The President of Ijaw National Congress, INC, Prof Benjamin Okaba has imputed mistreatment of the ethnic group to President Bola Tinubu.
Okaba levelled this allegation at Tinubu on Friday when he led youths of Ijaw extraction on a protest in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital in solidarity with Gov. Siminalayi Fubara, who is one of their own.
The latter is at war with his godfather and predecessor, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who is on a mission to impeach him on personal grounds.
Addressing newsmen during the protest, the INC President blamed Tinubu for not calling Wike to order, saying the President has been unfair to people of Ijaw.
Some of his words, “These are Ijaw people gathered here on this fateful day. We are from seven states of the South-South. As we speak, over two million Ijaw youths are in Port Harcourt.
“We have decided to embark on this symbolic solidarity march to the Government House, Port Harcourt. Ijaw men and women are coming from Bayelsa, Edo State, Ondo State, from Lagos and Akwa Ibom states. If need be, we shall bring Ijaw people from all the coastal regions to show our solidarity for our son, the legitimately elected governor of Rivers State.
“The purpose of this rally is to call on President Tinubu to advise his minister to take his knees off the neck of the governor of Rivers State.
“Wike is still hell bent on cutting short the tenure of Fubara. We are here to resist any attempt to scuttle the process.
“We are here as Ijaw people to say that Wike has won a lot of battles, but this is a war against the Ijaw people. Let him go to the history of the Ijaw nation. The Ijaw nation has never been conquered since pre-colonial times. And we shall never be conquered.
“Wike has dared the Ijaw people. Wike has declared war against the Ijaw people and we are ready for him.
“We are already angered that the government of President Bola Tinubu has marginalised the Ijaw people. In Delta State, where three persons were picked for federal appointments, none of them is from the Ijaw nation.
“Meanwhile, in that state, the Ijaws are the most economically viable. We are noting all of this. But for him to keep quiet and allow Wike to misbehave shows that there is some tacit support. And we shall not take that.
“As we speak our people are so angered; our people are so frustrated to the extent that we can no longer guarantee if things continue in this way the safety of the oil installations in Ijaw land and in our region.
“And if you (President) are taking us for granted; continue. A day shall tell whether the Ijaw people are still Ijaw people who will say a thing and make it come to pass.
“Since 1958, the Nigerian nation has been surviving on the oil that comes from Ijaw land. Till today, we are crying about marginalisation and we are crying over environmental degradation.
“When you talk of climate change and all that, the Ijaw nation is most affected. But daily, we are treated as if we are not humans. This must stop.
“Forty million Ijaw people are angered and aggrieved. And they are saying that a slap on Governor Fubara is a slap on the entire Ijaw nation. Any attempt to further close up the political space to remove Siminalayi Fubara from office is a call for fire.”
