…says N-Delta not for Ijaw alone

By Daniel Gumm

WARRI—RADICAL Itsekiri pressure group, Itsekiri Consolidated Movement, ICM, has flayed the call by Niger Delta Indigenous Movement for Radical Change, NDIMRC, that “Ijaw must head Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, now,” noting that such a petition directed to the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, speaks of unbridled greed by Ijaws of Niger Delta, capable of negatively affecting the “chances of President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election.”

According to the ICM, a situation where Ijaw groups and individuals give the impression that Niger Delta region belongs solely to Ijaw, is “unacceptable, a height of arrogance and politically suicidal, particularly as the March 28 presidential election draws closer.”

The ICM statement in Warri, Delta State, in reaction to an open letter addressed to the Minister of Petroleum by NDIMRC, took a swipe at what it described as eclipsing of other ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta by the Ijaws because President Jonathan is an Ijaw by birth.

The statement by ICM Chairman, Mr. Oritsegbegbemi Besidone, listed positions such as Minister of Petroleum, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Amnesty, DG of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, the Senator representing Delta South senatorial district, comprising of Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko as well as the Delta State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP deputy governorship slot given to Ijaw as some of the key appointments being occupied by the Ijaws to the detriment of other ethnic groups in the Niger Delta.

The statement added that it was only recently that an Urhobo man was appointed Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, after Elder Godsday Orubebe, an Ijaw, resigned to pursue his governorship aspiration.