Abuja - The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) on Thursday urged the
President-elect,retied Maj.-Gen.Muhammadu Buhari, to sustain the existing peace in the Niger Delta, to increase oil production.
The President of the council, Mr Udengs Eradiri, gave the advice at a news conference in Abuja.
Eradiri said the existing peace could be maintained if the incoming administration sustained the Presidential Amnesty Programme for former agitators in the region.
"The Presidential Amnesty Programme for Ex-Agitators in the Niger-Delta region, which has greatly contributed to the sustenance of peace in the Niger-Delta region, should be sustained by the incoming administration.
"President Jonathan’s extra-ordinary peace building efforts in the Niger-Delta region is responsible for the resultant increase in oil production and increased oil revenue,’’ Eradiri said.
He urged the incoming government to fund and strengthen the existing federal structures set up to develop the Niger-Delta region such as the Niger-Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Niger-Delta Ministry.
"The incoming administration should address the problems of environmental degradation in the Niger-Delta region, including implementation of the UNEP report on Ogoni.
"It should also address the general environmental remediation in other parts of the region which are affected by environmental degradation,’’ Eradiri said.
According to him, the recommendations of the National Confab should be implemented by the incoming government to deepen the federal system of government where the federating units will develop at their own pace.
He said the confab recommendations would address some of the imbalances responsible for political instability in Nigeria and the desperation to control government at the centre.
Eradiri urged the incoming federal administration to start the process of national integration and run an all-inclusive government, to address the polarisation and disunity arising from the outcome of the presidential elections.
He recalled that the council’s advice formed its resolutions at the end of its meeting on April 5 at Tuomo community in Delta.
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