Prof. Benjamin Okaba, President of the Ijaw National Congress, has expressed disappointment that President Bola Tinubu has refused to caution Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over the reported political turmoil in Rivers State.
Okaba argued that the President’s silence while Wike was generating humiliation in his state and the nation demonstrated that he supported him, claiming that Wike had dared the Ijaw people and that the Ijaw nation was enraged.
This comes as he claims that the Ijaw nation has been marginalized for far too long despite hosting oil resources and installations that sustain the country, claiming that the Ijaw nation and the people of the Niger Delta can no longer guarantee the safety of the region’s oil facilities.
He said this to reporters shortly after arriving at Government House in Port Harcourt on Friday, where he led hundreds of Ijaw youths on a solidarity march to Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
According to him;
“We are already angered that the government of President Bola Tinubu has marginalised Ijaw people. In Delta State, where three persons were picked for a federal appointment, none are from the Ijaw nation.’
“Meanwhile, the Ijaws are the most economically viable in that state. We are noting all of this. But for him to keep quiet and allow Wike to misbehave shows that there is some tacit support. And we shall not take that.
“As we speak, our people are so angered; our people are so frustrated to the extent that we can no longer guarantee if things continue in this way, the safety of the oil installations in Ijaw land and our region.”
He added;
“And if you (President) take us for granted, continue. A day shall tell whether the Ijaw people are still those who will say a thing and make it come to pass.
“Since 1958, Nigeria has been surviving on the oil that comes from Ijaw land. Today, we are crying about marginalisation; we call it environmental degradation.
“The Ijaw nation is most affected when you talk of climate change and all that. But daily, we are treated as if we are not humans. This must stop.
“40 million Ijaw people are angered and aggrieved. And they are saying that a slap on Governor Fubara is a slap on the entire Ijaw nation.
“Any attempt to further close up or political space to remove Siminalayi Fubara from office is a call for fire.”