A prominent Niger Delta Youth and an aspirant in the forthcoming Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide election, Bright Igrubia, Monday accused the federal government of playing politics with its promise to complete the popular East-West road.
He said the project which remains the economic live wire of the Ijaw people of the South-south region of Nigeria must not be abandoned.
The one time leader of NYC who is contesting for the position of national spokesman of IYC, demanded that the federal government expedite action on completing the East-west road which he said has become a death trap, causing several losses of lives and negatively affecting the free flow of economic activities in the region.
Addressing newsmen shortly after his campaign council, Peace House, visited the IYC elders forum in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital, Igrubia said IYC, which represents the “revolutionary” movement of the Ijaw people must rise up and demand for the right of the people to have good roads, qualitative education, quality healthcare and sustainable means of livelihood.
He said: “Since our son, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, left office as president in 2015, not one shovel of asphalt has been poured on the East-west road which remains the economic live wire of the Ijaw people of the Niger Delta region. That road is not Jonathan’s road; it is Ijaw people’s road. That is why some us expected the federal government to take that project seriously.
“While we all travelled from our variously communities to Sagbama for the IYC convention, we all saw how deplorable that road is now. We all felt how onerous the task of driving on that road was like. That goes to show that the federal government is playing politics with that road because they have not given the road the attention it needs. So if the federal government has the Ijaw people at heart, I urge them to expedite action on the completion of that road.”
While addressing the IYC elders forum, the director general of the Peace House , Comrade Timi Afamukoro, said as the IYC worldwide prepares to conduct elections for its national officers, the best candidate for the position of national spokesman, exclusively reserved for the IYC central zone, is Bright Igrubia.
Afamukoro said the mandate of the spokesman of IYC is to promote and help preserve the culture and identity of the Ijaw people, and “going by his track record, you would agree with me that Igrubia has always shown that he possesses strong will and character to speak for and defend the culture, identity and struggle of the Ijaw people.”
