As the agitation for true fiscal Federalism gathers momentum nationwide, the Ijaw Youth Congress Worldwide has said that only the restructuring of the country, in line with the principle of resource control, will be acceptable to the people of the Niger Delta.
The group noted that until the people in each region began to control their resources, peace would continue to elude the country.
The IYC also alleged that all the major crisis going on in the country were as a result of the Land Use Act, blaming the Federal Government for confiscating the lands belonging to the citizens and turning them to its property.
IYC President, Oweilaemi Pereotubo, who made the group’s position known in Warri, Delta State, added that the congress had been in league with the others agitating for the restructuring of the country.
Pereotubo said, “We must sit down and discuss the problems, issues that affect us as a component part of this country, Nigeria. To evade discussion is to invite the inevitable, and we all know the consequences. Rwanda would be a child’s play because Nigeria would witness a macabre dance she has never experienced in all of her 57 years of nationhood.
“Many have defined restructuring in diverse ways, especially in ways that suit their selfish purposes. But for us, Ijaw, restructuring means nothing less than resource control and true fiscal Federalism. We must take back our lands and waters that were naturally given to us by God from our internal colonialists, those Dr. Douglas Anele rightly called “Caliphate Colonialists” and their Southern Surrogates.
“Therefore, the only thing acceptable to our people is the restructuring of the country along the lines of true fiscal Federalism and resource control. No more, no less.”
Commenting on the recent threat by the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, giving Igbo in the North October 1 deadline to quit, the IYC urged the Federal Government to urgently arrest the members of the northern youth group and prosecute them for treason.
“We in the IYC once again reemphasise that it is either restructuring and resource control or nothing. We welcome the threat by the Arewa Youths as we are determined to confront them, any day, anywhere. We also use this medium to call the Federal Government to immediately arrest these youths and try them in a competent court of law for treason,” the Ijaw group said.
On the issue of modular refineries, the IYC said that it was shocked to discover that of the over 56 licences given to private individuals and companies to operate in the Niger Delta region, none of the beneficiaries was from the area.
