Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has charged the Ijaw ethnic nationality and the Ijaw National Congress (INC) to sustain the agitation for the creation of more states, apart from Bayelsa.

Governor Diri stated this on Friday during the 2026 INC national convention at the Ijaw House in Yenagoa.

He implored his kinsmen not to relent on the demand for creation of two additional states out of the three the ethnic group originally agitated for.

He said: “We have tried. Today, we have one state (Bayelsa). The INC, under the leadership of Chief Joshua Fumudoh, asked for three, which are Oil Rivers, Bayelsa and Toru-Ibe states. This means we have two additional states that must be pursued by the Ijaw nation and the INC. So, it is not yet Uhuru.

“This is a struggle we must continue, and if we cannot achieve it in our time, we will hand it over to our children. Our land and waters have nourished this nation and fuelled its economic activities, and yet for too long we have borne the unfortunate environmental damage and social disadvantage.

“Economic inequities, environmental degradation and infrastructural neglect remain our pressing challenges that require our local and national resolve to redress. The challenges we face are formidable, but I have no doubt that our sons and daughters possess the resilience and indomitable spirit to overcome them.”

The Bayelsa helmsman also stated that he had no preferred candidate among the five contestants for the INC presidency.

Governor Diri restated his advocacy for true and fiscal federalism in the country, noting that the current lopsided structure could best be described as “unitary federalism.”

He contended that states, including Bayelsa, would be better developed if they controlled 100 per cent of their resources and paid taxes to the federal government.

He advised contestants for various positions in Saturday’s election to bear in mind that the overriding interest ahead of them was the ethnic nationality’s interests rather than their personal considerations.

The governor commended the outgoing INC President, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, and his executive council members for their leadership, particularly their partnership with the government in ensuring a formal admission of the Ijaw nation into the United Nations’ Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation.

He charged the incoming leadership to continue the task of reviving Ijaw cultural values and language and ensure that the dreams of the founding fathers were achieved.

In his address, Prof. Benjamin Okaba called for strategic global engagement in the Ijaw struggle, saying that the ethnic nationality remained Nigeria’s economic backbone despite years of neglect.

He advocated for a shift from protest-driven advocacy to stronger global engagement and described the gathering as a milestone for leadership renewal and a reassessment of the organisation’s direction.

Okaba also noted that, despite being a major contributor to Nigeria’s oil-driven economy, the Ijaw nation continues to suffer from environmental degradation and infrastructure neglect.

The INC President announced new strategic initiatives, including a Territorial Mapping Project to digitally document Ijaw ancestral lands to support environmental monitoring and resource negotiations.

As part of efforts to strengthen unity, he said the INC has registered 15 affiliate groups to work together in amplifying the Ijaw voice on national and international platforms.