IPUA Decries Decades Of Federal Neglect Despite Region’s $15 Billion Annual Resource Contribution
By Ignatius Ushie
The Ijaw Progressive Union of Aborigines (IPUA), has issued a stark reminder of the persistent neglect faced by their community despite being situated in a resource-rich region.
Speaking candidly during a recent interview, the Executive Coordinator, Mr. Amaye Asiaye Amakor, highlighted the urgency of addressing environmental degradation, lack of basic amenities, and inadequate health services in Ijaw communities.
Mr. Amakor lamented what he described as decades of federal neglect, while resources extracted from their land fuel development in other parts of Nigeria.
According to him, “There has been no significant impact or attention given to our community even though the entire country benefits from the resources that come from our land,” he said, stressing the absence of essential infrastructure such as portable drinking water, electricity, and functional hospitals, among others.
According to Mr. Amakor, the health crisis is particularly alarming, with multiple deaths occurring monthly in his hometown alone due to preventable causes linked to poor environmental conditions, including pollution and contaminated water from rivers, which residents are forced to use for drinking.
“People fetch water from the river where others would never consider it safe to drink,” he stated, connecting these harsh realities to a high mortality rate in his community within the Simbiri community in Burutu Local Government area of Delta State.
The Executive Coordinator described government’s response as minimal and mostly symbolic, with little or no tangible action on the ground.
Addressing hypothetical representatives of the federal ministries of Environment, Petroleum, and Transportation, Mr. Amakor articulated straight forward demands: the provision of electricity, portable drinking water, and accessible healthcare facilities to their communities.
While acknowledging that the current NDDC leadership is making some progress, Mr. Amakor noted that much of their work benefits urban centres rather than the rural Ijaw communities who are the primary resource bearers.
He accused some stakeholders within the NDDC of prioritizing their regions at the expense of others, leaving Ijaw communities marginalized even within their own states.
He said IPUA sees itself as a beacon for change in a region that contributes around $15 billion annually to Nigeria’s development but remains deprived.
The activist also commended Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State and Senator Seriake Dickson, stressing that both men have been vocal advocates, emphasizing the exclusion of the Ijaw community from meaningful participation in the polity.
“They have frequently spoken out asserting that despite the Ijaw’s significant resource contributions, the community remains sidelined in political decision-making and equitable development, and have always urged the federal government to address this historic and systemic neglect”.
“If only 10 percent of the funds spent on other projects were directed here, we would be okay,” he said.
