulade who stated this today in Warri, while interacting with newsmen on the composition of the new board, maintained that only two slots were allocated to the Ijaw people notwithstanding the fact that the area produces the largest quantum of oil in the state.
‘’There is imbalance in the composition of the board. We want to express our displeasure at the restructuring of the board. Oil is not produced by population, senatorial district or ethnic group. Oil is produced by community. It is shocking to see that Ijaw nation as a major oil producing area has only two members in the board. Our counterpart, the Urhobos have four preventatives. Does it mean that their production quantum is higher than ours? Or is it based on population?’’
He stated that allocations to the Commissioners representing the five ethnic nationalities, namely Isoko, Urhobo, Ndokwa, Ijaw and Itsekiri should not come from the general purse, rather it should be based on production quantum.
‘’We want to believe that the funding of the offices of the representatives will not come from the general purse. If it is so, then we are completely done in and it will be very unfair’’, he said, insisting the Ijaw area was the most devastated because of oil production activities as such should have been given more representatives to assuage their plight.
Comrade Mulade however described the present crop of representatives as the best since the intervention agency was established by the former governor, Chief James Ibori.
He charged them to bring their wealth of experiences to bear in the discharge of their duties and apparently reshape the Commission for effective service delivery for the betterment of the core oil producing communities.
Comrade Mulade who is the Chairman of Kokodiagbene Community, an oil producing area, further implored the members not to see their appointments as a call to service and not to use the opportunity as a leeway to squander the fortune of the communities which they are called to serve.
‘’The primary mandate of the Commission should be strictly adhered to. Going by past experiences of the various members, we believe that the best hands have been engaged this time to represent their ethnic nationality. Therefore, they should endeavour to meet the needs of their people’’.
He, therefore urged the Commission to assign what he described as ‘’mega projects’’ to the core oil producing areas and listed such projects to include, foreshore protection, hospitals, schools, electricity, among others, as ‘’previous Commissions allocated projects satellite/ impacted communities while major host communities suffered’’.
