The umbrella body of the Ijaw Youths worldwide, the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), has concluded plans to stage a one-million-man protest march against perceived wrong policies targeted at the Niger Delta region under the administration of President Mohammad Buhari.
Some of the policies the Ijaw youths plan to protest against include the planned closure of the Maritime University in Korutie community of Warri South-West local Government area of Delta State. The protest march, according to the IYC, would be organized as a Youth Connection at the temporary site of the Maritime University, in Korutie community and would involve various Niger Delta communities, student organizations, sympathizers of development education, higher institutions of learning in the region, and local clans.
According to the organisers, the protest is expected to halt the supposed biased policies of the current administration against the interests of the Niger Delta people.
President of the IYC, Udengs Eradiri, who made this known during an interactive session with the media in Yenagoa, argue that though the protest was not targeted against the person and office of President Muhammadu Buhari, the protest is an open message to his administration that the people of the region were tired of what they see as unfavorable policies against the region and the Eradiri said the modalities for the planned protest will be announced within a week and that invitations for the special convention will be sent out. He explained that the protest will be to show the world that the President is too busy to closely monitor what is happening in the Niger Delta region.
On the proposed cancellation of the Niger Delta Maritime University, Eradiri said the people of the region should not castigate the former Governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transport, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, for the announcement on planned cancellation of the University because he (Amaechi) is only a messenger sent by “some Northern Powers”.
According to the group, “immediately after Buhari took office, the first casualty was the NIMASA Managing Director. Immediately after the Acting DG took over, the first action he took was to suspend work on the Maritime University and the second action was to suspend funding for Nigerians undergoing studies in foreign universities because of a vendetta. So, people should not throw tantrums at Amaechi. This matter started in June and we have written a series of letters to President Buhari.
“The administration is ill-informed despite seeing pictures of the institution on the internet. Buhari should now know that the claim by its spokesman, Rotimi Amaechi, that a feasibility study was done have now been seen to be false. We have met the Niger Delta Minister and he was perplexed that the claim was false and that even the N13 billion land fraud was part of the development in the institution. Nigeria has spent over N100 billion on the facilities in the institution and how can you just come and say you are shutting it down because you suspect fraud. Are you saying we should shut down office of the NSA? Or shut down Nigeria because we suspect fraud?”
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