President Muhammadu Buhari has on Wednesday, pledged to be fair to the Itsekiri people of Delta State.
The President said this while receiving the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III, and some of his chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday.
According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, the President said: “I’m grateful for your visit, and impressed by your patriotism. I’ve taken note of your requests and will work on them as soon as politically possible.”
The Olu of Warri said the visit was to appreciate the President’s high-powered delegation which was sent to his coronation as the 21st monarch of the Kingdom, “and for your kind felicitation, goodwill and solidarity”.
He pledged the loyalty of the Itsekiri people to “one united Nigeria, as we support your government’s aspiration to provide security and economic prosperity to all Nigerians, irrespective of tribe, creed or religion”.
The monarch described Buhari as “a dogged patriot and fervent believer in Project Nigeria”.
The Olu drew attention to “some burning issues” which included the under-utilisation of the four ports in Warri, Koko, Sapele, and Burutu, all in Delta State, the reconstitution of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Board, immortalising the first Finance Minister of the country, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, and the resuscitation of the Ogidigben EPZ Project.
He urged the president to reconstitute the NNDC board.
“As an interested party, we genuinely want a better deal for us in the Niger Delta, as we believe charity begins at home. By this, we mean that we Niger Deltans must be ready to put the betterment of our people first in all we do. Putting our people first is the only way to make our lives better,” he said.
