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Tag: Ijaw

  • 2019: Ijaw, Itsekiri youths declare support for Okowa, Otuaro

    Hundreds of Ijaw and Itsekiri youths from Warri South-West council area of Delta state have vowed their resolve to return the Dr Ifeanyi Okowa/Barr. Kingsley Otuaro-led administration in next year’s election.

    The youths, under the aegis of the Warri South-West Youths for Okowa/Otuaro, comprising of various youths groups in the council area, in a statement signed by the chairman of the Warri South-West Mega Rally For Okowa/ Otuaro 2019 Planning Committee, Ambassador Edwin Aken, said they were supporting the Okowa because it is the right thing to do.

    According to the group, Governor Okowa happened to be the most youths-friendly governor in the history of Delta state, adding that it was just the right thing to do to ensure the continuity of the administration, especially as it had committed so much into the future of the state.

    To signify their support for the governor and his desire to serve a second term in office, the youths have organised a mega rally in Warri, to be held on Saturday, December 22, 2018.

    “In view of the visible achievements of His Excellency, Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Aurthur Okowa and his amiable deputy, Deacon Barr. Kingsley Burutu Otuaro in the administration of the state, we the youths of Warri South West will be coming out in our large numbers to support the re-election bid of the duo on December 22nd 2018 at the Atuwatse primary school, rice farm, Warri.

    “The Warri South-West Youths for Okowa/Otuaro rally is a coalition of different youth groups in the Local Government Area. Our coming together under this rally is to demonstrate to the world our readiness to deliver PDP in Delta state, especially the governor and his deputy.

    “Posterity will not judge us right if at this point of our existence as youths, we fail to acknowledge and cue behind what is good for us as a people. The fact cannot be contested anywhere that Okowa is the most youth friendly government since the creation of Delta as a political entity within Nigeria.

    “We have no other choice than to support the continuity of Okowa who had demonstrated over the years his unquenchable thirst for prosperity and development. Ekweme! You are truly a road master and a guru of development. Your Excellency, we can assure you that come 2019, your return to the Government House Asaba is already a done deal”, the statement said.

     

  • Ijaw youths agitate over $13.5bn Zabazaba Deepwater Project

    Ijaw youths under the aegis of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), worldwide have expressed concerned over delays in the signing of the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the $13.5 billion Zabazaba Deepwater Project.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports spokesman of the Council, Daniel Dasimaka, in a statement, expressed displeasure of the IYC on Thursday in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State.

    “We do not want the Zabazaba Deepeater Project to go the way of the Brass LNG which never saw the light of the day. We want jobs for our youths. We want the local economy of the Niger Delta region as well as the national economy in general to grow.

    “We want development in the Niger Delta region. We want peace. Hence, we condemn the unnecessary delay in the signing of the FID for the Zabazaba oilfield,” said IYC National President, Barrister Oweilaemi Pereotubo.

    Oweilaemi said the IYC is deeply worried that the 2020 first production date of the Zabazaba oilfield may be compromised if the FID remains unsigned.

    “The $13.5 billion Zabazaba oilfield is located in the Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 245 offshore Nigeria in the Niger Delta of the Gulf of Guinea.

    “Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAE) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) are jointly developing the project. Nigeria Agip Exploration is the operator of the project.

    “It will be a major boost to the country’s economy and the local content initiative being promoted and prioritised by the present government. In particular, the deepwater project will support small and medium enterprises in Nigeria following the decision by the developers for in-country fabrication and integration of the topsides of the Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessels.

    “The Zabazaba deepwater field is estimated to hold 560 million barrels of oil equivalent (MBOE), which will increase the country’s daily crude oil production.

    “When it becomes fully operational, the project is expected to generate at least $8 billion for Nigeria.

    “The impact on the Nigerian economy would be unprecedented, and the multiplier effect on the local economies of the catchment areas in the Niger Delta will be huge.

    “Agip and Shell acquired OPL 245, which was named the Zabazaba field, in 2012 for $1.3 billion. The acquisition has been the subject of serial corruption investigations and prosecutions in Italy and Nigeria.

    “Only last Monday, one Nigerian NGO and three International NGOs presented a joint report in which they said Nigeria lost an estimated $6 billion to the controversial OPL 245 deal.

    “Human and Environmental Development Agency (HEDA), Global Witness, Re: Common and the Corner House commissioned Resources for Development Consulting to do the report on their behalf. Agip and Shell have consistently maintained their innocence,” the IYC statement read.

     

