SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, (THEWILL) – Environmental activist and chieftain of Ijaw Peoples Assembly, Ms Annkio Briggs, has expressed worry over what she termed “the induced differences between the South-East and South-South geo-political zones of the country”, calling for unity between the two zone.
Pointing out that both the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones were making huge sacrifices to keep Nigeria afloat, she regretted that all the federal allocations to the states and local government areas are skewed in favour of the North.
Briggs made her feelings known on Tuesday at a summit with the theme, ’Unlocking the potentials of South-East/South-South Nigeria,’ organised by a group, South-East/South-South Network, SESSNet, held at Owerri, the Imo state capital.
“Our traducers not only balkanized the former Eastern Region, but also injected false and jaundiced propaganda that has effectively left us where are today,” she said.
While identifying herself as a very proud Ijaw woman, the activist however insisted that nobody should coerce her into being a better Nigerian without necessarily being a patriotic Ijaw woman.
“There is a lot of misinformation in the land. We must be determined to save ourselves from the grip of those who hate us. There must be a time we must sit down and work out a way to drive this unification project,” she pleaded.
Briggs called for a collective resolve to ensure that less attention is given to other 25 states with increased attention to the 11 South-South and South-East states.
Calling for the implementation of the outcome of the committee on restructuring of the country which submitted its report in 2013, she expressed readiness to abide by any request for her to be patriotic as a Nigerian only when 100 per cent ownership and control of resources in the 11 states of the two zones were authorised by the Federal Government.
Discussants at the first conference of the two zones joined Briggs in canvassing 100 per cent resource control by the people of the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones.
A former member of the 1979 and 1999 constitutional drafting committees, Elder Uma Eleazu reasoned that “we have several groups pulling us in different directions, adding that “what we need is self determination as distinct from sovereignty”.
Regretting that about 3.8 million graduates were unemployed in the country, he chided different youth groups in the zone agitating for same goals, warning that they would not achieve anything as they speak in different discordant tunes.
The convener, Elomba, said the import of the congregation was to discuss and streamline with direction the future of the young ones in the zone who should be prepared to take over from the old ones with renewed agitation for their political rights.
