President General of Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU) Olorogun Moses Taiga has said the Southsouth will continue to agitate for better Nigeria to ensure equity.
Addressing reporters in Lagos, on the ‘’Current Situation of Urhobo Nation in Nigeria Affairs’’ he said the position of Pan Niger Delta Peoples Forum (PANDEF) on the 16 point demand by the people should be implemented.
He said discussion and contribution by various communities on the need to restructure indicate the urgency of the matter, adding that Urhobo position was clear on restructuring.
Taiga urged the Federal Government to honour the principle of federal character which respects the unique needs of Nigerian people.
He said: “We fear that the principle of federal character has not been fairly applied to the Urhobo people. For instance, we think it wholly unfair that the government of more than 30 ministries, there is no single Urhobo appointee as a Minister.
“This is despite the fact that Urhobo must be counted as one of the principal ethnic nationalities of Nigeria, in term of its contributions in scholarship, commerce, industry, sports and entertainment.
“We believe we have excellent candidates who can who will serve faithfully and competently in government as minister. We urge the government to consider this matter urgently.”
The high chief further noted that Urhoboland is a major contributor to the economic progress of the country, stressing that government should consider the plight of the people to mitigate their sufferings.
He said it was disturbing that Urhobo people were under represented at the Federal House of Representatives, urging government to address the imbalance in by ensuring fairness and equity through restructuring.
“In comparison with other constituencies in the Eastern and Western Niger Delta, Urhobo representation by three members is unfair. Urhobo should be represented by not less than six members of the House of Representatives.
“We understand that the President cannot change this by himself, but we urged him to take this imbalance into account in addressing the ills against the Urhobo nation and in allocating resources.”
Taiga called on those encroaching on Urhoboland to deviate from it, stressing that the unused lands allocated to the armed forces by the community were under siege.
He lamented that the matter compounded by the sacking of local farmers from their land by herdsmen.
“Urhobo people have been generous in allocating lands for use by the Nigeria Armed Forces, particularly at Uvwie Okpe and Oggara kingdoms. We understand that in many instances parcels of land allocated to the armed forces have now been converted to private use.
“We believe that this is wrong practice, we urge that any unused land should be returned to the community which was by the people. We await the immediate intervention of the President in this matter.
“We wish to make it clear that the livelihood of our farmers are now under threat from the uncontrolled grazing that involved the deliberate killings of farmers, who have done nothing wrong, but to go to their farms. It is the obligation of government to protect farmers who ply their livelihood in farms from armed killers,” he said.
