Former Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters and the political leader of the Bakassi people, Senator Florence Ita Giwa has once again reminded the Federal government that it’s now 14 years that they were ceded yet still unsettled in Dayspring island where they were duly registered and voted.
In a statement she personally signed on Tuesday, Ita Giwa pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to restore their identity, pride and dignity by properly resettling them so that the thousands of Bakassi children can have access to basic needs of life like water, food and basic education among other amenities.
She urged the Federal government not to ignore the warning of the United Nation threatening to declare individuals, communities like Bakassi whose legal frameworks and documents that ceded them is yet to be fully consummated as stateless or countryless.
However, in the event that the Bakassi people is declared countryless, the implication is that they may chose to secede or declare a Republic of Bakassi as an independent state. This is an option that the former Presidential Adviser is not considering at all hence she has been calming the nerves of her people because of her passion and undying love for the entity called Nigeria. But will the Federal government wait until it gets to this stage before it act and resettle the Bakassi people? queries Ita Giwa.
Ita Giwa painted a gloomy picture of living condition in the Bakassi camp adding that a child born 14 years ago when Bakassi was ceded on October 10 has never had access to any home, no school to attend and no health care facility for all of them.
The statement reads in parts:”October 10 2016 makes it the 14th year that my people lost their homes and heritage. It’s being a story of neglect, suffering and distressing conditions among my people.
“The population is increasing each passing day yet no commensurate facilities to cater for their welfare. There is no food, no water and no shelter. My interventions and the support of few others is not adequate to impact positively on them.
“Inasmuch as I know that the nation is passing through hard economic time of recession, I want to use this medium again to call on the Federal government to take desicive action and resettle us in Dayspring where INEC registered us and where we voted.
“We are Nigerians by choice and we do not wish to seek independence or declare a Republic because all such denied and deprived entities like Bakassi has the right to secede as enshrined in the charter of the United Nations but that is not what we want. we want to be integrated. We want to have a true sense of belonging as Nigerians that we are.
“Our rights are fundamental and the government should protect it by coming to our rescue through providing enabling environments that will make living worthwhile for us,” she concluded.
and then