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From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Human and environmental rights activist, Annkio Briggs, has called on the Ijaw ethnic group to throw its weight behind the Interim Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Efiong Akwa.
The Niger Delta activist, who spoke to journalists in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at the weekend, urged the Ijaw people to shun detractors who manipulate the NDDC by throwing up issues of ethnicity and parochial considerations.
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Her words: “I am from the eastern zone of the Ijaw ethnic nationality of which Eastern Obolo in Akwa Ibom belongs. There is no denying the fact that Ijaw people have contributed to the struggle for emancipating the Niger Delta. But, at this particular time in our history, the Ijaw people should not be seen to start laying claim to the leadership of the NDDC.
“They should not be saying that an Isoko man, Ogoni man or Oron man should not be there. Akwa is already there and unless he is doing what is against the development of the Niger Delta, I will not oppose him. Why should I oppose him?”
Briggs observed that some Ijaw people opposed former NDDC chief executives, such as Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei and Prof. Nelson Bambraifa, who were both Ijaws from Bayelsa State, stating: “So, it is not just about Akwa, it is about what we are doing to ourselves. The Ijaw Youth Council is being split in the middle.
