Jonathan Advises Niger Delta Youths to Shun Violence
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Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan has called on Niger Delta youths to avoid violence and embrace peace in order to foster development in the area.
Jonathan made the call recently in Yenagoa when the leadership of Movement for Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND) visited him to express concerns on the state of the nation.
The former president , who advised the youths to refrain from violence , but embrace peace, noted that development cannot take place in the Niger Delta, if the area is in crisis. According to Jonathan, the youths remain the focus of most development policies of government and therefore any attempt at restiveness and violence was against their strategic interest .
“The future belongs to the youths who are at the centre of most developmental endeavours and policies of government, so the diversion of youthful energy towards violence is not desirable at all.
“The future of this country belongs to the young ones, not for those of us who have given our youthful years and are at the verge of exiting the scene. The youths should resist every attempt to take to violence.
“Peace in the Niger Delta is very essential as any disturbance in the Niger Delta affects the country because the region supports the economy of the nation,” Jonathan said.
Earlier, President of MOSIEND Mr Kennedy Tonjo-West recalled that the group which was formed in 1993 as a non partisan Ijaw pressure group, played a vital role in the advocacy for the creation of Bayelsa and formation of the Ijaw National Congress (INC).
Tonjo-West said the 9th National Executive Council of MOSIEND was seeking the advise of the statesman on the many challenges confronting the Ijaw Nation and Niger Delta.
MOSIEND also appealed to the former president to wade into the boundary dispute between Rivers and Bayelsa to prevent violence between residents of the two sister states.
