5,000 Urhobo youths protest FG marginalisation
Atleast 5,000 Urhobo youths, on Thursday, barricaded the East-West road at Otovwodo junction, Ughelli, headquarters of Ughelli North Local Government Area, Delta State, in protest over alleged non-appointment of people from the area by the Federal Government.The protest, which started at 7am, led to traffic gridlock on the road.
The youths decried what they described as the marginalisation of the Urhobo nation by the Federal Government.
While chanting war songs, the placard-carrying youths said President Goodluck Jonathan was insensitive to their plight despite the huge population of the Urhobo nation.
Some of their placards read: Urhobo have no Minister, We need empowerment, No indigene of Urhobo nation is included in the new board of NDDC, why?, We must not allow this marginalisation to continue.
A youth leader in the area, Mr. Monday Oyeghe, said Urhobo were being reduced to second class citizens in the country, saying “this is unacceptable.”
He said: “This apartheid treatment against Urhobo has put the people in difficult political situation and will not be tolerated by the youths.
“Under the current administration of President Jonathan, Urhobo people have witnessed nothing but a calculated attempt to crush them politically.
“No Urhobo man or woman is holding any strategic position in the armed forces and security services. ‘There is also no director-general or Executive Secretary of Urhobo extraction in the 450 Federal Government-owned companies or parastatals.
“The board of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has just been constituted, but no Urhobo man or woman was appointed.”
Other youth leaders, Mr. Nathaniel Okhoror and Mr. Augustine Odedede, said despite the significant effect of oil and gas exploration, the youths are not being employed.
They said: “There is unemployment, poverty, deprivation, insecurity and other ills bedevilling the Urhobo today as a result of marginalisation and neglect by the government.”
“We the Urhobo were at the forefront in the agitation for a South-South presidency which brought about the incumbent President. We, therefore, call for the immediate appointment of a qualified Urhobo indigene as minister or into other Federal positions.’’
