Allow N'Delta people control their resources - IPDI tells Buhari
- The Ijaw people want the people of Niger Delta to be allowed to control their resources
- An Ijaw group asked President Buhari to forget about oil in the Niger Delta region and look for alternative source of income
- The group said the Nigerian government has failed the region
The Ijaw People Development Initiative (IPDI), has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to allow the Niger Delta people to freely control their resources as it is practiced in developed nations.
Austin Ozobo, the national president of the group, in a statement issued on Sunday, October 2, said Niger Deltans want indigenous freedom.
He said after feeding the nation for years, the region should be allowed to have total control over their resources, Vanguard reports.
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The statement read: “If independence means freedom, then Niger Delta should be free from the age- long captivity, as Nigeria celebrates her independence. Nigeria cannot pretend to celebrate her independence and refused to grant her captives freedom. It is satanic and hypocritical. We have lost confidence in the false contraption called Nigeria.
“Nigeria was freed from captivity by her British colonial masters, Niger Delta has been colonized for over 56 years, Nigeria should be ready to free her captive as she was colonized and freed from her colonial masters.”
The group asked Buhari to look for alternative source of income to run his government and forget about oil in the Niger Delta as the people have decided to manage their resources to develop themselves.
“We do not need Nigeria government to develop us any longer. Nigeria government has failed the region, After 56 years of independence and 58years of oil exploitation in the region. No successive government has developed the region.
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“We have seen that it is only the people of Niger Delta can develop themselves so that we want our resources. Nigeria government should be in sober reflection of the sorrowful state of the country and should stop frivolous celebrations,” Ozobo added.
Meanwhile, Chief Edwin Clark, the Ijaw national leader, in a recent interview said there was need for the federal government to dialogue with the militants.
Source: Legit.ng
