MILITANTS in the Niger Delta have challenged the Minister of Energy, Dr. Edmund Dakoru to define the opportunities he said were opened to youths in the region that they were not taking good advantage of.
Speaking under the aegis of Joint Revolutionary Council, the militants in an on-line statement issued by its spokesperson, Cynthia Whyte described the Obasanjo government as a gross failure.
The statement tasked the Minister to explain how billions allocated to the PTDF had transformed into opportunities for youths in the region. The statement reads in part: “The Minister flunked and he did so very badly! The Joint Revolutionary Council and all disenchanted youths of Ijaw and Niger Delta stock hereby challenge the Honorable Minister to specifically �define� the so-called opportunities that he refers to. We will respond to his ‘identified opportunities brief’ in good time and prove to him that there are much too viewed opportunities for our people to explore and exploit.
�We challenge the Minister to explain to Ijaw and Niger Deltans how the multi-billion dollar PTDF infrastructure was used to provide opportunities for local Niger Delta people by the dubious and satanic PDP government led by the maximum ruler, Olusegun Obasanjo.
�We challenge the Minister to explain to our people what real efforts have been made to ensure that businessmen of Niger Delta stock are provided with the tools they require to provide privileged business services to the oil and gas industry of the Nigerian state.
“We condemn the insincerity of the Nigerian state and its over-bloated attempt to please the international community with false claims of so-called opportunities that have been created by the PDP government for our people.
�Once again, we challenge the Minister to spell out the opportunities he claims have been made available to our youths. It is piquing to see a Minister of Ijaw stock castigate the agitation and struggle for a more empowered Niger Delta when it is clear to all the good people of the world that we have been marginalized, oppressed and persecuted.�
�The case of Kula community is also fresh in our minds. What efforts have the PDP government and its imperialist collaborators made to truly improve the quality of life of local people in Kula? What �real� opportunities and developmental initiatives have been initiated for impoverished coastal communities in the Niger Delta? � �So-called interventionist agencies such the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has failed the core coastal areas .
This government is a failure and will reap its rewards.� It would be recalled that the Minister of Energy, Dr Edmund Dakouru had at a dinner held in his honour in Port Harcourt decried involvement of youths in violence in the region. He regretted that they were failing to make good use of government investment in its local content initiative. He blamed those arming the youths just as he enjoined the youths to acquire skills and knowleged that would strategically position them in emerging opportunities in the region.