Anioma Youth Forum Worldwide has appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to assign immediate past Governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike as minister of Niger Delta.
The National President of the group Comrade Nnamdi Ofonye made the appeal in Abuja at a world press conference.
He said the Niger Delta region has long been plagued by numerous challenges such as environmental degradation, youth unemployment and lack of basic infrastructure.
The group said such issues have hindered the progress and development of the region, affecting the lives of millions of it’s citizens in particular and Nigerians at large.
“This appeal to Mr. President has become necessary for so many reasons and above those reasons, the President has shown that he is in a hurry to deliver and leave an indelible mark across all sectors of the Nigerian state and across all zones of the country. While we are aware that nominations and assigning of portfolios to all Senate cleared nominees is the prerogative of the President and Commander in Chief, we are expectant that our appeal will get the attention of the President who has shown to have a listening ear to the plights and demands of the people. This is a plight for us that requires his express attention”.
“Consequently, the saddling of responsibilities and ministries to the incoming ministers is one that must be done based on capacity, competence and will-Power to deliver without any form of excuse”.
He noted further that the group is strongly convinced “Gov. Wike can not be bullied, intimidated, harassed or blackmailed into submission by anybody or group both within and outside the region as we have identified this ugly misnomer as one of the banes of the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC by some forces which has led to the underdevelopment bedeviling the oil rich yet impoverished zone”.
He said Wike during his time as Rivers Governor demonstrated exceptional courage and the very rare political will-power to face headlong several issues that confronted his state.
“Under his administration, Rivers State experienced significant growth and development in various sectors especially infrastructure.
“If appointed as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs which supervises the NDDC, we believe that Governor Wike will bring his wealth of experience, passion, and dedication to bear in fast tracking development.
“He will be able to effectively address the challenges faced by the region. As the supervising Minister of the corrupted NDDC, he will be able to ensure that the interventionist agency gets back on track in fulfilment of its core mandate to the people” he said.
The group lamented that while the federal government has sunk trillions of tax payers money into the region through the NDDC, the zone and its people are unfortunately among the most deprived and poorest people in the country owing to the pilfering, looting and diversion of the allocated funds by those appointed in the past.
He said such development thereby left the zone with multitude of shabby, irrelevant and abandoned projects littered everywhere.
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