The General Manager of the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation, publishers of The Tide Newspaper, Mr. Vincent Ake has called on the Federal Government to address the issue of marginalisation so as to check crisis in the region.
Ake, who played host to a Christian group known as the Great Commission Outreach, in his office in Port Harcourt, said the current political and economic crises being faced was as a result of long years of neglect and suppression.
He said, “Politicians just cashed in on the situation, but they can’t be totally blamed for what we are facing today in the region.”
The Tide GM said the build-up of long years of neglect led to youth unemployment, environmental degradation and crass poverty.
For him, the current crisis erupted when many of the angered youth veered into militancy and violence.
He maintained that once some of the issues were addressed, it would be difficult for any politician to use the youth to unleash violence during elections.
Lamenting on the deliberate de-marketing of the state through sponsored propaganda, Ake argued that it was erroneous to say that the state was insecure, as he enumerated most of the current infrastructure development projects being executed by the Governor Nyesom Wike-led administration.
He said: “There are politicians that are very good, and some are very rugged, so, there is no need to paint a blanket picture of the state.”
Ake called on the group to go beyond mediating for the politicians but should also reach out to youth, federal institutions, and corporate bodies, while lauding them for the initiative.