By Sampson Boroh
Ijaw youths drawn from the nine states of the Niger Delta region have given their blessings to the President Muhammadu Buhari’s newly constituted board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), saying that it was time leaders of the region prioritise the development of the region.
The youths also demanded for unity among the various ethnic groups in the region, adding that the continued division over appointment of the board was not doing the region any good.
The Ijaw youths under the aegis of the Movement for the Survival of the Ijaw Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND) faulted the rising criticism being championed by some individual at the detriment of the physical development of the oil-rich region.
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MOSIEND’s National Secretary, Amb. Winston Cotterel Amain in a statement issued on Tuesday maintained that did a thorough job in selecting the members of the new board, and thanked him for picking credible Niger Deltans to help his administration’s quest to develop the region.
The group called for unity and oneness of the Niger Delta region irrespective of ethnic and tribal lines, saying that the more the people play politics with the development of the region, the more it will remain under-developed.
MOSIEND stated that though the Ijaw Ethnic nationality has been at the forefront of the Niger Delta struggle, there should be synergy between all ethnic nationalities in the region if the region must achieve the needed massive development.
The statement decried the present disunity amongst the various ethnic groups in the region, noting that all ethnic nationalities are victims of underdevelopment, environmental pollution and degradation, marginalization amongst other oppressive vices that have bedeviled the region.
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“I don’t see any reason why the Ijaw man in Bayelsa State will protest against the appointment of an Urhobo man in Delta State as Managing Director of NDDC.
“The region can only develop when there is an atmosphere of harmonious and cordial relationship amongst all ethnic groups whether Ijaw, Urhobo, Isoko or Itsekiri”.We are all Niger Deltans, he added.
Amain unequivocally stated that if the Ijaws have been appointed as heads in the Presidential Amnesty office, right from inception, it will not be wrong for an Urhobo or Itshekiri man to be the head of Amnesty office now.
It further urged leaders of the various ethnic groups in the region to exude unity and eschew all forms of sentiments and divisiveness.
