The Secretary-General of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), worldwide, Maobuye Nangi Obu has slammed the council’s president, Jonathan Lokpobiri for blaming Ijaw people for the imposition of a state of emergency in Rivers State, saying such comments could only have come from a compromised individual like him.

Recall that Lokpobiri while speaking at a recent stakeholders meeting organised by the Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited, (PINL), in Port Harcourt, said ijaw people could have prevented the emergency rule if they were fully committed to resolving the issues but rather exacerbated it by using the media to beat the drums of war.

Obu in a statement on Monday, said the spurious remarks by Lokpobiri has confirmed that he has become antithetical to the collective interest and aspiration of ijaw people and therefore cannot continue to parade himself as the leader of the IYC.

He challenged Lokpobiri to come clean and state on whose side he is standing in the ongoing political debacle in Rivers State rather than pontificating and playing to the gallery, insisting that the IYC leader had sold his conscience and traded the ijaw nation for some economic gains.

The IYC scribe said it is public knowledge that leaders of the ijaw nation and that of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) all made efforts to get the warring factions in Rivers State to sheathe their swords but the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike vehemently refused because of his resolve to by all means remove Governor Siminalayi Fubara from office which he had temporarily succeeded in doing with the state of emergency.

Obu maintained that Lokpobiri has not condemned Wike since his anti-ijaw comments because of fear of jeopardising his brother’s governorship ambition in Bayelsa, a project he alleged was being sponsored by Wike.

He said: “Jonathan Lokpobiri could have saved himself the embarrassment if only he had remained silent on the issue and made another subject presentation in the few minutes allotted to him. But he decided to disgrace himself by spewing gibberish. This is typically him.

“His comment that day again highlighted the challenge we have today in the ijaw nation. Lokpobiri claimed not to be aware of the efforts by our leaders to resolve the crisis, this is laughable. Even a few days before the proclamation of emergency rule, leaders and eleders from the region visited the president. Well, truly, he may not be aware as he keeps junketing around the world at the expense of the IYC and in the guise of seeking international partnerships.

“Saying that if we had applied wisdom, we wouldn’t be where we are today and that we chose to threaten war that we were not prepared for is to say the least, the most insulting statement to come from our supposed leader. This is very worrisome.”

The IYC scribe while further expressing his dissatisfaction said the stakeholders event offered Lokpobiri the opportunity to put in proper perspective issues bedeviling the ijaw people but blew it away, adding that it is clearer now that voting for him to lead the council was a huge mistake.

On the political tension brewing in Bayelsa over a planned rally for Wike, the IYC scribe urged Lokpobiri to apply the strategy he claims to have and ensure the Rivers case is not replicated in Bayelsa, stressing that as always he has gone mute because of his vested interest.

“The so-called president has refused to say anything concrete. Even from his speech at the stakeholders meeting in Yenagoa, one could easily deduce how safe he was playing because he did not want to offend his brother’s benefactor.

“We all know that Bayelsa has become the next target of Wike and his enablers, and yet Jonathan Lokpobiri is keeping quiet. This is the time to mobilize people as a leader, but he has refused. What kind of a man did ijaw people pick to lead the IYC?

“Ijaw people are not at war with anyone or group and like everyone knows, we are very accommodating. Our protest against Wike was because of the reckless statement he made against us, which any tribe or group will not tolerate.

“The statement Lokpobiri made in Port Harcourt will continue to strengthen Wike and his cohorts against the Ijaw Nation. It will embolden him to continue to discredit and disparage us. So, we need to condemn and reject it,” he added.