N’Delta ex-agitators protest exclusion from NCDMB programmes

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The Niger Delta Ex-Agitators Third Phase, Presidential Amnesty Programme, has kicked against alleged non-inclusion in the capacity building activities organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, widely referred to as the Local Content Board.

The group accused the NCDMB Executive Secretary, Felix Ogbe, of alleged ethnic bias.

This was contained in a statement signed by the National Chairman of the Niger Delta Ex-Agitators Third Phase, Presidential Amnesty Programme, ‘General’ Preye Ekpebide, copies of which were made available to journalists in Warri on Friday.

The statement alleged that the NCDMB boss has been engaging in “gross marginalisation of the Ijaw people, a core oil-producing ethnic group in the Niger Delta, by deliberately excluding them from critical capacity-building, training, and employment opportunities provided under the NCDMB mandate.”

It added that “His pattern of operation is an unacceptable breach of the principles of fairness, equity, and federal character.”

While warning that continued exclusion of the Ijaw people from strategic national agencies like the NCDMB could rekindle grievances and destabilise the peace currently enjoyed in the oil-rich region, the group called on President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, and all relevant authorities to “take immediate corrective action by relieving Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe of his position and appointing a leader who embodies competence, integrity, and inclusivity in line with the vision of the Nigerian Content Development initiative.”

“The Niger Delta cannot afford a return to the days of exclusion, marginalisation, and unrest”, the group declared. Punch