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Tag: Ijaw youths

  • Ijaw youths demand increased funding for Amnesty Office

    Ijaw youths, yesterday, appealed to the Federal Government to increase funding for the office of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

    The youths said the coordinator of the office, Gen. Paul Boroh (retd) has demonstrated commitment to drive the programme and realise its objectives in the Niger Delta region.

    They argue that with Boroh on the saddle, the amnesty office would remain the best vehicle to reach the region and minimise violent agitation in the area.

    The youths under the aegis of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) said they were thrilled by Boroh’s recent agreements involving an Israeli company and the Ministry of Agriculture to engage ex-agitators in agricultural training at the Natural Bio-Resources Centre, Odi, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Bayelsa State.

    Speaking in Yenagoa, a factional President of IYC, Mr. Elvis Donkemezuo said for Boroh to have recognised the potentials of the Odi centre, which had been abandoned since its establishment, underscored his zeal to transform the region.

     

  • Avengers are within your government, IYC tells Buhari

    Avengers are within your government, IYC tells Buhari

    • Says Lagos militants, avengers are not Ijaw people

    The umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide, on Thursday, told President Muhammadu Buhari that members of the militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) were within his government.

    The President of IYC, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, who briefed the press at the Headquarters of the council in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, also lamented constant linkage of avengers and criminals in Lagos State to Ijaw people.

    Eradiri advised President Buhari to begin the search for avengers within his government insisting that members of the militant group were in Aso Rock villa.

    He wondered why the military was laying siege in Gbaramatu Kingdom for members of NDA whom he said were not in the community.

    He said: “Why are they always quick to attack our communities. Gbaramatu is not the headquarters of avengers. It does not habour any avenger. Do you think that the community people are happy that they are under siege and cannot go about their normal duties?

    “The more they are doing this thing, the more Ijaw people will begin to come together and we will never be divided. The government should stop harassing our people.

    “The NDA is within them. They know themselves. They are blocking the President left, right and centre so that he would not see them. The NDA is with him and his people there”.

    Eradiri also insisted that the Ijaw people were not behind the violent attacks on communities in Lagos and Ogun states by militants regretting that some people deliberately ascribed such criminalities to Ijaw to cause ethnic war between Ijaw and their Yoruba neighbours.

    He asked the security agencies to do their job by flushing out the perpetrators of Lagos violence and stop making public statements that could create ethnic tension.

    He said: “There are some groups in Lagos engaged in criminal activities and those activities are now threatening the brotherly relationship our people have enjoyed in Lagos.

    “First, Nigeria should stop ascribing anything that happened in the Niger Delta to Ijaw people. For the avoidance of doubt, Niger Delta Avengers are not Ijaw people. I am tired of answering questions about Niger Delta Avengers.

    “I am the President of the Ijaw Youth Council. I am not the President of NDA. NDA are not Ijaw people. We don’t know who Niger Delta Avengers are. If the security agencies know avengers, they should arrest them. They should do their jobs.

    “They should stop transferring their jobs to community leaders or youth Organisations or leaders of ethnic nationalities. Their duty is to maintain law and order, to gather intelligence and do whatever they deem fit to ensure that there is peace in the country.

    “Please stop ascribing negative things to Ijaw people. We are the fourth largest ethnic nationalities in Nigeria and I agree that we are the people who refuse to eat sand and call it food. But that does not mean that every little thing that happens in the region will be ascribed to Ijaw people”.

    Eradiri said the Lagos issue has assumed a worrisome dimension adding that all the criminal activities in communities hosting the Arepo Atlas Cove pipelines in Lagos and Ogun States were being perpetrated by thieves who were out to enrich themselves.

    He said there is widespread economic crimes along pipelines in the country and that the Lagos scenario involved people from all the ethnic groups.

    He said: “So, Nigerians should stop ascribing it to Ijaw people. Ijaw people are peace-loving people. For over hundreds of years, our people have cohabited with other ethnic nationalities. We have never been known to be hostile people.

    “We sympathise with families that have lost their lives especially during the Ogun-Arepo crisis. As much as our hearts grieve with the affected families, we want to say that the aggressors are not Ijaw people. They are common criminals who are stealing refined products for economic reasons.

