A coalition of South-South Youth groups has called for a review of the Federal Government’s rapport with ex militants and other leaders from the region.
According to the coalition, the relevance of many of Niger Delta’s self-acclaimed agitators and ex-militant leaders has expired.
The group, under the platform of the South-South Revolutionary Coalition (SOSORC), made the demands at a media briefing on Monday in Abuja.
The leader of the group, Cicero Afure who spoke on behalf of others, called on the Federal Government to consider dealing with new crop of young leaders in order to avoid a revolution.
“We condemn the exploitation of our collective wealth, pains and struggle of our people by a few political elites and ex-militant leaders. We disassociate ourselves from all activities of the ex-Niger-Delta agitators and ex-militant leaders, who are now enjoying government patronage with multi-billion naira oil facility and surveillance contracts that are not beneficial to the collective well-being and development of South-South people,” Afure said.
The group said a massive overhaul of the South-South region’s governance and development model is long overdue, stressing that the Federal Government should reconsider a review of those it is dealing with. It declared that a new crop of young Niger Delta leaders are marginalised by the old guard.
“We are a generation that has seen the betrayal of our people by self-acclaimed Niger Delta agitators and ex-militant leaders, who have sold out the interests of the people for personal gain; their collaboration with government to exploit our collective wealth has done nothing but enriched a few at the expense of the suffering masses.
“Some of the past self-acclaimed ex-Niger-Delta agitators and ex-militant leaders betrayed our people. They exploited the tears, struggles, suffering and the pains of our people, in exchange for massive acquisition of our collective wealth into their private pockets. Their activities are to the detriment of our genuine agitations for massive development and industrialisation for the collective benefit of the entire people of the Niger Delta.
“We disassociate ourselves from these individuals who are now agents of government, enjoying oil contracts that fail to benefit the people. We cannot continue to sit idly while our resources are being exploited, with little to show in terms of development for our people,” Afure said.
The group called for new and urgent measures to address the environmental degradation caused by oil exploration in the region.
It demanded compensation for the damage done to farmlands, livelihoods, and the overall health of communities affected by oil spills and pollution in the region.
It also called for the urgent reopening of seaports in Delta and Rivers states in order to create jobs, engage youths, and stimulate economic growth in the region.
