Ahead of the Edo State gubernatorial elections, the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC Worldwide, has called on the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki to be proactive enough by urgently giving staff of office to the five Ijaw kingdoms in Edo State before the Governorship election.
IYC in In a statement yesterday by its Spokesman, Amb. Binebai Princewill, said Ijaws have suffered political deprivation, suppression, manipulation, oppression, strangulation and alienation in their own land, noting that since the creation of Edo State till date, the level of development in the Ijaw areas has been completely nothing to write home about.
He said: “It is so shocking, shameful and appalling that successive Edo State Governors have exhibited high level of ethnic jingoism and have Governed the state as though the Ijaws are not existing while the Ijaws are equal stakeholders in the state. The Ijaw people are both culturally, politically, socially and economically viable.
“Let us sound this clear again and again that the Ijaws in Edo State are not living in a foreign land, they are living in their ancestral land and no one should try to falsify their history by trying to annex any part of their lands. Our people must be treated fairly in Edo State with dignity and honour going forward.