By Emmanuel Shebbs
The Niger Delta Students Union Government (NIDSUG) has called on the Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Chris Oboh, to sit up and take as premium, matters that have to do with education in the region.

Speaking at her National Executive meeting held at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, National President, NIDSUG, Amb. Genesis Jeremiah stressed that NDDC now concerns itself on the education of militants and other radical groups in the region to the detriment of students.

“The NDDC now concentrate on training militants, giving them scholarships, sending them for training abroad, forgetting that we are the elite youths and intellectuals that deserve more attention on matters that have to do with education.

“Niger Delta Students will not keep silent and allow education to die in the region. We have harnessed every possible channel to pass our petitions to the Managing Director since he assumed office but our efforts have proved abortive.

“If NDDC, which is our mother body, continues to turn deaf ears to our concerns, Niger Delta Students, on or before 14th February, will stage a massive protest at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt. The MD of NDDC should sit up to education.”

The National executive meeting which lasted for two days was attended by Niger Delta students schooling in various parts of the country. The students, who had the opportunity to air their views on matters that have to do with education in the region, called on the Federal Government to look into the over-whelming threat posed on Niger Delta students schooling in the northern part of Nigeria by the anti-education terrorist group, Boko haram.

One of the students, Itoro Sunday, a student of Kano State University, said she and her school mates are afraid of going back to school and “it will be unfortunate if the Federal Government will sit and watch the terrorist group devour an education system that the country had taken time to build over the years.”

Imo State Governor is the chief host for the National Convention of the Union which has been scheduled to hold on first week of March 2012.