Ijaw community protests exclusion from Ondo confab list



Gov. Mimiko



By ENI SAMUEL

The Ijaw Community in Ondo state has protested the non-inclusion of their group in the list of representatives of the state in the forthcoming national conference.

 

A leader of the community, Francis William, who spoke on behalf of the people on Monday, said they are rejecting the list as proposed.

According to him, the Ijaws are a distinct nationality that should be accorded their right to be represented in the conference, adding that this becomes more important since they participated in the pre-conference activities.

"The other issue which makes the non-inclusion of Ijaws in delegates list confronting and intriguing is the noncompliance with federal government directive on composition of the national conference.

"It is clearly stated in the directive that the 15 delegates per geo-political zone must reflect ethnic and religious diversities in the zones. Undoubtedly, the Ijaw and Yoruba are the two distinct ethnic nationalities in the southwest.

"The point is that, the criteria of ethnic and religious diversity makes it mandatory for the minority Ijaw ethnic nationality in Ondo state and by extension the southwest geo-political zone to be duly represented at the national conference.

"The fact before us today is that, there is an error in the compilation of list of delegates from Ondo state for the national conference. While we do not know whether the error is genuine or a deliberate attempt to rob us of our right, our position is that the error should be corrected without any delay," William said.

The community leader also insisted that the error must be corrected before the inauguration of the conference which was slated for March 17, saying any contrary action would amount to forceful exclusion of Ijaw from Ondo state and the southwest.

"If the proposed national conference is intended to heal wounds and lay a better foundation for an enduring country, then we all have a responsibility to avoid such as deliberate exclusion as we are witnessing today", he added.