Ilaje Community Leader Faults Clark’s Call for Removal of Ondo, Imo, Abia from NDDC

Emma Okonji and Nosa Alekhuogie

Ilaje stakeholders in Ondo State have reacted to the statement made by Elder Statesman and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, calling for the outright removal of Ondo, Imo and Abia States from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The National Coordinator, Concerned Ilaje Stakeholders Committee, Mr. Akinola Gbonegun, who frowned at the call while speaking as a guest yesterday, on ‘The Morning Show’ on ARISE NEWS Channels, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers, asked Clark to take his grievance to the National Assembly, if he was not comfortable with the federal government’s zoning of the NDDC’s leadership.

According to him, such statement should not have come from an Elder Statesman like Clark, who knows the law better than other citizens from the Niger Delta region.

Clark had in a statement, called for the removal of Ondo, Imo and Abia states from the NDDC catchment areas, because they are minority stakeholders that contribute insignificant percentage to the oil exploration in the Niger Delta region.

According to Clark, it was abnormal for states that produce 0.01 per cent of crude oil, to aspire to become the chairman of NDDC, insisting that such states should therefore be removed completely from the NDDC region.

But in his reaction, Gbonegun, said the Ilaje community decided to react to the statement because it came from someone that ought to know better about the workings of the NDDC.

He, therefore, said the reaction became necessary in order to put the records straight.

“With due respect to ‘Baba’ who is an Elder Statesman, I disagree with him, because I do not think he is right in making such statement. Ondo State for instance, produces more than five per cent of crude oil in Nigeria.

“The grouping of Ondo, Imo and Abia into NDDC region was an Act of Parliament in 2000, and for Chief Edwin Clark to call for outright removal of the three states after 23 years, is not acceptable. He can go back to parliament to contest it instead of making a statement that is of anti-government’s position,” Gbonegun said.      

He referred Clark to the 8-point Agenda of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu that was developed on rule of law and advised him to respect the rule of law that grouped Ondo, Imo and Abia States under the NDDC region.

He said Bayelsa State, which is a minority state in the country, was able to produce the President of Nigeria, in person of Goodluck Jonathan without any State raising eyebrow, adding that Nigeria as a country, belongs to every Nigerian, irrespective of the size of the community that anyone comes from, while condemning the call by Clark to remove the three states from the NDDC region, just because they are in the minority. 

Gbonegun, argued that oil was first discovered in Ilaje community in Ondo State in commercial quantity, much earlier than it was discovered in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State.

He said the notion of Clark that the major oil producers should be considered first in the appointment of people to manage NDDC affairs, should be discarded since oil exploration in the Niger Delta region first started from Ondo State.