By Emma Arubi
WARRI—IJAW of Egbema extraction in Benin River axis of  Warri North Local Government  Area of Delta State, have cried out over alleged marginalization of their people in political appointments by the Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan administration.

They have, meanehile,  appealed for a correction of the imbalance in future in the interest of peace and justice.

They also decried the under-development of their area as a result of neglect in the provision of social amenities in the past three years of the present Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, government in the state.

In a statement by Chief Ebi Tobela, Olotu 1 of Egbema kingdom, the people demanded to know what sin they had committed against the present government in the state to warrant such discrimination and neglect.

According to the statement, “all the appointments so far made by the present government in our area in the last three years especially on Security Matters were given to the Ijaw from Burutu and other parts of Ijawland and the Itsekiris while none  Egbema indigene was considered worthy of such appoiontment despite the fact that a significant quota of oil produced in the state comes from our land”.

“What stops Governor Uduaghan from picking among the Egbema indigenes from Warri North council? Is it that there is no credible person from that axis to be considered for political appointment in his government or is there something our people have done wrong and needed to pay for with this neglect and discrimination,” they queried.

While lamenting the arrested developmental in their area in the past three years, the people of Egbema noted that they cannot fathom the rationale  behind the state government’s decision to allocate the intra city transport services tagged “Delta City Transport” to all the big towns and cities in the state and did not consider their area a beneficiary in the riverine area.
In their word, ”we still find it very difficult to believe that the present government in the state could relegate the Egbema clan to the background so much to the extent of depriving us the opportunity of having the Delta City Transport in our area like every other cities in the state”.
The Egbema youths who expressed explicit confidence in the ability of their leader Chief Ebi Tobela to carry them along in whatever negotiation for their people, noted that they are prepared to resist any government that will continue to undermine the wish and aspiration of their people towards achieving a better living_standards.