    “Therefore, the police and other security agencies that are sustained by taxpayers money should go and do their job. It beats our imagination when a police commissioner will stand up publicly to ascribe such crimes to ethnic nationality.

    “However, whichever way we can assist to resolve the issues in Lagos, we are willing to support. But the problem is snowballing into crisis between Ijaws and Yorubas and that is why we are concerned.

    “We will not support any negative thing that will be done to destabilise Lagos and its environs because our people are peaceful and law-abiding. We appeal to the Yoruba community, all those who are fanning the ambers of ethnic crisis should stop it. There are some individuals who are behind it and any little thing that happens they want to ascribe it.

    “This is just to build bad blood against our people. The government should be very vigilant because just on Wednesday, properties of the Ijaws were destroyed within the outskirts of Lagos because of media propaganda against our ethnic nationality”.

    He added: “We appeal to the Yoruba people; don’t allow yourselves to be used by people because they just want to create conflict. Conflict in Lagos will never help any of us. We still remember the injuries that were inflicted upon both sides during the OPC, Ijaw crisis.

    “Go back and investigate the issues, you will be amazed that one nonsense matter that has no bearing that caused it. Yoruba nation must know that we are their brothers. We share the same aspirations.

    “Ijaws will not sit down and said lets go and destroy Lagos. Lagos share the same terrain with us and we cannot destroy our home because we see Lagos as home.

    “We see Ogun as home. Let’s not be deceived into an unnecessary conflict. The security agencies are to be blamed. They should go and do their jobs. The waterways should be policed properly”.

  • Crisis rocking Ijaw youths deepens

    Crisis rocking Ijaw youths deepens

    The crisis rocking the umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide, has deepened following a suit seeking to stop Mr. Udengs Eradiri from parading himself as the President of the council.

    The suit which was filed at the Bayelsa State High Court by aggrieved members of the executive council of IYC is asking the court to grant an interlocutory injunction stopping Eradiri and Mr. Eric Omare, from parading themselves as the President and Spokesman of the council.

    The claimants relied on a purported national convention of the IYC held on June 16, 2016, in Rivers State where they claimed that Eradiri and Omare, were removed from their offices.

    According to them Mr. Elvis Donkemezuo and Mr. Mike Edonkumor were reportedly nominated and elected the president and spokesman of the council respectively.

    Donkemezuo who admitted filling the suit also reacted to an interview Eradiri granted the Nation where he referred to him as an impersonator and a non-member of IYC for failing to pay his dues.

    Eradiri also said Donkemezuo would soon be arrested for impersonation adding that based on the judgement of the state High Court, he (Eradiri) would remain the President till 2017.

    But Donkemezuo said Eradiri was suspended by seven out of the 10-member executive council of IYC over allegations of misappropriation of funds, abuse of office and highhandedness.

    He said a panel which was headed by the council’s Legal Adviser later indicted Eradiri and removed him from office.

    He claimed that a convention of Ijaw youths held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, ratified the removal of Eradiri and immediately elected him to become the President of the council.

    He said: “I was absent at the convention, but the convention unanimously nominated and elected me in absentia as the President of IYC because of my integrity and my background.

    “Upon my arrival, I accepted, but ever since then, Udengs has has been parading himself as the President, despite the fact that he knows the law. When somebody is removed, he should go to the court and challenge your removal.

    “Instead of him to go to court. He said he said I was impersonating him. How can I be impersonating him. I am from Kolokuma-Opokuma Local Government of Bayelsa state.

    “It is the local government of Ijaw icon, late Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro. Boro was my cousin from my lineage. So, I don’t know between me and Udengs who is even more an Ijaw man”.

    He said the court judgement that said Eradiri’s tenure would end in 2017 did not foreclose his removal by indictment.

    He faulted the claims that he was not a member of IYC because he failed to pay his dues saying there was no time the payment of dues was a constitutional provision for being an IYC member.

    Donkemezue further said the constitution Eradiri was relying upon had not been adopted by the congress.

    He said: “There was never a time payment of dues was a constitutional requirement or a yardstick for becoming a member of IYC. Eradiri is traveling with a purported constitution, he cooked in his bedroom and want to impose it on Ijaw youths. But Ijaw youths are smarter than he is and they told him that, that constitution had not been adopted.

