Elder statesman and national leader of the Ijaws, Edwin Clark, has told Nigerians to concentrate on governors within the federation rather than the Federal Government.
According to him, it is critical to focus on governors because the socioeconomic development of the people largely lies in their hands.
During a chat with Arise TV about the current situation in the country, OsunDailyNG learnt that the elder statement said it is too early to judge the administration of Tinubu, but past ones have not made the situation any better.
He observed that, despite the 13% allocated to the Niger Delta region from the oil revenue, the states are still backward primarily and the government has ignored their development.
Clark asserted that the region produces the majority of Nigeria’s oil, yet it has recorded no significant development.
He submitted that “It’s too early for me to comment on President Tinubu’s administration. But it’s true that the Niger Delta people produce almost all the oil resources in this country. But we haven’t seen a change in our own homes. We are poorer than we were when our forefathers were alive because they were wealthy traders.
“But today, everything has gone down. Our schools aren’t well equipped. There are no teachers in some of them. We don’t have proper development in our area. A series of inquiries were set up in 1998, but now, where are they? Nothing has happened. We are suffering. We have no light, we have no water. Fishes are dying in our rivers.
“People like the late General Yar’adua felt that there was a need to compensate the Niger Delta who are the people that produce the oil of the country. And we were around lobbying when 13 per cent was drafted from the oil revenue for the development of our region. If that money was properly spent, our people wouldn’t have been agitating. But we are now facing the federal government and not the governors who have been stealing the money.
“What are our governors doing with the 13 per cent? No wonder governors are now richer than their states.”
