A civil society organisation under the aegis of Niger Delta Volunteers For Good Governance, NDVFGG, has said that the planned protest against hardship in Nigeria must take place in the Niger Delta region.
DAILY POST reports that the president of the organisation, Ben Bowei, aka Lord Major 1 of the Niger Delta, disclosed this in a chat with newsmen.
Bowei’s position was against the backdrop of calls by many stakeholders in the region to shelve the planned protest, particularly in the Niger Delta region of the country.
He opined that those calling on the organisers to shelve the protest are doing so for their selfish interests.
According to him: “Being someone who has been in the Niger Delta struggle for years and a promoter of good governance, I can’t but mobilise over 2, 000 members across the Niger Delta region to occupy major streets, including East-West Road, during the protest.”
The former national treasurer of the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, said he felt bad seeing individuals put their interests above the suffering of the region.
‘What are we even saying? That Niger Delta people, particularly the youths, should not join in the planned protest against hardship when we have hunger everywhere? When hunger is written on the faces of our people? That is not possible.
“Those who made the call made it for their own selfish interest. I am aware some of them collected money to speak against the proposed protest, but we at NDVFGG have already mobilised our men to occupy the streets in the region. We can’t continue this way.
“We have mobilised our members of over two thousand across the Niger Delta to that effect. We must protest! We are for the betterment of our people, and we must insist on good governance,” he said.
The Ijaw chief from the Furupagha clan also spoke on interventionist agencies set up to better the well-being of the people of the Niger Delta and alleged that the agencies have equally failed the people of the region.
While describing their failure as part of bad governance, he added that they are also going to occupy their offices and demand an end to the alleged mismanagement of the agencies.
“Interventionist agencies such as the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, have failed us woefully. This is part of the bad governance we are talking about. We are not going to take it likely with the NDDC these days ahead in the protest,” he stated.