A non governmental organization, Niger Delta Youth Initiative for Positive Change, says the ongoing parley between Niger Delta leaders and the federal government over crisis in the region may not be successful after all unless the scope is broadened to involve sidelined groups.

National co-ordinator of the organisition, David Ato who expressed this doubt in an interview with The Tide over the weekend in Port Harcourt, said over the years the federal government has only considered the violent and armed militant groups in the scheme of things leaving out the unemployed law abiding youths.

Ato said, “while violent youths were considered for empowerment, the unemployed law-abidding youths remain abandoned. The tendency appears to encourage law lessness and the danger is that the lawabiding unemployed ones who remain neglected may have no option than embrace inminality”.

He advised the government to give consideration to educated, qualified but unemployed law abiding youths to contribute their quota to the peaceful development of the region.

The Co-ordinator also observed that the Ijaw ethnic group was being carried along at the detriment of other ethnic groups in the areas as if Niger Delta is synonymous with Ijaw and stressed the need for the on going parley to accommodate fairly other non-Ijaw ethnic groups. He noted that the problem of degradation, neglect suffered by the Ijaws are also suffered by the non-Ijaw nationalities in whose land, oil and gas exploration also go on.

He said, if non-violent but educated and law-abiding youths as well as non-Ijaws were fairly accommodated in the parley, there is a higher chance of success than when they are foreclosed.

Ato also urged people of the region to approach the negotiation with prayers’ noting that past experiences have shown that politicians and selfish leaders from the region had always hijacked gains of such negotiation.