…felicitates with ex-militant leader, Tompolo, at 50
Odahiekwu Ogunde, Yenagoa
Ijaw Youths Council Worldwide has felicitated with a popular ex-militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemukpolo, alias Tompolo, as he clocks 50.
Tompolo’s felicitation came just as IYC warned Federal Government against continued negligence of the Niger Delta, saying that the silence of the youth might lead to a possible implosion and renewed agitation in the region.
The group described Tompolo as a freedom fighter that had made indelible marks in the struggle for the advancement of the region at great risk to his life and family.
National Spokesman for the IYC, Comrade Ebilade Ekerefe, who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, on Monday, likened Tompolo to the other Niger Delta ‘greats’ including the late Major Jasper Adaka Boro, Harold Dappa-Biriye and Ken Saro Wiwa.
He said the continued neglect of the region might lead to the emergence of many Tompolos in the region in order to tackle the alleged negligence by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government.
The IYC spokesman also called on the Muhammadu Buhari administration to release without further hesitation, the properties and other valuables of Tompolo seized by the government.
Ekerefe said Tompolo is a symbol of freedom and a respected role model to many youths in the region.
He noted that the ex-militant leader stood against the neglect of the region and the Federal Government’s decision to play with issues of the region such that East-West road, the major expressway that links the region and other parts of the country is still in a deplorable state.
He stated: “For us in the Niger Delta, the country can only make meaningful progress when restructuring reflects true federalism to give way for individual regions to control their proceeds and make remissions to the centre.
“We also use this opportunity to call on the Federal Government to order that the Bill on Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, which is still lying at the National Assembly up to date, should be forwarded to the President for his assent.
“We call on the NIMASSA boss to move her floating dock from Lagos to its original settlement in Okerenkoko, Delta state. The relocation of the NIMASSA dock will go a long way to absorbing our teeming unemployed youths in the region.”
Ekerefe attributed the peace in the region to the concerted efforts by stakeholders including Tompolo to prevail on agitated youths to change the Niger Delta narratives.
Ekerefe added, “If not for the steps taken by stakeholders of the region to maintain peace, security and stability, the Niger Delta would have imploded and bled the economy of the country by now.
“We are gradually getting to that crescendo level if steps are not urgently taken to address the demands of the people by the Federal Government. The ominous signs are already there and as IYC, we have forewarned and pointed it out clearly. If for any reason the Niger Delta implodes, we reiterate that the Federal Government and the international oil companies should be held responsible.”