ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
The President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Prof. Benjamin Okaba, has hinted that the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari to meet the demands tabled before him by Ijaw leaders during their last meeting in Abuja might lead to the declaration of a Republic by the Ijaw Nation.
Okaba stated this during a reception and award ceremony organised by the people of Ogbia, Akassa and Nembe clans of Bayelsa State in honour of the National Vice-President 2 of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Chief Nengi James-Eriworio and the National Legal Adviser, Mrs. Bomo Fetefigi-Obhe.
According to Okaba, though the final ratification on the declaration of the Ijaw Republic depends on the outcome of the proposed all Ijaw Elders’ Conference, the demands before President Buhari include issues of true federalism, resource control and self-determination.
Okaba, while reliving the meeting between the Ijaw elders and Buhari at Aso Rock said when the delegation of Ijaw leaders sat with the president, “we looked at him eyeball to eyeball and told him that if he did not meet our demands, we would declare a Republic.”
He, however, noted that despite the peaceful and cordial discussion with President Buhari, there were indications that some political elements were being used to divide the Ijaw Nation and derail the united position of the Ijaw ethnic nationality.
Okaba warned those behind the anti-Ijaw nation to desist and stop comparing the Ijaw Nation to the Oduduwa and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), saying “there is no room for further neo-colonialism. It is either we are answered or we are moving out.
“Even when we are crying that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is against us, the government is against us. We have also heard that the Water Resources Bill is coming back. In fact they want to take over our waters, land and our lives,” he said.
Also speaking on the occasion, Paramount Ruler of Ogbia Kingdom, Bayelsa State, King Charles Owaba, claimed that militancy and violent struggle in the Niger Delta came up as a result of the underdevelopment and the oppression of the region by the Federal Government.
He said the people of the Niger Delta were aggrieved because they felt short-changed over the years particularly under the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Owaba, whose domain houses the Oloibiri community where crude oil was first discovered in commercial quantity and Otuoke community where former President Goodluck Jonathan hails from, however, suggested that President Buhari could win back the trust of the region by sincerely ensuring equitable development and increase in share of oil revenue.
Owaba, who was the chairman on the occasion, said the region, particularly the ijaw, had been undermined in the nation’s polity.
He stated: “God made the resources available to the region so that we can use the resources to help our people. The region’s resources is the one feeding the nation. But since 1956 when our resources were discovered in Ogbia kingdom, it is a pity that we have not been made to realize the benefits of our resources that God has given to us.
“And because the Federal Government is not carrying the Niger Delta people along, militancy and violent struggle came up to oppose the oppression of the government. The fight against the oppression has come a long way. Late Major Isaac Boro fought the fight and late Melford Okilo moved the motion against our underdevelopment but others did not align with him. The fight to free the region is not today.
“Now that we have Ijaw National Congress (INC), they will carry on the struggle. They are also aware that the Ijaws are an independent tribe. If the government will discuss with us and give us a higher share in oil revenue, we will work with the Federal Government.”