By John Oghojafor
As the search for a lasting peace in the Niger Delta continues, a youth group, the Niger Delta Coalition for Peace and Tolerance has strongly advocated for unity, non-violence conducts and tolerance among the various youths in order to present a common front with a view to achieving sustainable peace and development in the region.
The youth group under the leadership of Ambassador Young Piero, made this call during a one-day conference of representatives of various youths bodies drawn from across Delta State which took place on Sunday at the PTI Conference Centre, Effurun, Delta State.
Several speakers took time to x-ray the problems of under-development and insecurity that have bedeviled the Niger Delta region, the role played by government and leaders in the area over the years as well as the position of the youths. The conference concluded that only unity and tolerance among the youths from different nationalities that make up the Niger Delta can attract rapid development and peace to the region.
While fielding questions from newsmen, Amb. Piero noted that the problem with Niger Delta was not about ethnicity but a common enemy called under-development, adding that for too long the issue has been politicized hence the group’s call for unity and tolerance among the youths of the region to address the problem.
He said: “It is not about our different ethnic nationalities, it is about our common enemy which is under-development. And for us to get development, we all have to come together to actually demand what rightly belongs to us.
“In as much as the government knows what we want, everybody knows what we want. But the question is: why are these things not coming to us? Who is thwarting the effort? Who is withholding it? So, when we come together we can then become united and when we are united nobody can divide us. And this is the reason why we want all of us to come together through this conference.”
Earlier, youths leaders and representatives from Ijaw, Urhobo, Itsekiri and Ndokwa who spoke during the conference identified the fact that the youths have, for too long, been used and dumped by political leaders.
A Special Assistant to EDP, NDDC, Comrade Tunde Okorodudu said: “In any election where we are supposed to elect the right leader, they (politicians) use the same youths to hijack ballot boxes, threaten people and shoot guns. At the end, in Delta, the loser is always the winner and the winner is always the loser.
“We acknowledge and accept your philosophy of non-violence, tolerance and peaceful resolution to the youth struggle. I believe in that and I’m here to give solidarity to the group in any way we can work together. I believe the future is bright. We can do it. Stop this corruption, stop being bought. The people who are using you have their children abroad. They never suffer any fight but we are here suffering in the midst of plenty. It’s time for a change.”
Also speaking in the same vein, the Vice chairman of Ndokwa Youth Movement who simply identified himself as Sunny urged the organizers of the Conference to pass the message across to the federal government that the youths in Niger Delta have been marginalized for too long, stressing that “pass the message across that we the youth have been marginalized a lot, ‘we dey vex’.
Also, a youth representative from Sapele, bemoaned the unending darkness that has become the lot of the ancient city even when it plays host to two power generating stations, adding that the youths are very upset with the nonchalant attitude of the government to give Sapele people light.
In his own presentation, the Executive Director for Planning, Research and Statistics in the Delta State Oil Producing Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Mr. Victor Odin, admonished the youths in the Niger Delta to protect what we have in the region while they ask for more, adding that it is counter-productive to destroy what we already have by way of protest.
“If we are talking about jobs, if we are talking about investment, the emphasis should be what I have I protect while I go get more. But by destroying what I have or create an avenue for what I have is taken away, then I’m short-changing myself”, he said.
Present at the conference were several youth leaders and representatives from Delta South, Delta Central and Delta North Senatorial districts of the State.
