By Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
Furious Niger Delta youths, under the banner of the Unemployed Youths Association of Nigeria (UYAN), have threatened to take to the streets of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, if the government fails to respond to their demands for the removal of Mr. Sam Ogbuku, Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The agitated youths previously called for the swift and unceremonious removal of Mr. Ogbuku, citing gross incompetence, negligence, and blatant disregard for the welfare of the region.
Speaking to journalists in Kaduna State after a tense town hall meeting with South-South representatives in the Sabon Tasha area, the National President of UYAN, Ebi Clifford Zuofa, accused the NDDC boss of failing to address the crippling poverty, rampant corruption, and staggering underdevelopment in the Niger Delta.
“Ogbuku must go,” Zuofa asserted, condemning the NDDC’s catastrophic failure to improve the situation in the region. He stated that under Ogbuku’s leadership, there has been no development, nor has the commission succeeded in reducing the high rate of unemployment in the area.
The UYAN President also shared alarming statistics regarding the desperate plight of Niger Deltans. He emphasized that the North and South-South regions share certain peculiarities regarding poverty.
Zuofa noted that, similar to the North, 87 percent of Nigeria’s poor people reside in the Niger Delta. He also pointed out that the South-South region has the second-highest number of out-of-school children in the country, following the North.
“Moreover, endemic corruption is devouring resources in the Niger Delta, as seen in the NDDC,” he stated.
“We are in the North today to meet with unemployed youths from the region and to explore ways to further the cause of unemployed Nigerians. The youths in the South-South, which is also known as the Niger Delta, are suffering from economic deprivation similar to what is being witnessed in the North,” Zuofa added.
Fielding questions from journalists, the group’s Secretary General, Dr. Aliu Femi, warned of massive protests in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and other parts of the country if the Federal Government does not remove Sam Ogbuku from his position at the NDDC.
“According to the NDDC Act, Ogbuku’s tenure, as a Bayelsan, has expired, and it is Delta State’s turn to produce the next NDDC boss,” he explained.
Dr. Femi also warned that the group would soon collaborate with other organizations in the North to ensure the Federal Government provides a conducive environment that would create employment opportunities for Nigerians.
The National President, Ebi Zuofa, was accompanied by Comrade Gbenga Fajoye, Delta State Coordinator; Amadoma God-help, Bayelsa State Coordinator; Osaruchi Rosamund Idumesaro, Rivers State Coordinator; Honesty Asemota, Edo State Coordinator; Akpakip Okon, Akwa Ibom State Coordinator; and Blessing Okosun, Cross Rivers State Coordinator, during the press conference in Kaduna.
