Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) have condemned Chief Edwin Clark’s proposal to expel Abia, Imo, and Ondo states from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), based on their geographical location and quantity of oil deposits.
Clark, the leader of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), had urged President Bola Tinubu to amend the 2000 Act establishing the NDDC, which he claimed was a political aberration that included non-Niger Delta oil-producing states in the commission.
While the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation said such outburst from a respectable personality like Clark is threat to national unity, HURIWA described it as preposterous, narrow-minded and divisive.
Secretary-General of the Chidi Ibeh-led faction of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, in a statement, yesterday, in Abakaliki, yesterday, called on Tinubu to disregard Clark’s unhealthy vituperation and sweep it into the dustbin of history where it belongs.
According to him, apart from threat to national unity, the call will highly promote ethnic bigotry.
He noted that Nigerians were expecting that the Ijaw leader, rather than proposing the removal of some states from NDDC, should advocate the gazetting of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s recognition of the old Anambra River Basins as oil-producing states, adding that the recognition included Anambra, Enugu and Kogi states, which should be rightfully incorporated into the NDDC.
The statement reads: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo strongly denounces Clark’s recent vituperative rhetoric and exclusionary stance towards Abia, Imo and Ondo states in the NDDC. We view his remarks as an affront to national cohesion and a promotion of ethnic bigotry.”
Reacting, National Coordinator of HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, described Clark’s call as preposterous, narrow-minded and divisive, saying it was an attempt to deny the Igbo and Yoruba oil-producing states from enjoying the benefits of their natural resources.
Onwubiko urged Tinubu not to encourage any negative amendment that would undermine the unity and development of the Niger Delta region and the country at large.
According to him, the PANDEF leader was being unfair and hypocritical, as he had previously advocated a broad-based and inclusive approach to address the challenges of the Niger Delta.
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