The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) has slammed President Muhammadu Buhari on his alleged refusal to assent to the Maritime University bill.
The Nigeria Maritime University (NMU), Okerenkoko, Delta State, one of the legacies of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, came upstream 2018 after much agitations from the Ijaws of Gbaramatu.
IYC President, Worldwide, Pereotubo R. Oweilaemi, Esq., in a statement made available to journalists in the Niger Delta, described the president’s purported action as ill-conceived.
The refusal, the IYC further conjectured, could bring a setback to peace in the Niger Delta, the university being the “only heritage” it looks on to.
“The refusal of President Mohammadu Buhari, if it is true to sign into law the much awaited Nigerian Maritime University Act is a setback to peace in the Niger Delta.
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“Whatever must have informed his decision to refuse his assent is far less important than signing the Bill into law.
“The Maritime University, Okerenkoko is a viable weapon restoring peace in the region. The survival of that School means economic growth in the oil sector.
“Buhari should consider the welfare of the people more than his personal belief. Rejecting the Bill as passed by the National Assembly poses a grave danger to the oil sector.
“No Niger Delta person will be happy seeing the School being traded off on the altar of politics. Buhari should know that the desire of the people supersedes his personal reasoning.
“We will not sit idly and allow our only heritage taken away from us. If there are issues the President may want to contend with, rejecting his assent is not the best option especially now that the 8th National Assembly is about winding up.
“Mr President can correct any of the identified ambiguities even after signing the Bill. There is room for amendment.
“His decision simply means that the School has no enabling law and thus, its survival is being threatened.
“We beg President Buhari to have a rethink of his inimical decision. Calling on the National Assembly to veto his assent may be difficult given the short time they’re leaving the office.
“It seems to us that Buhari only ambushed us by taken this provocative action at the dying minutes of the 8th Assembly’s tenure in office.
“His decision only signposted economic disaster to the oil industry,” the Ijaw youths averred.
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