INC Meeting With Buhari Didn’t Compromise Ijaw Agenda – Prof Okaba

Prof. Benjamin Okaba, President, Ijaw National Congress (INC) has said that Ijaw Republic will be declared should the Ijaw nation be pushed to the wall.

Okaba, who made the assertion on Saturday in an interview in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, said he made it clear to President Buhari during their last (INC leaders) meeting with Mr President that the minimum conditions that could guarantee their continued existence in Nigeria as true federalism, justice, equity and fairness in the country.

He added that the INC leadership meeting with Mr President does not in anway compromised the Ijaw nation agitations for true federalism, justice, equity and fairness in the country.

READ ALSO: Diri To INC Leadership: Build Bridges Among Ijaw, Address Nation’s Challenges

The INC president spoke against the backdrop of insinuations by some aggrieved Ijaw leaders, including a prominent activist, Ms Annkio Briggs, that the INC executives that visited Buhari betrayed and misrepresented the Ijaw cause.

“I think we are all one, so I would not want to take issues with Ankio Briggs. She has been a comrade in the struggle. I would rather say there was a little gap in communication. The reality is that we spoke the Ijaw cause and Ijaw agenda, which is self-determination. Our speech was fully published on that. I challenge anybody to go through it.

“The whole insinuation is a clear issue of misunderstanding by some persons. Maybe by the time Briggs made the press statement, she had not read the speech or maybe she only relied on extract that was made public by the media to the Federal Government. Thereafter, we have been able to address the issues and I think we are on the same page,” he said.

While noting that they did not regret seeing the President, the INC President sais the meeting afforded them the opportunity to present their positions on the Nigeria project and the conditions to guarantee peaceful coexistence.

READ ALSO: Presidential Amnesty Boss To INC Leadership: Adopt New Approach For N’Delta Devt

Okaba noted: “We did not betray the Ijaw cause, we have never betrayed the Ijaw cause and we are still on course to make sure that the Ijaw agenda is perfectly actualised in good time. Strategically, we don’t want to turn the Ijaw nation prematurely into a war zone. That is why we emphasise on strategy and on peace.

“We know what is happening in other tribes. The majority of the Ijaw believe that the way to go now through negotiation. That is why we are placing emphasis on peaceful and legal strategies to self-determination.

“We gave minimum conditions to Mr President that until the conditions of true federalism, non-balkanisation of Ijaw nation and the creation of additional states and others are met, we no longer feel safe and happy with the Nigeria project.

“And that if we are pushed to the wall, the Ijaw Republic will be declared. We used that expression pointedly. We also said that we can never be a part of any other Republic that has been declared.

READ ALSO: Insecurity: Don’t Take Our Silence For Weakness, Ijaw Elders Warn FG

“We respect the integrity, the interests of other people, we sympathise with many persons that wish to do so but don’t make Ijaw part of it.”