EDO IJAW CRY OUT OF MARGINALIZATION, SAYS OUT OF OVER 35 NDDC PROJECTS, NO IJAW COMMUNITY IS INCLUDED

The Ijaws of Edo State have condemned the exclusion of their communities from the 2017 list of projects to be executed by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), added that this act of exclusion is a confirmation of the marginalization, deprivation, denials and total neglect the Ijaws  of  Edo State have been suffering.

Over 35 projects approved for execution in 2017 by the NDDC in Edo State,  non is located or sited in any of the over 40 major communities and over 35 sub  villages, when indeed the Ijaw areas form a major part to  qualify Edo State as part of  NDDC  states.

While reacting to this development, spokesperson  for the Edo Ijaw communities, Hon. Comrade Uroupa Samson who is also the National Coordinator, Coastal Mandate For Peace and Development, and the Organizing Secretary, Ijaw National Congress  said this evil was freely perpetrated because the Edo Ijaws had nobody to represent their interest during projects  identification and selection  process in the state..

Said he, “nobody carries our interest in the board of the NDDC both at the state and federal levels. No one single Ijaw person is employed at the  state office of the NDDC and  Niger Delta Ministry  (NDM), hence  we are always shut out from  the activities and programmes of these developments agencies established to address the critical issues of development in the Niger Delta”.
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He further said these abnormalities apply to the elected representatives at both  state and federal  levels, hence non of them has attracted any developmental  project to Ijaw communities or  sited  ‎any constituency funded project in Ijaw areas of Edo State.

Comrade Uroupa appealed to the management of the NDDC in the state and federal levels to correct these abnormalities, particularly discrimination against Edo Ijaws both in area of projects allocation and employment  ‎of persons as a matter of urgency for equity and fairness.

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