    “The chairman of that purported constitution review committee, Nengi James is still alive. If you ask Nengi any day any time Nengi will tell you that, that constitution is inconclusive. So, I don’t know where Eradiri is coming from with all these stories”.

    He said Eradiri had no right to claim the title of Presidency adding that the agreement reached in 2013 was that he would be a caretaker chairman of IYC.

  • Armed Ijaw youths attack guests at Rhythm FM’s studio

    Armed Ijaw youths attack guests at Rhythm FM’s studio

    The crisis rocking the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide took a dangerous twist yesterday following an invasion of Rhythm FM studio owned by Senator Ben Bruce in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, by Ijaw youths.

    The youths, who stormed the studio in buses and other vehicles, were after two executive members of IYC and guests of a live radio programme, Talk of the Town, anchored by Lishman Onisodemuya.

    The youths caused panic as they shot sporadically into the air, forcing employees in both the radio and television studios of Silverbird Group to scamper for safety.

    They broke into the radio studio, interrupted the programme and dragged out the National Mobilisation Officer of IYC, Mr. Wisdom Ikuli, and a self-acclaimed spokesman of the council, Mike Edounkimor, who were guests of the programme.

    Ikuli and Edounkimor were said to have been thoroughly beaten up their faces bruised. The youths attempted to bundle them into one of the vehicles before the intervention of the police.

    It was learnt that before the arrival of the police, the mob seized the ensuing melee to rob employees of the studios of their money, mobile handsets and other valuables.

    The radio studio was temporarily shut down. But the police came and made arrests.

    IYC has been thrown into a crisis following the claims of six of the 10-member executive council that the president of the body, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, and the spokesman, Mr. Eric Omare, have been suspended.

    The document suspending Eradiri and Omare was signed by the National Secretary-General, Bristol-Alagbariye Emmanuel; Director of Mobilisation Wisdom Ikuli; Legal Adviser, Ekine Egberekro; Assistant Secretary, Deinkoro George; National Women Leader Felicia Ngeri and Financial Sercretary, Kemepado Alfred.

    The aggrieved executive members accused Eradiri and Omare of highhandedness, financial misappropriation and went further to claim that they had replaced Eradiri and Omare with Mr. Elvis Donkemezuo and Edounkimor.

    But the Speaker of IYC Mobile Parliament (IMP), Mr. Mkpon Ijonama, said reports that Eardiri and Omare had been suspended were the handiwork of few misled members of the IYC executives.

    The IYC parliament is saddled with the responsibility of sanctioning erring members of the council.

    Ijonama said the persons bandying the suspension document failed to follow the procedures contained in Article 10 of the IYC constitution.

    He said: “We have a procedure as an entity and if you go to Article 10  of the constitution of Ijaw Youth Council, it spells out boldly and clearly a procedure in which one can be suspended or removed from the council. None of the procedures was met before the so-called suspension on social media.”

    Trouble started yesterday when Ikuli appeared on the programme to respond to issues raised by Eradiri who on Wednesday was a guest on the programme.

    Ikuli announced on radio that Eradiri and Omare had been removed and warned them to stop parading themselves as the president and spokesman of the council.

    Youths loyal to Eradiri who heard the announcement and felt that their leader had been insulted stormed the station to perpetrate the violence.

    Though some persons claimed that Eradiri was also arrested at the scene of the violence by the police, others said he was absent but added that he was later invited to the office of the Commissioner of Police as a complainant.

    Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Mr. Asinim Butswat confirmed the incident and said the police were handling the matter.

  • Avengers: Ijaw youths accuse military of violating ceasefire 

    Avengers: Ijaw youths accuse military of violating ceasefire 

    Lament military invasion of Gbaramatu communities

    The umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide, yesterday, accused the military of violating a ceasefire agreement between the Federal Government and the militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).

    The IYC in a statement signed by its Spokesman, Mr. Eric Omare, said it was wrong for the military to invade some communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Delta State, at a time the government was planning to hold discussions with the Niger Delta region.

    Omare said the sudden presence of the military in the communities had raised doubts over the sincerity of the government to initiate peace in the region through dialogue.

    “The Federal Government cannot in one breath declare ceasefire and at the same time forcefully invade Ijaw communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom of Delta State allegedly looking for militants”, he said.

