The President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Dr. Tari Theophilus has call on President Bola Tinubu to address the challenges facing Nigerians in Niger Delta region.
He also urge the President to reassign the the East West road construction project from Niger Delta Ministry to the Ministry of Works for adequate funding of the project within a specified time frame and avert overlapping duties between the two Ministries.
The IYC President made the appeal when he featured on African Independent Television ‘Kakaaki’, when he pledged his support for the Minister of Niger Delta, Engr. Abubakar Momohin the overall interest of Nigerians.
“We are appealing to the President that the Niger Delta East West road project. It should be taken away from the Niger Delta Ministry and given over to the Ministry of Works.
“A major project like the East West road, is not supposed to be a regional project because the budget allocation and funding process cannot really meet up to the capacity for the project.
He sued for the creation of register to determine the cause of strange deaths arising from contaminants and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) clean up of oil spill in Niger Delta and other and related problems in Niger Delta.
Theophilus also called on the federal government to address the concerns of Niger Delta people arising from unemployment, poverty and pollution in the area.
He also alleged that most youths who have acquired skills in the Niger Delta, but, if they are not engaged, the training and retraining is meaningless.
“We are going to collaborate with the minister and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which is an interventionist Agency towards ensuring that the industrialization of the whole Niger Delta is done.
“This will help to stabilize the business environment for the International Oil Companies (IOCs), which are currently having problems due to youth restiveness in the Niger Delta.
“The problem we are having is unemployment. Their inability to engage our people have always been the problems. These are IOCs
that operate in Niger Delta, but their head offices are located elsewhere.
“The content Act makes it clear. You mist give us the right of refusal. It is only when you do not have skilled persons in our area is when you IOCs should look elsewhere. Ensure our youths are employed and taken off the street”, the IYC President said.
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