Ita-Giwa Charges N’Delta On Dialogue

A former Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, has called on Niger Delta activists to embrace dialogue with government.

Ita-Giwa made this known in a statement in Lagos on Friday.

“I am not unaware of the untold sufferings the people are experiencing over the years, but there is no substitute for dialogue and peace,’’she said.

She pleaded with the activists to consider the effects of their actions on the vulnerable. “As a mother and leader from the Niger Delta, I am appealing to my people to embrace dialogue as a way of ending the restiveness in the region.

“The increasing number of mortality rate is alarming as we are losing pregnant women and children on daily basis due to environmental pollution compounded by environmental degradation from burst pipelines.

“ The vandalism of pipelines in the region is increasing, the threat of climate change and of course, women, children and the elderly ones are particularly the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change.’’

According to her, the Niger Delta region is fundamentally disadvantaged because of the impact of global warming on many fronts due to its geography, climate, oil exploration and gas flaring among others.

She said the adaptive capacity of the rural majority to climate change was low and as such it was good for the region to come together and resolve the crisis of the Niger Delta.

Ita-Giwa , therefore, called on government to ensure the protection of the lives of the people who were already suffering from untold hardships.