first class chiefs presented a 16-point agenda for discussion, but lamented that, that was the end of it all.
He said that “we want to discuss what will be our benefits. So, the dialogue we are looking for is the priorities of our demands.”
Clark, who spoke in the company of the Amanyanagbo of Brass, Chief Alfred Diete Spiff; Senator Stella Omu and others, regretted that the Niger Delta has suffered series of degradations and neglect from both the Federal Government and individuals, despite providing the mainstay of the country’s economy.
According to him, “More than 50 oil blocks in the Niger Delta are enjoyed by people who do not come from the area. Also, about 30 oil fields are owned by the same people, we are not there.
“The most annoying is the employment of non-Niger Delta people in the oil installations. They are mostly occupied by northerners in our own backyard. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which should have been cited in any of the Niger Delta cities, is in Abuja. “We do not mind, but to say that you are appointing nine board members of NNPC, and only one from the Niger Delta, six from the North, including the sitting Chief of Staff to the President is unacceptable to us.”
“If you go to the NNPC’s subsidiaries, we are still not there. Which type of country do we belong then? We are thinking of our children and the ones yet-to-be born, so we will no longer accept this marginalisation and intimidation. That is why we want our 16-point demand to be discussed. We are tired of holding our youths who have believed that we are not doing more about our plight,” he stated.
