The people of Itsekiri ethnic nationality of Delta state under the umbrella of ‘Itsekiri Coalition Movement’ Thursday staged a mass protest against the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) over what they called marginalization and non captioning of any specific federal projects in Itsekiri nation in the commission’s 2017 budget.
The placards carrying Itsekiri protesters who stormed the commission’s office in Warri vowed to resist what they termed the continuous oppression and sentimental distribution of projects with the exclusion of the Itsekiri nation which has led to the under development of the communities that contributes massively to the revenue of the nation.
Speaking during the protest, the chairman Warri North local government area of Delta state, Mr. Francis Maku who spoke through his media assistant, Mr. Lucky Atu, lamented that “An ethnic nationality that is contributing over 80% revenue to the federal government coffers cannot be said not to have a single projects from (NDDC) while the chunks of projects are distributed to communities that offers little or nothing to the nation’s revenue.”
The council boss while calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and correct all the abnormalities, stressed that good governance means good relations between the government and the govern, “No deceit and arm twisting tactics would change our stand on this issue. There are series of issues bothering us as a people and we cannot seat and watch deprivation of this magnitude before our very eyes. The Itsekiri people believes in justice, fairness and equity hence this appeal to the relevant authorities and the National Assembly.”
HardReporters correspondent who was on ground to monitor the protest reports that the council chairman noted that Nigeria is one as such the idea of some communities claiming to be more Nigerian than others was wrong, warning that the hijacking of federal projects to some quarters may steer up crisis which could still be avoided at this stage.
“The purpose of establishing the Niger Delta Development Commission has been defeated because the people for whom it was established are now victims instead of beneficiary. We therefore call on the President, the budget office and the National Assembly both chairman, NDDC Senate committee and his counterpart in the House of Representatives to look into this ugly trend with a view to find lasting solution for the peace and overall development of the nation and the Niger Delta region.”
