Posted by By Samuel Oyadongha on
Against the backdrop of last week hostage saga in Ekeremor local government area of Bayelsa State where six oil workers among them two German nationals and four Nigerians were held captives by militant youths from Iduwini kingdom, Bayelsa State government has appealed to youths in the Niger Delta to always channel their grievances through appropriate government agencies ...
YENAGOA - Against the backdrop of last week hostage saga in Ekeremor local government area of Bayelsa State where six oil workers among them two German nationals and four Nigerians were held captives by militant youths from Iduwini kingdom, Bayelsa State government has appealed to youths in the Niger Delta to always channel their grievances through appropriate government agencies rather than resort to violence in pressing home their demand for equity and justice.
The state deputy governor Dr. Goodluck Jonathan made the appeal yesterday while speaking at a peace and development workshop organized by the Niger Delta Peace Foundation in Yenagoa.
Represented by the state commissioner for Local Government, Community Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Barrister Fedude Zimughan, who was part of the high powered government delegation dispatched to the troubled coastal area to secure the release of the abducted oil workers, the deputy governor said no matter how genuine their grievances, it was legally wrong for the youths to resort to hostage taking which according to him is not part and parcel of the Ijaw struggle for the enthronement of equity and justice within the Nigerian federation.
The deputy governor who decried the insensitivity of both the Federal Government and the transnational corporations to the people of their host communities specifically cited the case of the coastal Amatu community in the Ekeremor council area of the state which ironically is host to the multibillion dollars Sea Eagle floating station while the indigenes are still wallowing in abject poverty and denied all the basic necessities of life.
Dr. Jonathan also noted with sadness Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) abandonement of one of its burnt rig in the community waters since 1975 which is not only constituting nuisance to the environment but has led to the loss of several lives in the area.
While commending the Niger Delta Peace Foundation for organizing the workshop saying it would go a long way in highlighting the inherent dangers in taking laws into their hands in their legitimate agitation for justice he warned that no meaningful development could take place in an atmosphere devoid of peace.
In his remarks, the national chairman of Niger Delta Peace Foundation, Chief Daniel Ebahor, said the workshop became imperative because of the rising incidence of youth activism in the oil and gas rich region and the need to inculcate in them the idea of embracing dialogue instead of the destructive approach of confrontation.
""As an organization, we are worried about the involvement of youths from our communities in various forms of conflict and violence and about their involvement in acts of piracy, political violence and communal conflicts with its attendant loss of lives.
""It is sad that we should forget Odi and only recently, Odioma so soon. This is because when your life is cut down in its prime, the loss to us all as Ijaw people is immeasurable and this why I want to appeal to you all to refuse being lured into unlawful act by anyone no matter how strong the temptation may be,"" he admonished the youths adding ""we need to learn from what happened in Warri where lingering violence has forced corporate bodies to relocate to other parts of the Niger Delta.""
Chief Ebahor noted that human capacity development such as skills development rather than what he called handouts or money for peace is the solution needed for youth unemployment in the oil rich but troubled and undeveloped region.