Edo@30: Activist, Uduwei lambastes Edo govt over marginalization

Following the 30years anniversary celebration of Edo State, an Ijaw youth leader and a rights activist, Comrade Lemon A. Uduwei has lambasted successive governments of Edo State over what he described as a deliberate marginalization of Ijaw kingdoms and communities in the state.

This was stated in a press statement signed by himself.

The youth leader who hailed from Okomu Kingdom, while felicitating with the governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki on the 30th anniversary of the state, said since the creation of the state, the Ijaw people in the state have no meaningful development, starting from Ovia South West, Ovia North East and Ikpoba Okah Local Government Areas, adding that the only government presence they felt was voting during elections.

The statement reads:”We don’t have good roads, no electricity and educational facilities. We are far backward and nothing to write home.

“I urged Obaseki’s administration to make the difference in the riverine areas of the aforementioned local government areas. I demand that our traditional stools in the five Ijaw kingdoms in the state be recognized

“The governor should as a matter of urgency, look into the plights of the Okomu kingdom which hosts Okomu National Park and Okomu Oil Palm company plc.

“Our kingdoms and Communities are under-developed, there is no single government recognized secondary school in the entire Ijaw kingdoms in the state.

“The only existing government primary school is a shadow of itself, Ijaws are not slaves in Edo State and they must be considered in the governance of the state”.