ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
Militant group, the 21st Century Youths of the Niger Delta and Agitators with Conscience, has described those criticising the efforts of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, to revamp the Niger Delta Development Commission as confused, misguided and mischievous.
The 21st CYNDAC in a statement on Thursday by its Coordinator, self-styled ‘General’ Izon Ebi, said the advocacy group was angered by various voices of dissonance from some quarters clamouring for the inauguration of the NDDC board despite the ongoing forensic audit of the commission.
The group said from their vituperations, it could be deduced that those people and their organisations were totally out of tune with the goals of the Federal Government and Akpabio to finetune the operations of the NDDC for better performance.
The group said: “With the forensic audit winding up soon, our organisation is amazed at the vituperations and clamour of various sponsored groups for the inauguration of the NDDC board.
“Their main reason is to muddy up the forensic audit and thus hide the malfeasance that has been prevalent in the commission for decades. We, of the 21st CYNDAC, are of the opinion that the forensic audit must be concluded and a new board be inaugurated as proposed by Godswill Akpabio, in order to reset the commission for better and optimum performance.
“We also implore the minister not to be distracted as we, the youths, have seen the positive impact of his ministry, not only in the NDDC, but in the progress of work on the East-West road and other life-elevating projects in the Niger Delta being championed by his ministry.
“The warts and barbs thrown by those who have pillaged our commonwealth over the years will not have its way ever again with the forensic audit and the minister at the helm of affairs.”
The 21st CYNDAC said it received with shock the threats of the Ijaw Youth Council to bomb pipelines and other energy infrastructures if the board of the NDDC was not inaugurated within a month.
The group claimed that it was an open secret that a faction of the leadership of the Ijaw youths body had allegedly been collecting money from some politicians that had been feeding fat on the commission to truncate the forensic audit.
It added: “This threat is surprising because the IYC has never been a violent organisation. Besides, all other ethnic groups in the Niger Delta are joint stakeholders in the NDDC, not only the IYC.
“It is time the elders and other critical stakeholders cautioned those recalcitrant youths because their threats will only destroy the environment which our organisation and others have been championing for its clean up.
“Furthermore, it is a glaring call to the security agencies to treat these threat mongers as the criminals that they are. A stitch in time saves nine.”