Edith CHUKU
Stakeholders in the oil rich Niger Delta region have accused the Attorney General of the federation of treating with disdain the judgment of a Federal High Court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, regarding the inauguration of a new board for the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC.
They wondered why there has been no compliance, months after the court had charged the attorney general to ensure that the era of Sole Administration is brought to an end and the NDDC board immediately constituted to perform optimally and in the best interest of the region.
NDDC Board: N’Delta Youths Take Protest To Abuja With Casket
A youth group in the South-south geopolitical zone has reaffirmed their resolve to continue with their agitation until a substantive board with credible people is inaugurated to man the affairs of the commission.
The youths under the aegis of South South Youth Initiatives SSYI, in a bid to demonstrate their discontent with the lingering board inauguration had in their previous protest displayed caskets and placards calling on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari to ensure a new board for NDDC.
NDDC Board: Tension Mounts As Youths Prepare For Another Showdown
Speaking with TNN in an interview, the national president, Imeabe Saviour Oscar said “we are not giving up, we are on the table looking at a way forward, you know when you keep doing the same thing without getting result you go back, think of what to do again and get result, but we are also demoralized because our people from the Niger Delta region that was supposed to be in support of the course are also the same people that are killing the system, it’s high time we stop the blame games, the problem of Niger Delta, South South is not from anybody, rather our problem is from we, the people at the South South region, the Niger Delta region, because if we want a change we would have come together and make a change.
“I have been invited several times for settlement, you see I did not start activism today, my activism did not start from NDDC, my activism started from Ogoni and I have not ended my activism in Ogoni, I am just looking at a situation where I can be able to correct a system and then have a positive change or system at the end of the day. What we stand for is a very simply thing, at this point we are no longer concerned about who comes in and who doesn’t come in, what we are concerned about is the credibility of who is coming in, that is what we are concerned about now because if those that have been screened also have their way of agitating, they would have also been part of this course, if you have been screened for a process and the process you have been screened for has not produced any result then you support those that are projecting that process to come true, unfortunately those that were screened has also gone home to sleep.
“A board should be inaugurated and not just be inaugurated but we are looking at credible persons, if whoever will be inaugurated is not credible we will still protest against the person. There will be no improvement because the system is also the same way it was from the beginning that is the same way it is till now, there can only be an improvement if we have a changed system, mind you, we are mistaken it that Akpabio is out, Akpabio is not out, Akpabio is out but his hand is not out because if Akpabio was out then the president would have done something.
“Like we keep saying, we have a failed system, from federal to state, from state to local, no system seems to be working, we have a system where government do not care about its citizens anymore, we have a system where government do not care about the welfare of citizens anymore, because if we have a system that the government care about its citizens, it is quite obvious that the voice of the people should have been heard and given attention to and unfortunately, the voice of the people are not respected, we are looking for a revolution and we pray that that revolution should come immediately.
NDDC Board: We’re Ready For Mother Of All Protests – N’Delta Youths
“A revolution where everybody will have the same mindset and come out and speak in one voice and say no to a dying or aliening system, say no we are tired of such practice that is going on. Everybody is failing, the people at the federal level are failing, our brothers and sisters at the Niger Delta level are failing, our people at the south-south region are failing, let alone government.
“We have a system that is actually going against the act that established that system and nothing is being done about it, and someone is just enjoying the proceeds that is coming from that place and nobody is saying anything. Those that are supposed to say something are busy sharing the cake that belongs to everybody.”
