The Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide has asked authorities of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to stop the posting of Ijaw youths to the northern part of the country for the mandatory one year of national service.
The IYC also alleged that security challenges in the North was instigated by northern political leaders to undermine the efforts President Goodluck Jonathan was making to develop the country.
The group’s spokesperson, Mr. Eric Omare, made the call at a press briefing in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, on Thursday.
Omare said the call became necessary as a result of the activities of insurgency group, Boko Haram.
Omare, who alleged that northern leaders were using the Boko Haram insurgency to destabilise the country, said the IYC would no longer tolerate what he called the wasting of Ijaw people’s lives in the North.
He also urged the Council of Legal Education and the military authorities to stop posting lawyers and soldiers of Ijaw extraction to the North-East.
He said, “The board of NYSC should henceforth stop posting of Ijaw youths to the northern Nigeria. We no longer accept the situation our youths are sent to north, particularly in the northeast where the activities of Boko Haram have led to the decimation of our people”.
On what steps the IYC would take should the NYSC authorities refuse to heed their call, the spokesman simply said, “We will cross the bridge when we get there. I do not want to unfold our strategies now”.
On the ongoing national conference, Omare canvassed 100 per cent control of resources in Ijaw land, saying that they would pay tax to the Federal Government.
He said, “Recently one of our delegates to the national confab, rights activist, Ankio Briggs, was shouted down by some northern delegates when she was making case for resource control by the Ijaw nation. Whether they like it or not, we insist on 100 per cent control of our resources and pay tax to the government.
“If the Northern delegates feel their views must always prevail; we won’t accept it. This weekend, we will hold a conference of Ijaw youths to review the state of the nation”, he added.
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