NIGER DELTA leaders and activists have scoffed at the up-to-the-minute ranting of Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmed Gumi and a few other Muslim leaders, chastising President Bola Tinubu for appointing a former governor of Rivers State, who hails from the oil-rich region, Nyesom Wike, as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja.
“The FCT, including Abuja is for all Nigerians. Any qualified Nigerian nay Niger Delta region, can be Minister of the FCT, and Nyesom Wike is qualified. “Furthermore, the appointment of Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the sole prerogative of the President. “The outburst by the Sheikh and his likes only reveals them as tribal bigots still living in the past, and not as true Muslim clerics. They should let Nigerians breathe.Warri-based constitutional lawyer, Dr. Akpo Mudiaga-Odje, stated, “The President did the right thing in giving that strategic office, which had hitherto been monopolized by the North.”
“He has even with the approval of the President, disentangled the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, from the single treasury account, to enable him to source for loans elsewhere to develop the FCT, which is a great vision and idea. “We also need to painfully recall that it is from the stolen resources of the Niger Delta, that the FCT was built
“The Niger Delta region hosts the bulk of oil and gas installations where the entire country derives its revenue. The nation used oil and gas revenue to fund the national budget for the past 56 years since the country discovered oil in commercial quantity in Oloibiri, Bayelsa State. ‘Substantially, oil resources from the Niger Delta were used to develop Abuja, and many states and cities in the northern part of Nigeria.
”Towards this end, I suggest that the administration of justice of Abuja should be restructured, and adjusted. It should reflect all the ethnic groups in the country. Going by the declaration of Sheikh Gumi and co, the northerners do not deserve to work in any of the oil industries, including the military: army, police, customs, and immigration.