In a press statement signed by the Spokesman of the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, Worldwide, Amb. Binebai Yerin Princewill, the body of Ijaw youths has come down hard on the Governor of Delta State, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, in his one year anniversary, scoring the administration low in relation to its projects' execution in Ijawland among others, in what the IYC said is not a "commensurate developmental attention" given to the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria despite "their immense contribution to the election" of the governor and the State's economy.

Below is the full statement as released by the IYC on Monday, May 27, 2024.

1. May 29th 2024 will mark exactly one year that His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori will be ruling over the good people of Delta State for a year as a democratically elected governor of the state.

2. The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide will not accept any further political manipulation, strangulation, and underdevelopment of the Ijaws in Delta State, particularly in the Oborevwori led administration. The IYC at this point, is sounding it clearly that the Ijaw people in all the states that they are balkernized into are not strangers in these States, hence they deserved to be treated fairly and blessed with the developmental vision and agenda of the state across all fronts and proper political inclusion.

3. As a council, we thought that as the Governor is gearing up to celebrate his one year in office on May 29th 2024 which will be few days from now, the Ayakoromo bridge would have crossed and would have been counted as an achievement in his one year in office but that did not happen as the bridge is still struggling to come to limelight.

4. The Ijaws in Delta State are not only contributing politically in shapping the state but are also the economic life wire of the state and beyond, hence they have every right to demand for the proper development of the Ijaw area. The call for the development of Ijaw land in Delta State and fair treatment should not be treated with Kidsglove.

5. Hitherto, Ijaws are wondering why in the past one year, they are yet to get any commensurate developmental attention despite their immense contribution to the election of Oborevwori as Governor of the State. While other parts of Delta seem to be recording some level of development, the Ijaw area remains stagnant and highly unattended to.

6. From the look of things, the Ijaws are the most marginalized ethnic nationality under the Governor Oborevwori led administration in Delta State as there is no reasonable project to point at within the last one year. This is really sad considering their political participation that brought in Oborevwori as Governor of our dear State.

7. The Ijaw people have called for the urgent establishment of the Coastal Areas Development Agency (CADA) just as the Warri/Uvwie & Environs Special Area Development Agency and Asaba Capital Development Agency were established by the administration of Okowa. The Ijaws want the urgent establishment of CADA to take care of the developmental needs of the Coastal parts of Delta State. The call for the urgent establishment of CADA must not be treated with levity this time around.

8. Burutu Local Government should have two commissioners in the state executive Council because Burutu has one federal and two State Constituencies, hence Burutu should produce two commissioners. The IYC cannot think of any logic that places some local governments in Delta that are given two commissionership slots. We want this political anomaly corrected as soon as possible.

9. Beyond, Burutu Local Government, Patani, Warri South West, and Warri South should each have two commissioners since Warri North is already having two commissioners. The political imbalance in Warri North wherein all the two commissioners are from Itsekiri instead of balancing it with the Ijaws of Egbema. This should be remedied so that the Ijaws will have a strong sense of belonging and political participation.

10. The Ogulagha/Odimodi road project is very key and important to the Ijaw people, it is the only link road between the two communities, the Okowa administration approved the road, as a legacy project. The governor should be liberal enough to mobilize the contractor to site. If oil bearing communities cannot enjoy development, we wonder what should be happening to other communities.

11. The Delta State Maritime Polytechnic, Burutu, which was established in 2006 and began its academic activities in 2011, to date, is still struggling for survival. It is regrettable that despite being the only state owned tertiary institution that the Ijaws have in Delta State, there is no single completed structure in the permanent site of the school neither the temporary site since its establishment. Governor Oborevwori can do well by addressing this by massively building structures for the institution.

12. The political inclusion, and appointment of Ijaw Youths into the Oborevwori’s Government in Delta State is totally nothing to write home about compared to other ethnic groups in the state. The Ijaw Youths can not continue to be useful only during elections and dumped after elections. The activities of Governor Oborevwori have not been favourable to the Ijaw people within the last one year, and we don’t know how long we are going to endure this ethnic silencing and invisibility.

13. We are calling on the Governor of Delta State to make plans to upgrade the Bomadi Isena-ibe Teacher training college that had since been downgraded to a secondary school instead of a tertiary institution, to at least a state owned degree awarding college of Education, to assuage the educational taste of the Bomadi people, Ijaws and Deltans in general. Bomadi is a highly populated Ijaw community and a fast rising historic town. The option for a higher institution for the ijaws in Bomadi can not be overlooked.

14. However, just the way the Governor has activated plans to relocate a faculty from the Delta State University to Osubi, the Ijaw people are calling on Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to relocate faculties from the newly established universities in Delta State, with particular reference to the Okowa’s administration to Ogulagha, a major oil producing Kingdom in Delta state in the Interim before the establishment of a university in the nearest future for Ogulagha Kingdom.

15. Finally, the IYC as the apex Ijaw Youth body will always speak truth to power at all points in defending our people, anytime and anywhere. We have watched the activities of the governor keenly. Hence, there is a need for us as a council to draw his attention to these critical issues confronting the Ijaw people in Delta State. We cannot continue to guarantee that the Ijaws will keep quiet for a long time. Going forward, the needful has to be done before the IYC will be forced to lead a massive protest against the governor for alienating the Ijaws in Delta State.

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