We will stay in Nigeria - Ijaw activist speaks out

- A leading Ijaw activist has assured the
government of their loyalty to Nigeria
- Oweikeye Endoro said the struggle for Ijaw
advancement was not for secession
- He made it clear that the struggle was for self-
determination and resource control.

Oweikeye Endoro a leading Ijaw activist has
said the struggle for Ijaw advancement which
was being driven by the Ijaw Youth Council
(IYC,) is not about secession from Nigeria unlike
the struggle for Biafra, by the Igbo people.
According to Endoro, this was clearly noted in
the historic Kaiama Declaration (KD), of 1998.
The activist who is a presidential candidate for
the forthcoming IYC elections while speaking in
Warri, Delta state on Wednesday, January 18,
said that wrong perceptions of the Ijaw/Niger
Delta struggle had hampered national
understanding of the objective of the struggle.
He went on to explain that the aim of the
struggle was self-determination, resource
control and social justice within Nigeria.
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against Nnamdi Kanu - MASSOB
According Vanguard, he also said: “I read the
condemnation of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike,
who said in Sultan’s Palace, Sokoto, that Niger Delta
leaders stand by Nigeria whose unity is non-negotiable.
"For me, Governor Wike’s comment is within the tenets
of the Kaiama Declaration accepted as a working
document of the Ijaw nation.”
Emphasizing on article 10 of the Kaiama
Declaration, Endoro also said: “We agreed to
remain within Nigeria but to demand and work for self-
government and resource control for the Ijaw people.
"The federation should be run on the basis of equality
and social justice. Having agreed to remain in Nigeria,
we cannot work towards its dismemberment but seek
self-determination, resource control and social justice
therein for the good of all Nigerians.
"Nigerians should not misconstrue ‘self-determination’
enshrined in the Kaiama Declaration as a secession bid.
The Ijaw ethnic nation, the fourth largest in Nigeria, is
unfortunately balkanised into minorities in several
states where they are politically subjugated by minor
ethnic groups.”
READ ALSO: God is angry, and he will punish
Nigeria if Kanu is not released - Cleric
Meanwhile, the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo
has promised to throw its weight behind the
unconditional release of the leader of the
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi
Kanu.
Ohaneze Ndigbo also promised to bridge the
gap between the IPOB and the Movement for
the Actualization of the Sovereign State of
Biafran (MASSOB).

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