    He said in the early hours of Wednesday, the military stormed Tebujor community, a clan in Gbaramatu shooting sporadically into the air.

    He said the military operatives apprehended six youths from the community over allegations of pipeline vandalism.

    He identified the arrested youths as Eddy Ikpidi, Tekena Uka, Dboy Oboko, Jamaica Oboko, Coasta Kelly Tortor and Atani Yawuru.

    But Omare said: “While we do not support sabotage of oil facilities considering the negative effects on our environment, the IYC seriously frowns and condemns the continuous invasion and harassments of Ijaw communities and innocent people by the military under the guise of looking for pipeline vandals.

    “The military has no reason to embark on continuous invasion of Ijaw communities and arrest our people in the name of looking for Avengers or pipeline vandals. Our communities and people are peaceful and law abiding people.

    “The continuous invasion of Ijaw communities is a demonstration of lack of sincerity on the part of the federal government to genuinely dialogue with the people of the Niger Delta region to address the renewed militancy and issues affecting the region”.

    He noted that no meaningful dialogue could take place without sincerity of purpose and confidence in the process by the people of the region.

    “Events of the last few days are fast eroding our confidence. We call on the military to carry out deep intelligence gathering and stop the unlawful arrest and invasion of Ijaw communities. The arrested youths of Tebujor community, Gbaramatu Clan, Delta State should be released”, he said.

     

  • Ijaw youths predict more hostilities in Niger Delta

    Ijaw youths predict more hostilities in Niger Delta

    The umbrella body of Ijaw youths, Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, yesterday, said there would be more hostilities in the Niger Delta region if President Muhammadu Buhari failed to probe “unfair allocation of oil blocs in the country” .

    The President of the IYC, Mr. Udengs Eradiri,  who spoke at a press conference in Yenagoa, as part of activities to celebrate this year’s Isaac Boro Day said much of the indiscriminate sharing of oil blocs were allegedly carried out when Buhari served as Petroleum Minister and Head of State.

    Business outfits in Yenagoa were closed yesterday following a directive by the IYC that shop owners should not operate in honour for Isaac Adaka Boro.

    Eradiri’s warning came about five days after the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) listed some oil blocs allegedly owned by former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Minister of Defence, General Theophilus Danjuma, ex-Minister of Petroleum, Alhaji Riwalnu Lukman, other Northerners and South-Westerners in Niger Delta region.

    The new militant group among other threats gave the Oil blocs’ other a two-week ultimatum to shut down operations at the Oil fields and evacuate their workers from the locations or have them blown up.

    Eradiri accused the President of denying Niger Deltans ownership of oil blocs while allegedly allocating same to his kinsmen and their cronies like a bazaar.

    He said : “One of the most salient issues that if not addressed will lead to more crisis is the issue of the oil blocs.

    “President Buhari was one time Petroleum Minister and Head of State in this country. Let us go and do an assessment of that time. The time when criminally they shared our oil blocs was under his watch either as Petroleum Minister or as Head of State. It is in one of those times.

    “Oil blocs were shared to one group. Look at it, either the person (owner of oil bloc) was a former military president or relative of the military president  or an in-law to a military president”, Eradiri said.

    The youth leader insisted that the allocation of the oil blocs did not follow due process outlined by the government.

    He called for a total review of the oil blocs to redress the injustice that such a manipulated process had brought against oil-producing communities of the Niger Delta.

    “And that is one of the biggest issues that if not addressed, there will be more Niger Delta Avengers, you will see groups and groups that will spring up until the issue is addressed”, he said.

    Eradiri described Boro as “an intellectual and fearless comrade” who stood up for the Niger Delta despite the oppressive tendencies of the government at the time.

    The IYC president noted that the issues of underdevelopment of the region for which Boro took up arms against the Federal Government “were still hunting us till today”.

  • Ijaw youths to Buhari: Crush real militants

    Ijaw youths to Buhari: Crush real militants

    The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, Monday, condemned the unwholesome activities of a new militant group in the Niger Delta, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).

    The IYC spokesman, Mr. Eric Omare, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to fish out the real troublemakers and spare innocent persons and communities in the region.

    Omare, who spoke in Yenagoa said there was no justification for NBA to embark on destruction of oil facilities and pollution of the region’s environment.

