Group condemns political partisanship of some Delta North Monarchs

By Princes Atavure,

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The National Union of South-South Students and Youths (NUSSY) yesterday condemned the alleged political partisanship by some traditional rulers from Delta North, Delta State, advising them not to create an impression that a particular person has been anointed to run the affairs of Delta state without questioning. 

In a communiqué issued during a press conference and signed by Comrade Stanley Orhorhaghe and Comrade David Edekin Omium, National President and National Secretary respectively, the group frowned at a report credited to a section of traditional rulers from Delta State, published in Vanguard of Friday November 10 2017, claiming to be speaking on behalf of the generality of their colleagues in the state, where the monarchs  urged that “politicians should stop inciting Deltans against government.”

The group reminded the monarchs from Delta North that traditional rulers from the first republic till date were barred from partisan politics in order to protect their stools from vindictive actions of politicians, adding that for those monarchs to have descended into partisan politics is rather unfortunate.

The communiqué reads in parts; “By that report, a sharp division is being introduced into the hierarchy of our traditional institutions. This will no doubt partition the state along tribal and ethnic lines, thereby endangering the future of Delta youths.

“Usually, when meetings of this nature are held, there would be formal invitations and a duly signed communiqué. Therefore; why didn’t they invite other traditional rulers from other senatorial districts of the state?

The absence of key traditional rulers implies that no such meeting held.”

“It is obvious that this misleading publication is capable of creating misunderstanding and disaffection among traditional rulers in the state. We sincerely believe that the purpose of the alleged meeting is to get the attention of the governor, in spite of its destructive implications which include antagonizing future political aspirants from Delta North into elective offices.

“With such enthusiasm from these traditional rulers, we expect them to approach the governor with the following issues; ‘The silence over funds allocated to DESOPADEC’, ‘the issue of blank budget for 2016 and 2017 fiscal year’, ‘failure to account for almost 1trillion Naira in receipts, bailout funds, Paris club refunds, loans, grants, the state of hospitals in the state where infrastructure is completely dilapidated, ‘massive recruitment of political appointees which at the moment is over 2300, non-payment of allowances to Delta State House of Assembly Political Aides for over two years and others.”

The statement further read; “This, therefore has shown that the much touted SMART agenda has only proved to be a source of pain and impoverishment and should be discarded without delay as it has become synonymous with looting and stealing smartly. It is an agenda that is evil in all ramifications”.

“Finally, we the students and youths of the south-south are watching and waiting patiently, so that we can use our voters’ card to correct the ills and of Delta state government.

“We know the government that doesn’t have the interests of the students at heart. Our bursary and grants are now a mirage in Delta and some other states.

“This clarion call is to advice the government to tackle issues of massive corruption in the state and call on the governed to rise up and protect their rights. Traditional rulers should know that the welfare of their citizens is their primary responsibility, and their loyalty is to their subjects and not the government”. The youths noted.