Seigha Manija, the chairman of Niger Delta
Nationalities Forum and member of Ijaw Elders’ Forum
has advised President Muhammadu Buhari on what
he should do to resolve the renewed militancy in the
Niger Delta region.
He speculated that the reduction of budgetary
allocation to PAP from N60billion to N20billion in
this 2016 budget, the near omission of the Lagos-
Calabar rail project and the announcement that the
Maritime University in the riverine Niger Delta has
been cancelled may be part of the reasons why the
new militant group is blowing up oil facilities in the
Niger Delta region .
Proferring solution on the way forward, he said the
president should convene a Niger Delta youth summit
and use the platform to assuage the fears of the
people in the region.
Manija also asked Buhari to pay former president
Goodluck Jonathan a courtesy visit just to say thank
you for respecting the wishes of the majority of
voters during the 2015 presidential election.
According to him, the government sees the Niger
Delta Avengers as criminals just as many
commentators do and the Avengers also see this
government as wicked and undermining the Niger
Delta region.
He said the heavy presence of military men in the
Niger Delta region is good and bad.
“It is bad in the sense that the more the military
come, the more the resolve of the youth or some
criminals, who feel challenged to do their worst as a
test of their capacity and knowledge of the
environment. It is also good in the sense that it
affords Nigerians from other region the opportunity to
begin to appreciate the plight and challenges of the
Niger Delta region ,” Manija said.
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