The executive members of the Niger Delta Youth Forum (NYF) were in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State recently. They came all the way from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Led by their President, Mr. Emmanuel Goodhead, the leaders were on a mission to honour the President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide, Mr. Udens Eradiri. They came to bestow on Eradiri an award of excellence for his leadership qualities.
Indeed, Eradiri has distinguished himself as a young, vibrant and proactive leader of the Ijaw race. In the history of IYC leadership, Eradiri has made a difference. He has refocused the council and repositioned it to actualise the dreams of its founding fathers as encapsulated in the Kaiama Declaration.
Goodhead said: “We have been following your track records of achievements. It is for your quality leadership lifestyle. We have even following your strides in ensuring the development of youths in the region.
“We have come to appreciate you for toeing the path of founding fathers of the Niger Delta struggle. You are one of the charismatic personalities in the region that have made things easier for the youths. Keep up your good work. You have taught us how to cross our Is and dot out Ts.”
But Eradiri said he was receiving the awards with mixed feelings. He attributed the successes of his leadership on the cooperation of the Ijaw youths. He dedicated the award to them. He further used the occasion to comment on current issues bothering the region.
Topping the list of his concerns is the current condition of the Amnesty Office. The IYC boss urged President Muhammadu Buhari to reactivate the office by quckly appointing a Coordinator for the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP). He asked the President to separate the office of the Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta from that of PAP’s coordinator.
He added: “The programme is dear to us. It is building the capacity of our people. There are a lot of Niger Delta people scattered around the world and they are receiving qualitative education in various countries of the world.
“So, leaving the office vacant is a problem. We know what we are doing in trying to manage our youths in order not to carry out activities that will draw the attention of government because we may not know the repercussions that will come. But the truth is that you cannot leave that office vacant.
“Our people have not been paid for close to two months now. This style may lead to breakdown of law and order in the region. Therefore, we urge Buhari to quickly appoint a Coordinator of PAP This is because the office of the Special Adviser on Niger Delta is different from the coordinator of the amnesty programme.
“In the past, the two offices are one, that is why it is being political. The office of the SA to the President on Niger Delta is political but the coordinator of the amnesty programme is not supposed to be political.
“So, Buhari should demarcate that office, share it and let there be PAP coordinated by someone who understands the process while they can play politics with whoever that will advise him on amnesty programme.
“I think if he quickly does that, it will reduce the pressure some of us are carrying in terms of trying to maintain the orderly conduct of Ijaw youths in the region.”
He further lamented the travails of over 6,000 Niger Delta students on amnesty scholarship of the Federal Government in some universities abroad following the vacancy in the office.
He said the management of the universities had started delisting the students because of the failure of the Federal Government to pay their fees. He urged Buhari to intervene to save the students and the country from embarrassment.
He said the students’ problem was worsened by the vacuum in the Presidential Amnesty Programme office because of absence of an administrator for the programme. He said the programme was no longer functional following the absence of an administrator and urged the President to either fill the vacuum in the amnesty office or invoke his executive powers to save the students.
He said there was intense pressure on him to maintain the peace in the region because stipends for ex-agitators had not been paid for two months. He stressed that they had been appealing to them to give Buhari an opportunity to run government.
He said: “I want to use this opportunity to call on the Niger Delta leaders, well-meaning Nigerians and President Muhammadu Buhari to the fact that the cause of the vacuum in the presidential amnesty programme is as a result of the change in leadership.
“It has begun to tell on the lives of our young ones that are undergoing university training as a result of the amnesty programme in various countries – America, United Kingdom, London, South Africa and other African countries where we have young Nigerians.
“These young Nigerians who are undergoing education and training scattered round the world, because of the bureaucratic nature of the programme, the funding used to be month by month, most of the upkeep of the students is usually on a monthly basis.
“But for two months now, the students have not been paid; the financial obligations to the institutions have not been met because the Federal Government is to do that on a monthly basis and so we have the shocking news that some of the institutions have started delisting some of the students studying there.
“As for the UK, we know that rents are paid monthly and when the stipends are paid, these students also pay their rent. As I speak to you a lot of them now are being thrown out of their accommodation; they are all on the streets.”
“We have been doing that with just the word of mouth and the goodwill we enjoy as leaders. But when government fails to do their own part, then very unfortunately, we will not be able to maintain the peace as it was in the last few months.”
On the alleged random bombings of some areas in the Niger Delta by the military, Eradiri urged the soldiers to seek better methods of combating criminality in the region.
He said: “Very unfortunately the military, (I do not know if they are doing eye service), in recent times, there are a series of bombings of the region to fish out pirates.
“The Nigerian Navy is there, a lot of money is spent on the Navy. There are a lot of blockades in the waterways, yet pirates and kidnappers still have their ways, abducting people on the main routes manned by the military.
“I think there is complicity. So, this pretext of looking for pirates and begin to bomb randomly is not accepted by us. We see it as a ploy to begin to move towards bombing people in the Niger Delta region.
“We are saying that inasmuch as we condemn criminality in the region, the approach as experienced in the recent weeks is not acceptable because there are statutory organs – the Joint Military Task Force, the Navy that have been funded over the years to secure the waterways.
“But when we begin to bring in the Air Force, then there will be colossal damage and at the end of the day our innocent communities will suffer for it.”
He warned the youths to desist from criminality. According to him youths should not give the military any reason to attack the region.
“So, if your a kidnapper, don’t use our environment to kidnap, if you are pirates, leave the Ijaw environment because we do not want a situation your activities which are not sanctioned by our people will begin to bring calamities to the Niger Delta.
“I have been talking to many youths, we must give the current administration in the country the opportunity to express themselves and we begin to take them on their actions accordingly.”
