Ijaw youths has vowed to resist move to scrap the Niger Delta Ministry and any interventionist agency created by previous governments to redress issues of underdevelopment in the Niger Delta region.
Spokesman of Ijaw Youths Council, IYC, Mr. Princewill Binebai spoke in Warri yesterday saying development of the region should not be undermined by the federal government.
The Ijaw youths apparently spoke against the backdrop of the absence of a Minister for Niger Delta in the portfolios assigned to ministerial nominees by President Bola Tinubu, adding they also flayed long delay in the passage of the bill establishing the Nigerian Maritime University, NMU, Okerenkoko, Warri south west local government area, Delta state.
”Any attempt to scrap any Ministry or commission that has to do with the Niger Delta will be resisted with the last drop of our blood. This is not a threat but a statement that will become a reality should the reverse becomes the case.
”The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) is stating that the bill for the establishment of our precious Nigeria Maritime University, (NMU) Okerenkoko in Delta State has suffered too much legislative hiccups, never have we seen anywhere in the world how a school of such will struggle so hard for survival, the Federal Government of Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu must quickly in collaboration with the National Assembly see to the passage of the bill.“
The spokesman, Binebai said the IYC will engage its legal team to revisit the issue of 3 percent due to oil bearing communities in the Niger Delta under the Petroleum Industry Act, saying the body was not impressed with the provision.