The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), an umbrella body of Ijaw youths worldwide, has said that they were ready to support the anti-corruption crusade and restructuring campaigns embarked upon by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
They, however, expressed concern over the present campaign, saying it is skewed towards the sack of indigenes of the Niger Delta in the oil industry and targeted against the achievements under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
Briefing newsmen on the State of the Nation, in Yenagoa, on Wednesday, President of the Council, Udengs Eradiri, affirmed that though the IYC has given conditional support for President Buhari’s anti-corruption and restructuring effort, the decision to only probe the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan is selective and targeted to rubbish the achievements of the last administration.
Eradiri said though a formal complaint on the restructuring of the oil and gas sector has been sent in spite of the support by the Ijaw youth due to the needed increased funding that will allow for more development in the region, “however, the recent downsizing is the one that we have critically looked at and we felt that while downsizing, the issue of federal character is not considered.”
“The recent downsize that took place in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) basically affected the indigenes of the oil producing states of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom. It is expected that the man who produces more should be part of the management or should be seen as part of those managing the resources from the region.
“And so, when we looked at the downsizing, we discovered that it was skewed towards the direction we did not like. We decided to draw the attention of the President and the Nigerian public to it.
Vanguard
