Chairman, Bayelsa Council of Traditional Rulers, Alfred Diete-Spiff (right) at the Ijaw confab
Ijaws reaffirm resolve for self determination
[From CHRIS EZE, Yenagoa]
Ijaw ethnic nationality has restated its position on quest for self-determination and resource control, insisting that nothing would deter it from actualizing emancipation from the Nigerian state.
This was contained in a communiqué issued after a one-day All Ijaw Summit with the theme, ‘The Nigerian State and the Ijaw Question’, which was organized at the weekend in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, by the Ijaw National Congress (INC).
Chairman, Bayelsa Council of Traditional Rulers, Alfred Diete-Spiff (right) at the Ijaw confab
The communiqué which was read by Professor Benjamin Okaba, the President of INC, before newsmen at the Ijaw House, said the Ijaw people’s right to self-determination, access and control of their resources is inalienable and backed by several international laws.
According to Okaba, the Federal Government had poorly and unsatisfactorily managed the country’s ethnic diversity which had resulted in agitations over marginalization, and ignited separatist tendencies among major ethnic nationalities.
He stated that the Nigerian federation had been an aberration as it does not conform to all known principles of federalism, which emphasize division of powers between the central government and the constituent units on a coordinate and independent basis.
Okaba said “the Ijaw ethic nationality can no longer bear the grave injustices, impunity, flagrant nepotism, marginalization, neglect, oppression and enslavement by the Nigerian state.”
He further said the Ijaws would stop depending on the Federal Government for the protection of their environment, stressing that an environmental protection strategy would be evolved to safeguard sustainable Ijaw land for future generations.
The communiqué read in part, “The Ijaws resolve from this summit to employ all peaceful, diplomatic, non-violence and other tools of disobedience to pursue and actualize our right to self-determination as a distinct people of common historical and cultural affinity and geographical contiguity.
“The Ijaw people shall stop at nothing until self-determination is achieved.
“The Ijaw nation shall continue to engage the Federal Government of Nigeria on its critical challenges as well as the enthronement of a new federal constitution, and this is without prejudice to our resolve to seek self-determination.”
The INC chief added that all Ijaws wherever they are in the world would affirm their Ijawness by signing a reaffirmation accord, abide by faith and commitment to advancing the quest for a united and egalitarian Ijaw nation.
Among notable leaders present at the summit chaired by Justice Francis Tabai (rtd) were the Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, Edwin Clark, represented by a retired federal permanent secretary, Godknows Igali, former Minister of Police Affairs, Broderick Bozimo and former deputy speaker, Delta House of Assembly, Funkekeme Solomon.
Others included the Speaker, Bayelsa House of Assembly, Abraham Ingobere, Secretary to the State Government, Konbowei Benson, Commissioner for Ijaw National Affairs, Erasmus Patrick and the chairman, Bayelsa council of traditional rulers, Alfred Diete-Spiff.
