‎Restiveness: OMPALAN urges FG to convene youth summit

…Hails Osinbajo’s peace moves

From: Uche Usim, Abuja

A South South youth group, on the platform of the Oil & Solid Mineral Producing Area Landlords Association of Nigeria (OMPALAN), on Thursday, urged the Presidency to hurriedly convene a youth summit comprising  major youth formations across Nigeria to drum support for the rule of law and douse the tension generated by the treasonable and shocking statement credited to the coalition of northern youths asking the Igbo to leave the North latest by October 1.

In a statement signed by Hon. Benjamin Ngokanya and Captain John Victor Etim, on behalf of OMPALAN, the body insisted that Nigeria remained a strong and indivisible entity, even as it lauded Acting President Yemi Osinbajo for holding talks with various ethnic groups to address the calls for secession.

“There is only one Nigerian government with one constitution. The sit-at-home order and hate speeches only convey the treasonable message within Nigeria and beyond.

“This ugly development has dire consequences on national security and stability especially in the nation’s oil fields. We expect the nation’s robust security agencies to deploy their arsenal effectively to bring the prevailing security threats that are burning like wild fire under control and guarantee the right of every law-abiding citizen of sovereign Nigeria to live and work in any part of the country without fear or molestation.

“We cannot blame the entire Igbo or South East region for the isolated actions of a tiny but vocal group (IPOB and MASSOB) just like the North East region cannot be blamed and penalised for the monumental destructions and killings occasioned by Boko Haram which has cost the taxpayers in Nigeria trillions of naira. No section of our nation can be seen or said to be greater than the entire country.

“Our unity in diversity should be guarded jealously by every citizen of this great Country. As such, hate speeches and tribal threats will only help to destroy our unity and threaten constitutional peace”, the South South OMPALAN youths said.

The body also advocated for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) for the the host communities by the National Assembly which should equally be extended to solid mineral producing States so as to reduce youth restiveness and other forms of agitation that impede development.

The group added that God immensely blessed every state in Nigeria with one mineral deposit or the other that are yelling for commercial exploitation.

“We know that the country is yet to harness all these natural endowments to make Nigeria great again. We therefore, implore the Federal Government to explore these rich and diverse endowments in order to create new jobs for sustainable development goal,” it added.