    While siding Buhari’s efforts in unmasking the identities of the culprits, he said such move should only be targeted at the real militants.

    The new militant group has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks on the SPDC platform at Forcados, the Chevron Okan platform at Abiteye in Escravos, and the pipelines transporting crude oil to the Warri and the Kaduna refineries.

    Omare said: “We do not see the justification in the Niger Delta Avengers embarking on destruction of oil facilities because Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, denounced the group.

    “I think Tompolo did the proper thing by coming out to inform the entire world that he was not part of the NDA when there were insinuations to the effect that he was behind them.

    “As with other cases of attack on oil facilities, the Niger Delta environment and people are the ultimate victims and would suffer from these latest attacks. The IYC believes that irrespective of their grievances, there are better ways of expressing them rather than contributing to the further destruction of the already massively degraded Niger Delta environment.”

    Omare added: “The security agencies should go after the real culprits and not innocent communities and people in the region. From our experience, the security personnel in a bid to impress their superiors and justify the huge amount of money budgeted for the purpose, always attack innocent communities and people.

    “This must not be allowed to happen this time around. We would also advise the Federal Government to be prompt in directing security agencies to deal with insurgent groups all over the country including the Fulani herdsmen who have been killing innocent Nigerians just like they have just directed in respect of the Niger Delta Avengers.”

     

  • Terrorists now disguising as Fulani herdsmen – Ijaw youths

    Umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), Worldwide, on Wednesday said terrorists not Fulani herdsmen were responsible for the killings of people in remote communities across the country.

    IYC in a statement signed by its Spokesman, Mr. Eric Omare, condemned the “slaughtering” of innocent Nigerians in middle belt, Southwest and recently in Enugu State, Southeast, describing it as barbaric.

    Omare said the traditional Fulani herdsmen have been conducting their business peacefully for decades without resorting to killing of their neighbours.

    He said the sponsored attacks could be a plot by disgruntled persons to pit one ethnic group against the other so as to destabilise the country.

    He said: “We are of the view that the attacks are being carried out by terrorists who are disguising themselves as Fulani herdsmen.

    “The traditional Fulani herdsmen have been grazing their cattle for decades in different parts of the country without such attacks until recently when the attacks became persistent.

    He, however, frowned on what he described as suspicious and criminal silence of the Federal Government on the matter.

    He wondered why the Presidency vowed to deal with vandals of oil facilities in the Niger Delta region as common criminals while keeping mute on attacks threatening the sovereignty of the country.

     

  • Pipeline attackers are enemies of Niger Delta – Ijaw youths

    Ijaw youths on Wednesday warned against further attacks of oil installations and pipelines in the Niger Delta region.

    The youths described persons behind recent attacks on pipelines in Delta and Bayelsa States as enemies of the region, saying they should be arrested and treated like common criminals.

    But the youths under the aegis of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide, appealed to the Federal Government and security agencies to extend their investigations on pipeline attacks to some scrupulous contractors working for oil companies in the region.

    Addressing a press conference in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the IYC President, Mr. Udens Eradiri, said the recent attacks on pipelines had nothing to do with the Niger Delta agitation.

    “We condemn these attacks and we will continue to condemn them. It is not a means of attracting attention any more. We have moved beyond that. Those destroying these pipelines are destroying our livelihood, our community and the future of our environment.

    “And so you destroy a pipeline to send a message to a contractor for instance, and then on the long run you destroyed your entire family lineage for decades to come.

    “Nigerians must not misconstrue the destruction of pipelines with the agitation in the Niger Delta. So far as we are concerned all the incidence that had happened in recent time had nothing to do with the agitation of the Niger Delta,” Eradiri said.

    Eradiri warned youths in the area to stay clear of oil installations, insisting that acts of sabotage were not only dangerous to the economy but also capable of ruining the environment for posterity.

     

     

  • Ijaw youths to Buhari: Don’t scrap maritime varsity

    Ijaw youths to Buhari: Don’t scrap maritime varsity

    Ijaw youths, Sunday , passionately appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, against taking any decision to scrap the Maritime University at Okerenkoko, Delta State.

    In their letter to the President, the youths argued that the university would address the age-long marginalisation of the Niger Delta region; develop manpower in the maritime sector and help the Federal Government in its efforts to diversify the economy.

