30 June 2008
Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has asked Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to resign from office if he could not use his position to promote the cause of Ijaw people.
The Secretary of IYC, Mr Eradiri Udengs, also told newsmen in Benin yesterday that the proposed Abuja Boulevard would be a waste of public resources.Udengs said that it was unfortunate that Jonathan was part of a government which intended to construct the boulevard with billions of dollars while "the Niger Delta Development Commission is starved of funds".
If the Vice-President feels that he cannot influence anything in that place, he should resign and get out of government.
"It is not an issue of being a vice-president from the South-South that matters but he should have a say in government," he said.
Udengs said that Jonathan's position in the Federal Government failed to induce better funding for Niger Delta development activities.
"If he thinks the environment is too harsh for him, he should just resign," he said.
Besides, Udengs warned the Federal Government against any military action in the region, saying that such an act would further fuel the crisis in the area.
"Government must exercise caution in deploying warships to the Niger Delta region because it might result in the destruction of innocent Ijaw communities and citizens.
"We are, therefore, urging the Federal Government to rescind its decision to send gunboats to the area to fish out the militants who attacked the Bonga oil flow station.
"Those boys do not have the capability to fight the Nigerian army but they could cripple the national economy," Udengs said.
"And the multi-national companies would also suffer from such a development," he added. (NAN)
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