Rivers Crisis: Your Silence Shows You’re Taking Sides With Wike – Ijaw Group Tackles Tinubu

Ijaw National Congress President Benjamin Okaba has voiced his dismay that President Bola Tinubu has yet to warn the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, about the political crisis the latter is reportedly causing in Rivers State.

Saying that Wike had dared the Ijaw people and that the Ijaw nation was outraged, Okaba claimed that the President’s silence, while Wike was embarrassing his state and the country, demonstrated that the federal government supported Wike’s action.

Naija News reports that the Ijaw group leader made the statement at Government House, Port Harcourt, on Friday, when he led hundreds of young Ijaws in a solidarity march to the governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara.

According to him, the Ijaw nation and the people of the Niger Delta can no longer ensure the security of the oil facilities in the area, and they have been marginalised for far too long while having access to resources and infrastructure that support the nation.

Okaba said, “We are already angered that the government of President Bola Tinubu has marginalised Ijaw people. In Delta State, where three persons were picked for a federal appointment, none are from the Ijaw nation.’

“Meanwhile, the Ijaws are the most economically viable in that state. We are noting all of this. But for him to keep quiet and allow Wike to misbehave shows that there is some tacit support. And we shall not take that. As we speak, our people are so angered; our people are so frustrated to the extent that we can no longer guarantee if things continue in this way, the safety of the oil installations in Ijaw land and our region.

“And if you (President) take us for granted, continue. A day shall tell whether the Ijaw people are still those who will say a thing and make it come to pass. Since 1958, Nigeria has been surviving on the oil that comes from Ijaw land. Today, we are crying about marginalisation; we call it environmental degradation. The Ijaw nation is most affected when you talk of climate change and all that. But daily, we are treated as if we are not humans. This must stop. 40 million Ijaw people are angered and aggrieved. And they are saying that a slap on Governor Fubara is a slap on the entire Ijaw nation. Any attempt to further close up or political space to remove Siminalayi Fubara from office is a call for fire.”