Ijaw National Congress (INC) has pleaded with the federal government that only one ministerial post is not enough for the region.
President of INC, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, who made the call in a statement, said the federal government should be fair, equitable and just to the Ijaw.
He demanded inclusion of ljaws in the federal government, particularly the executive branch, saying they should also be adequately represented in policy formulation.
According to him, Ijaw people are major contributors to the Nigerian economy and with dominant population in five coastal states of Nigeria and contribute disproportionately to the revenue of the country.
“The Ijaws have been left out of the present government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and have no representation in the entire executive branch of the federal government of Nigeria, except for only one federal ministerial position.
“We demand without equivocation that an Ijaw person be appointed managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority. This is because no Ijaw person has occupied that office since the establishment of organisation in 1955.
“We demand representation on every board or parastatal related to the marine economy in Nigeria. We insist that government should not be exploiting the resources of our land, seafront and territory without representatives appointed from among our people who own the territory.
“We insist that the acceptance of amnesty by our people, which has drastically reduced the multifaceted and multidimensional agitations, some of which occasionally injure the national economy, should not be seen as an instrument of subjugating and cowing the Ijaw people,” Okaba stated.
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