  • Ijaw contractors shut down Chevron Warri office over alleged marginalization

    Ijaw contractors shut down Chevron Warri office over alleged marginalization

    Local Content Contractors (LCC) across Ijaw communities in Delta State on Thursday shut down the premises of Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), Warri protesting what they termed marginalization of their contractors by the American oil giant.
    The protesters who were at the Chevron gate as early as 6am conducted a peaceful protest at the entrance of the Company, preventing workers from entering and coming out for several hours.
    The protesters, comprising local contractors from Egbema, Gbaramatu, and Ogulagha communities carried placards of various inscriptions such as: “35 LCC Ijaw Beneficiaries Demand Their Payment,” “Enough of This Tactical Enslavement of Ijaws by Chevron,” “CNL Pay our Money,” “Happy Must Go,” “Chevron Stop This Insensitivity and show Us a Human Face,” 35 LCC From Ijaw On Shelf Drilling Offshore Operations Demand For Their Payment,” etc.
    Mr Joel Tonjoh who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved contractors, accused Chevron of treating the Ijaw contractors with disdain, adding that for the past two years the Company has refused to pay their contractors for services rendered.
    According to him, if Chevron does not attend to them and pay them their money, they will shut down every offshore operations of Chevron in their communities.
    He said what angered them was the fact that the other two communities, Itsekiri and Ilaje, have continued to receive payments from Chevron while the Ijaw beneficiaries have been left out.
    Tonjoh added that despite several letters and petitions to Chevron, the Company has continued to ignore them telling them that they will do something, but according to him Chevron was yet to do anything.
    Tonjoh said: “The Ijaw LCC have not been paid for the past two years. They are owing us over 200 million naira now. The other two communities, which is the Itsekiri and the Ilaje communities have been paid. This is unfair to us. We cannot continue to take this inhuman treatment from Chevron.
    “LCC beneficiaries have not been paid 250 million Naira which is injustice. If this issue is not addressed, we will shut down operations in our area. We are not going to allow any personal boats to pass through our creeks.”
    Meanwhile, Chevron was yet to comment on the allegations as at the time of filing this report.

  • Boroh says President Buhari will not abandon Ijaw Youths

    The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (Rtd), has assured Ijaw youths that President Muhammadu Buhari would not abandon them.

    Boroh, also the Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) said this when 25 Ijaw Youths groups held a rally at the gates of the Presidential Amnesty Office in Abuja on Tuesday.

    The groups include the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and the National Association of Izon-Ebe Students.

    Boroh described the rally as a demonstration of their support for the Buhari administration and assured them of Federal Government’s commitment to create mass employment, sustainable peace and development of the Niger Delta.

    “The President, who is interested in your matter, will ensure your welfare by sustaining the Programme.

    “The President plans to create mass employment through the Agriculture Initiative and the Modular Refinery in the region; he is a President you can trust.

    “There is going to be mass inclusiveness of all of us in the Niger Delta Development Programmes.

    “If you go to Gelegele today, the people are happy with the Quick Impact Project and the government will do more,” he told the youths.

    Responding to the youths anxiety that the PAP may be shutdown, the presidential aide said this was not on the cards, but explained that some aspects of the Programme are winding down.

    Boroh gave an example of the off shore education programme in which 92 per cent of the beneficiaries have graduated from various universities, especially in Europe and America.

    The leader of the youths, Mr Priye Ebizimo, who is also the Chairman of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Abuja Chapter, expressed delight that the Programme is not being shut down.

    Ebizimo said: “While the Amnesty Programme cannot last forever, it is more of a journey than a destination”.

    He expressed their appreciation to the presidential aide on his achievements, adding that the youths at their meeting and news conference passed a vote of confidence on his leadership style.

    He pleaded with the presidential aide that the resultant increase in the production of oil and gas companies in the region should be retained.

    NAN recalled that the PAP coordinator recently disclosed that the training of delegates has commenced in cluster farms in the nine oil producing states.

    He said, “my office has projected to empower and create 10,000 new farms owners, who will then employ 40,000 farm workers.

    “Their logistics and processing agricultural value chain will also create additional 30,000 new jobs, thus making our Agricultural empowerment scheme to provide 80,000 new jobs.”

    Boroh further disclosed that his office has concluded discussions with a trawler company, the Greek Fisheries Institute to use the Burutu sea port in Delta state to train and engage 1,000 ex-militants into commercial aquaculture fishing business.

     

  • Adeniyi’s Book: You lied to incite Nigerians against Jonathan, Ijaw leaders, Clark blasts Obasanjo

    Adeniyi’s Book: You lied to incite Nigerians against Jonathan, Ijaw leaders, Clark blasts Obasanjo

    Former Minister of Information and paramount Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, on Wednesday, lambasted former President Olusegun Obasanjo for allegedly telling lies aimed at inciting Nigerians against former President Goodluck Jonathan and Ijaw leaders in general.

    Clark, stated this in an open letter addressed to Obasanjo, over his remarks in the recently published book titled “Against the Run of Play” by Olusegun Adeniyi.

    He said the former President’s narrations in Adeniyi’s new book were false and despicable especially as it concerns him and other Ijaw leaders.

    “For instance, some of the statements you made against me in your book “Under My Watch” were the same statements you repeated in Olusegun Adeniyi’s book which is an arrangement between the two of you to condemn the Ijaw and to incite other Nigerian leaders to disparage the Ijaw leaders particularly myself and the younger ones like Asari Dokubo whom you kept in prison for two years without trial until we begged you to release him,” he stated.

    He however challenged Obasanjo to tell Nigerians “… what do you really want from Jonathan and the Ijaw people? Most of the various issues you raised in collaboration with Olusegun Adeniyi’s book “Against the Run of Play” are mere re-visitation of the many things you did and failed to do in your eight years of mis-governance.”

    Clark also refuted Obasanjo’s claims that Jonathan was clannish and surrounded himself with his Ijaw kinsmen.

    This, he said, was one of the reasons he (Obasanjo) gave for not supporting Jonathan’s candidature in the 2015 Presidential Election.

    The Ijaw leader, who is also the leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, accused Obasanjo of being responsible for the travails the nation was currently going through.

    Clark said, “Another criticism you made against Jonathan was Jonathan’s way of handling Boko Haram and that Jonathan was not interested in accountability and that if Jonathan was therefore allowed to continue in 2015 it would no doubt damage the whole country.

    “And that Jonathan and his people turned Boko Haram into an industry for making money. I think this is very uncharitable…, you should name how Jonathan and his people turned Boko Haram into a money-making industry and who are his people that benefited from that industry?”