Dr Alaye Theophilus, the President of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, IYC, has declared that Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, should be sacked for his gross incompetence.
Theophilus, who was a guest on Channels Television’s The Beam on Monday, voiced dissatisfaction with the minister’s performance and said that the IYC is unable to back him.
What we are saying is that if the minister is incompetent which he has shown to the general public, the IYC cannot say he should remain in office. He has shown gross incompetence.” he stated.
Additionally, he emphasised that the government must develop plans to reduce hunger and poverty in the Niger Delta region.
Alaye blamed the Minister of Petroleum as well as Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Ltd (NNPCL), for the problems in the petroleum sector. He continued by saying that Nigerians’ suffering has worsened as a result of their strategy, particularly in the Niger Delta.
“Anything that is happening in the oil sector- Mele Kyari and the petroleum minister are the people giving Mr. President the immediate and necessary advice and report card.
“We are telling Mr President that Mele Kyari has failed; his selective approach to things has caused Nigeria more hardship, particularly our people in Nigeria Delta,” he said.
After consulting with the main stakeholders, he disclosed that the IYC would be starting an organised demonstration that would endure for at least 14 days.
“As a people that respect hierarchy, we believe that before we would carry out another protest, which I believe will be more than 14 days, but the minimum we are programming is 14 days where we are going to register our displeasure,” he said.
“We have decided to carry out a comprehensive and all-inclusive consultation with our stakeholders like our father Pa Dike Clark, where we are going to rally around him, and after our due consultation, we are going to declare our protest open.”
