WARRI— Conference of United
South-South Youth Council, USSYC, the apex youth body of all ethnic
nationalities of the South-South region, weekend, gave the Chevron Nigeria
Limited, Shell Petroleum Development Company, Agip, ExxonMobil and other oil
companies operating in the zone a time frame of 365 days to relocate their
headquarters to their operational bases in the Niger Delta.
Oil Pipe Addressing
newsmen in Warri, Delta State, USSYC national president, Chief Egbe Pereotubo,
called for “The zoning of the office of the Presidency of Nigeria among the six
geopolitical regions in the federation to give each a sense of belonging.” He
warned that the multinational oil companies would have all their operations
effectively grounded permanently in South-South states if they fail to heed the
call, adding, “They should also immediately put in place the process of
employing 3,000 direct contract staff in their companies.” On presidency, USSYC
said: “The rotation should start with the North and we call on former military
Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abuabakar, to vie for President because he
is a man of honour that kept to his word by handing over power to civilians in
1999.” Pereotubo added “Our stand is that Nigeria should be democratically
restructured to ensure that all Nigerians can live, practice their trades and
professions, including party politics anywhere in the country without let or
hindrance. “We demand that non-violent youths should be financially rewarded as
in the amnesty granted our freedom fighters , so as not to be seen as
encouraging violent tendencies in the region. We also demand withdrawal of
military checkpoints in the Niger Delta region because we are not at war with
anybody. You cannot call some people militants and yet continue to pay them and
even provide them with security personnel and guards to move around. “Resource
control must as a matter of urgency become a reality with each state of the
federation paying royalty to the Federal Government at the centre. In other
words, every state should manage its resources and income while paying tax to
the central government.
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