Pursue self-determination, resource control, N’Delta activist Ozobo tells IYC

By Peters Monday, Abuja

A leading Niger Delta rights and environmental protection activist Comrade Ozobo Austin has urged the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC to pursue self-determination and resource control for the Niger Delta region.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by himself and sent to journalists on Thursday.

Ozobo, who doubled as the national president of the Ijaw People’s Development Initiative, IPDI said the current Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, led by Jonathan Lokpobiri should rejuvenate the Maj Isaac Adaka Boro Kaiama declaration and advocate vigorously for Niger Delta self-determination and resource control agitation.

He said the Niger Delta region would no longer settle for deceptive palliative measures of addressing the region’s challenges by the Nigerian government, noting that either self-determination or resources control should be the new phase of the struggle.

According to him, the aborigines of the region had been treated as second-class citizens, with neglect, marginalisation and balkanization, despite it producing the nation’s oil resources and revenue.

Ozobo maintained that President Bola Tinubu-led administration must holistically address the Niger Delta quest, to create a speaking space for the Niger Delta people.

The human and environmental rights crusader said IYC should not be carried away with the glory attached to the apex youth body, as it was established to be a voice against the oppressors and rulers of darkness.