- A leading Ijaw activist has assured the government of their loyalty to Nigeria

- Oweikeye Endoro said the struggle for Ijaw advancement was not for secession

- He made it clear that the struggle was for self-determination and resource control

Ijaw Youth Council members

Oweikeye Endoro a leading Ijaw activist has said the struggle for Ijaw advancement which was being driven by the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC,) is not about secession from Nigeria unlike the struggle for Biafra, by the Igbo people.

According to Endoro, this was clearly noted in the historic Kaiama Declaration (KD), of 1998. The activist who is a presidential candidate for the forthcoming IYC elections while speaking in Warri, Delta state on Wednesday, January 18, said that wrong perceptions of the Ijaw/Niger Delta struggle had hampered national understanding of the objective of the struggle.

He went on to explain that the aim of the struggle was self-determination, resource control and social justice within Nigeria.

According Vanguard, he also said: “I read the condemnation of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who said in Sultan’s Palace, Sokoto, that Niger Delta leaders stand by Nigeria whose unity is non-negotiable.

"For me, Governor Wike’s comment is within the tenets of the Kaiama Declaration accepted as a working document of the Ijaw nation.”

Emphasizing on article 10 of the Kaiama Declaration, Endoro also said: “We agreed to remain within Nigeria but to demand and work for self-government and resource control for the Ijaw people.

"The federation should be run on the basis of equality and social justice. Having agreed to remain in Nigeria, we cannot work towards its dismemberment but seek self-determination, resource control and social justice therein for the good of all Nigerians.

"Nigerians should not misconstrue ‘self-determination’ enshrined in the Kaiama Declaration as a secession bid. The Ijaw ethnic nation, the fourth largest in Nigeria, is unfortunately balkanised into minorities in several states where they are politically subjugated by minor ethnic groups.”

Meanwhile, the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo has promised to throw its weight behind the unconditional release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu.

Ohaneze Ndigbo also promised to bridge the gap between the IPOB and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafran (MASSOB).