News - Resettle us in Dayspring Island, Bakassi people urge govt

[TGD]

 THE people of Bakassi Peninsula have rejected an option of appeal on their matter, insisting that the Federal Government should rather concentrate on the permanent resettlement of their displaced people in Dayspring Island.

Speaking at a town hall meeting with notable sons and daughters of Bakassi and the Efik Kingdom in Calabar, Cross River State capital, on the resettlement of Bakassi people on Monday, former Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, urged the Federal Government "to commence the process of developing Dayspring Island instead of pursuing a nebulous venture of regaining the Bakassi Peninsula lost to Cameroun.

"Let all the money that would be used to pay lawyers and all the other resources be used to settle us. We Bakassi people do not want appeal. We don't want war with Cameroun. Let all the resources that would be used to try to reclaim Bakassi be used to resettle us in Dayspring Island.

"Nigeria loves Bakassi and the President called on the Vice President to set up a committee of stakeholders towards the resettlement of the Bakassi people. We hope the terms and references of the committee would be our prayers so that we would rest".

According to her, sustaining the maritime livelihood of the people was very important and resettlement in Dayspring Island would facilitate in this regards as it is located by the sea.

She said: "They should go and develop Dayspring Island. We need economic empowerment. We cannot continue roaming. The main source of our income is fishing, which can be industrialised and the aquatic wealth of the people can be developed to the benefit of the state and the country at large.

"Bakassi is not an Efik problem but a problem that concerns Nigeria. Let Nigeria know what we are going through".

Already, Senator Ita-Giwa said the Federal Government has set up a presidential committee on the plight of Bakassi and called for an expeditious process of the resettlement of the Bakassi people in Dayspring Island.

Since the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroun, the Cross River State government had carved out part of Akpabuyo and created New Bakassi through the controversial Edict 27, which became a source of conflict between the Akpabuyo people and the returnees of Bakassi as location for election became a serious contention.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had refused to recognise the New Bakassi with Ikang as its headquarters, hence would not conduct election there.

However, Senator Ita-Giwa, who is popularly known as "Mama Bakassi", thanked the people of Ikang in Akpabuyo Local Council Area for accommodating them in what she described as a "marriage of convenience" that did not work out, saying "there was need for the people of Bakassi to have a place which is their own and that is Dayspring Island".

Paramount Ruler of Bakassi, Dr. Etim Okon Edet, pledged support for President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, as he takes up the issue of Bakassi and lauded the people for their courage and perseverance throughout their trying times.

Chairman of the occasion, High Chief Archibong Omon, expressed gratitude that the Federal Government is taking the resettlement serious, as the country owes the displaced people reparations.

He said they would not relent in drumming the issue of Bakassi in the minds of Nigeria and the international community until their demands are met.

He said: "I have been informed that Mr. President loves Bakassi so much as he has consented to the wishes of the people for their resettlement in Dayspring Island. Abundance flourishes in the heart of the grateful person. I would like to thank the President for this gesture. Mr. President is from the South-South and so charity begins at home. We need to put our hands together and work cooperatively and see that Dayspring Island develops at a fast rate for the resettlement of the Bakassi people.

"There would be no peace except everybody does what is right. We would do everything in our might to keep reminding the world that Bakassi must come first and we will never compromise on that. Bakassi will never be swept under the carpet."



The Guardian

[Folami David]

The government really have some settling to do when it comes to Bakasi.
They should do something about it