The Grand Alliance of the Niger Delta, an umbrella body of militants in the region, has said that youth restiveness can be stopped if the Federal Government invests in the development of the region.
Addressing journalists in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Wednesday, the group’s spokesperson, Mr. Abiye Toru, said the current deployment of troops in the state would not solve the problem of restiveness in the region.
Rather, he said peace would return to the region when government takes the issues of infrastructure and the economic empowerment of the people seriously.
He therefore called on the Federal Government to provide more funds to the Niger Delta Development Commission to enable it fulfil its legal constitutional responsibilities.
According to him, the recurrent shortfalls in budgetary allocation to the commission was a deliberate ploy to frustrate it.
He said, “There is no need for endless meetings and conferences on the Niger Delta. What we need now is practical moves to develop the region. We can’t be talking, talking for 47 years. There should be an affirmative action law aimed at tackling the problems.”
He described as flawed logic, the state government’s argument that the Port Harcourt waterfronts were inhabited by cultists.
Toru added that the poor residents of the shanties could not afford the AK 47 rifles used by cultists.
He said that the political class should be blamed for arming the cultists who unleashed terror on the state.
He observed that the wanton crisis and cult-related violence in the region could be stopped if the government and multinational companies provide employment opportunities for the youths who roam the streets.
He said, “We created a data bank to collate list of unemployed graduates in the area. People have been submitting names across states in the region; we have forwarded the first batch to NDDC and the multinationals in the area. They should be employed.
“These oil companies should give 80 per cent contracts to people from the area and leave 50 per cent of employment opportunities for Niger Delta graduates. In these ways, the people will be empowered.”
Ibanga Isine, Port Harcourt
The Punch
Thursday, September 6, 2007
