No
substitute to restructuring, federalism’
Ijaw youths
have rejected the Federal Government’s offer to allow two modular refineries
per state in the Niger Delta, maintaining that the move was incapable of
halting oil theft in the region.
The youths
under the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide, also called for the relaxation of
the preconditions for getting licences, noting that the terms were capable of
taking the establishment of the refineries beyond the reach of Niger Delta
people.
President of
the IYC, Mr. Oweilaemi Pereotubo, who briefed the press at the Ijaw House,
Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, insisted that two modular refineries per state were
‘grossly inadequate’ and would not stop illegal oil bunkering.
He said that
using the word ‘host’ was synonymous with what currently obtains where oil
blocs are given to all sorts of people outside the region, whereas the Niger
Delta was only acting as hosts without benefits.
The youths
also reiterated their call for the relocation of headquarters of International
Oil Companies (IOCs) to the Niger Delta, stressing that the 90-day ultimatum
given to the companies to comply still stands.
Meanwhile,
the Niger Delta Elders and Leaders Forum (NDLFL) has again insisted that for
Nigerians to coexist in peace and unity, there is no substitute to
restructuring the country.
The
coordinator of the group, Chief Mike Loyibo, in an interview yesterday, urged
the Federal Government to give all the ethnic nationalities the opportunity to
discuss the purpose and essence of their existence.
Similarly, a
group, MidWest Movement, yesterday urged the Federal Governnent to revert to
1960 and 1963 Constitutions to entrench true federalism.
At a
gathering yesterday in the Bishop Kelly Pastoral Centre, Benin City, Convener
of the group, Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki, in an eight-point demand said the group is
deeply concerned about the situation in the country, noting that “the
federation of Nigeria is in dire straights.”
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