    They told the President that they were disturbed by the proposed cancellation of the university by the Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, Chief Rotimi Amaechi.

    In the letter signed by the President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) (Worldwide), Mr. Udens Eradiri, and the council’s Secretary, Mr. Eric Omare, the youths faulted the reasons for the university’s cancellation adduced by Amaechi.

    They said the reasons which Amaechi gave when he briefed the Senate Committee on Marine were weak, mischievous, misleading, highly provocative and inciting.

    The youths noted that scrapping the university would portray Buhari’s government in negative light and provide justification for fresh militancy in the region.

    They said: “The university would no doubt open up the area where it is sited which is in the hinterland of the Niger Delta and help in positively impacting on the life of the people of the area concerned, especially the youths.

    “We cannot be talking of addressing problems of militancy and other associated challenges in the Niger Delta region without giving the people education. The Maritime University, Okerenkoko is part of the post amnesty development plan of the Niger Delta region.”

    They said Amaechi’s position that the country already had similar institutions in Zaria and Oron was not tenable adding that the university in Okerenkoko was designed to play different roles in the sector.

    The youths further posited that instead of relying on allegations of corruption to cancel the university project, such allegations should be investigated and resolved in line with the rule of law.

    They said: “The institutes in Oron and Zaria are meant to train medium class manpower in the maritime sector while the Maritime University, Okerenkoko would train world class technical and managerial manpower.

    “This would obviously address the problems of capital flight in Nigeria where Nigerians are sent to universities in countries like Philippines, Romania, Egypt and other countries to train at great cost to the country. The existing institutes and university are expected to play complimentary roles in the development of the maritime sector.

    “Mr. President, the most ridiculous reason advanced by the Minister is the assertion that parents would not send their children to school at Okerenkoko because of the terrain. This comment is not only ridiculous but also highly provocative and inciting.

    “It would interest your Excellency to note that Okerenkoko Community, Gbaramatu Clan, Delta State is surrounded by several oil installations and platforms such as Egwa 1 Flow station owned by NPDC, Abiteye owned by Chevron, Makarava, Odidi 1 & 11 owned by NPDC, the Chevron Escravos Terminal and several other oil installations.

    “And these oil installations and platforms have several oil workers including foreign expatriates who have been working for several years in that environment even during the period of hostilities in the Niger Delta region.

    “The question is, if oil workers can go to this same environment to explore and exploit oil, why can’t the same place play host to a university that would develop the people and environment?

    “Contrary to Mr. Amaechi’s assertion, the Okerenkoko environment is a natural location for a maritime university. It is ridiculous for the Minister to suggest that one of the Maritime institutes in Zaria be upgraded to a maritime university.”

    They added: “Is Mr. Rotimi Amaechi saying that the Niger Delta environment is only good for oil exploration and exploitation but not good enough for education and infrastructural development?

    “Is Amaechi saying that the people in the creeks of the Niger Delta region unlike other Nigerians have no right to acquire education and live a decent life? Whose interest is Mr. Amaechi serving or promoting?

    “Mr. President, Mr. Amaechi is obviously not promoting the interest of your government! He has only succeeded in painting your government as an anti-Niger Delta administration.

    “We of the IYC are shocked that a suggestion not to build a university in the hinterland of the Niger Delta is coming from Mr. Amaechi who is from the same region.

    “We wish to also point out that if allegations of alleged corruption are one of the reasons for the decision, such issues be handled in accordance with the law. It should not be a reason for cancellation of a laudable project”.

    The youths further said it was not true that there was no work done at the permanent site of the university apart from the feasibility studies.

    According to them the tragedy of the country had been facilitated and often repeated by politicians driven by sectional, ethnic and other primordial sentiments.

    They lamented that the policies and decisions needed in the march to greatness had been sacrificed on the altar of personal and egoistic indulgence to the detriment of the greater good of the nation.

    “Mr. President, we call on you to reject the proposed decision of the Ministry of Transportation to cancel the Maritime University, Okerenkoko. If it is a decision that already has your blessing, we appeal for the reversal of the decision.

    “It is not in the interest of the country and your administration. The decision would only provide justification for hostility in the Niger Delta region towards your administration,” they said.