Youths protest slow progress on N’Delta projects

YOUTHS in the Niger Delta at the weekend protested what they called slow pace of work on the dualisation of the East-West road (Warri-Port Harcourt) and lack of infrastructure in the region.

The protests in Warri and Effurun by several hundreds of aggrieved Niger Delta youths may have followed a hint that the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, would be in the area to catch his flight.

The youths wore red T-shirts, which they said, signified red-alert to the minister to quit office for alleged non-performance. They carried placards with various inscriptions such as “This is not the Niger Delta we asked for”, “Niger Delta Ministry stinks…resign now, Orubebe”, “What has Niger Delta Ministry done for Niger Delta?, among others.”

The protest started near the Osubi Airport from where they marched to the PTI Park where the leader of the protesters, Rex Ekiugbo Anighoro, addressed a large crowd of people.

He said: “We, the coalition of Niger Delta Youths for Good Governance (NDYGG) insist that Orubebe is a stumbling block to the advancement of the people of the Niger Delta. He is ineffective and inefficient, yet he wants to be governor of Delta State. We consider him unfit for an appointed office not to talk about elective office of Delta State governor”.

According to Anighoro, the 2010 budget shows that N201 billion has been appropriated to the Niger Delta Ministry; over N80 billion was released to the ministry; in 2011, another over N50 billion was released to the ministry while in 2012, over N50 billion was again released. He said there was nothing on ground to show for all these monies.