The President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Dr. Theophilus Alaye, has strongly criticized former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike over his recent remarks about the Ijaw ethnic nationality.
Speaking in an interview on Echo 360 TV, he described the former governor’s statement as not only inaccurate but also an embarrassment to himself. He questioned Wike’s knowledge of the region he governed for eight years, arguing that the Ijaw people remain the most dominant ethnic nationality in the Niger Delta.
He challenged the notion that any single ethnic group within Rivers State could rival the Ijaws in terms of population, landmass, and local government areas.
According to him, “For a governor who served eight years in Rivers State to come out today and say that Ijaws are not the majority in the Niger Delta is laughable. First of all, he has not embarrassed the Ijaw ethnic nationality; he has ended up embarrassing himself. As a former governor, he is not well abreast with data and information concerning his region and the people he governed for eight years.”
Alaye further emphasized that apart from the Ijaws, no single ethnic nationality in the Niger Delta holds dominance across multiple states. He listed Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo, and Rivers as states where the Ijaw people are found in significant numbers.
He also criticized the Wike for what he perceived as an overestimation of his own ethnic group’s influence, stating, “Maybe it is his ethnic group that is covering just three local governments that he considers the majority. By virtue of the number of flyovers he has built in Ikwerre land, he believes that Ikwerre is the majority ethnic group in the Niger Delta. We have given it to him, Ikwerre is the largest ethnic group in Rivers State. But Ijaw owns multiple states.”
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He concluded by calling on the ex-governor’s family and ethnic group to caution him against making public statements under the influence of alcohol. “It is very appalling that a leader who governed Rivers State for eight years will come to the media under the influence of alcohol to give false statements. It is unbecoming. Those who hold him; his parents, his mother, his father, his ethnic group, should caution him. Anytime they find him (Wike) under the influence of alcohol, he should avoid the media so he does not bring disgrace to his entire family and community.
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