Ijaw Youth Council wants Buhari to lead government team at Niger Delta negotiations

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has been urged by the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) to take a lead in the government's negotiations with Niger Delta militants and communities in a bid to end the current unrest in the region.

 

Over recent weeks, militant groups have stepped up attacks on oil facilities across the Niger Delta, disrupting supplies and reducing output to about 1.4m barrels a day from 2.2m barrels. In response, to the crisis, the government has opted to negotiate with the militants and a committee has been set up to commence talks.

 

However, the IYC has said the dialogue would be taken more seriously if President Buhari led the negotiations rather than engaging self-serving politicians. IYC president Udengs Eradiri, said it was only when the president took the bull by the horns by sitting at the head of the negotiating table, like his predecessors, that there would be a lasting solution to the crises in the region.

 

Mr Eradiri said he would not participate in any negotiation unless President Buhari sat at the head of the negotiation table. He reiterated that the issues on hand were not about the Ijaw or the Niger Delta people alone but that of recurring leadership failures in the country.

 

“There is nothing on ground and I don’t trust the dialogue process as there have been a plethora of negotiations in the past. All this government needs to do is to take a holistic approach to the problems of the Niger Delta.

 

 “That’s why I have been praying for the president to be hale and hearty, so he should stand up and take the lead in solving the problems. There are success stories of his predecessors taking such steps," Mr Eradiri added.

 

He pointed out that Nigeria's groundnut pyramids disappeared, when the government was not ready to cure the epidemic that was in vogue then. In addition, Mr Eradiri said cocoa disappeared from the southwest and today, tomatoes are disappearing because leadership is not responsible.

 

Mr Eradiri said: “If Ebola comes now, Nigerians will all die because of the present attitude of government. The problem has been the failure of leadership, it is failing, so let us restructure Nigeria.”

 

In addition, he also spoke on the need for the Buhari-led federal government to implement and work with the National Conference report, saying the reports of the confab which was attended by all the geo-political zones would be a very good starting point in restructuring the nation. Mr Eradiri said the crime rate and insecurity such as Boko Haram, Indigenous People of Biafra, the Niger Delta Avengers and other splinter militia groups were indicators of a failing system.