2015: Ijaw Youths Won't Be Provoked To Spill Blood, Says IYC
…Wants EFCC Boss Sacked
SAN FRANCISCO, October 12, (THEWILL) - The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide weekend declared what appeared to be its stance in the 2015 general elections, saying youths from the Ijaw ethnic nationality would not be provoked to spill any blood during the elections.
This came as the Council called on President Goodluck Jonathan to sack the Chairman of the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), saying the agency which ought to fight corruption in high places stinks of “bribery” like that in most police stations in the country.
In his closing remarks at the end of the two-day IYC summit held at the PTI Conference Centre, IYC President, Comrade Udengs Eradiri, declared that the 2015 election doesn't worth spilling any blood since, according to him, it would be a walk over for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which President Goodluck Jonathan belongs to.
“I have told them to key into the Jonathan's project so that we can save ourselves of the trouble of wasting funds. If all the political parties can just come up and say we are adopting Jonathan, they may have saved this nation of the trouble.
“The propaganda is just too much. You don't need to provoke us to fight. Don't push us because we are not prepared to spill any blood for the election. If you know you are better than Jonathan come and tell us your plans and don't incite the people. IYC wouldn't be provoked to spill any blood but we wouldn't also fold our hands if you start the fight,” he declared.
Eradiri however said that IYC in conjunction with other ethnic groups will organise a “hungry match” in the Niger Delta region where all the Presidential aspirants irrespective of their political party would be invited to come and brief the people of their manifestoes and what they have for the youths of the country.
In a communique signed by the spokesman of the group, Eric Omare , at the end of the summit adjudged as one of the most peaceful and well-organised gathering of Ijaw youths, and made available to THEWILL, the summit observed that the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria are not effective in the discharge of their functions. The Summit therefore called on President Jonathan to carry out an urgent and massive overhaul of the leadership of the various anti-graft agencies to wit, the EFCC and ICPC.
The representatives of all the ethnic nationalities present at the summit also agreed to live together in one Nigeria, form a common front and work together to address the problem of underdevelopment of the Niger-Delta region and Nigeria in general.
According to the communiqué of the summit which had eight plenary sessions, “The summit expressed worry about the alarming rate of unemployed youths in the Niger-Delta despite substantial number of them having acquired various skills. '
The summit also resolved that there should be massive development of the agriculture and allied industries sector in the Niger Delta region to provide jobs for the teeming unemployed youths and make them self-reliant.
While expressing their support for the re-election of President Jonathan in 2015, the youths in attendance appreciated the efforts of the Federal Government through the Presidential Amnesty Programme and other intervention agencies towards training the youths of the Niger-Delta to acquire various skills.
However, the summit resolved that henceforth, government efforts towards the economic empowerment of the youths of the Niger Delta and Nigeria in general should be geared towards making them to be self-reliant.
The summit also noted that successive administrations and the President Jonathan administration have spent so much money and recorded remarkable achievements in the agricultural sector.
However, that substantial part of these monies is spent in other parts of the country, especially in the Northern part to the detriment and negligent of the Niger Delta Region.
The summit therefore called on the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the National Assembly to take deliberate steps to correct this inbalance in the appropriation of resources towards developing the agricultural sector.
It also resolved that the IYC would set up committees and groups to engage the relevant government, non-governmental, international and donor agencies towards the development of the agricultural sector in Ijawland and the Niger Delta region.
It also noted that the continuous despoliation of the Niger-Delta environment by oil companies and the activities of oil thieves is a threat to the existence of the people of the Niger-Delta and the development of the agricultural sector in the region.
The summit therefore called for urgent and massive remediation of the Niger-Delta environment to restore it to its pristine state.
Noting that the sport sector can be a veritable means of empowering the teeming unemployed Niger-Delta youths and address the problem of unemployment, the summit called on private individuals to complement government's efforts in sports development in Ijaw land and the Niger Delta region while taking special note of the contribution of Mr. Daniel Igali towards sports development in Ijaw land .
Furthermore, the summit also resolved to call on governments in the Niger Delta states to pay particular attention to girl child education.
The Summit which had as theme; 'Partnering for Prosperity and Sustainable Development” was designed to redirect the focus of the youths of the Niger- Delta region towards efforts that would result in economic prosperity and attainment of sustainable development in the Niger-Delta in order to sustain the existing peace in the region.
The event however attracted thousands of Ijaw youths, government functionaries, corporate organisations, entrepreneurs as well as youth leaders from other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria such as the Igbos, Yorubas, Urhobos, Itsekiri, Isoko, Ikwere, Ogoni, Anioma, Edo, Efik ,among others.