Port Harcourt—Federal government has been urged to rename the Port Harcourt international airport after the late Chief Harold Dappa Biriye.
According to the Vanguard, a former senior aide to the late Biriye, Alhaji Musa Saidu said naming the airport after late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was unfair to the people of Niger Delta, adding that the late Biriye was a prominent Niger Deltan who stood for the corporate existence of Nigeria during the civil war.
Saidu who is president/Special Envoy, Ecology, and Marine, Africa of the International Rights Commission, IHRC, said Biriye played several significant roles to sustain the unity of the country.
He added that he also fought for the creation of the Niger Delta Development commission, NDDC.
Saidu who was the closest aide to late Biriye said the late sage was the founding father of old Rivers state, recalling that he pleaded with former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon rtd to create Rivers state.
He said renaming the Port Harcourt international airport after the late Biriye would mean justice to the Ijaw, Rivers and the Niger Delta.
The late Chief Biriye was a prominent politician in the country and a champion of minority rights. He was at a time chairman of the defunct Niger Delta congress, NDC, Niger Delta Minorities, NDM, and a delegate to the London conference attended by late Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe , where he championed minority issues.
Saidu: “To rename Port Harcourt international airport after Chief Obafemi Awolowo to me justice has not been done to Ijaw people and the Niger Delta.
“Chief Obafemi Awolowo was a leader but let the federal government recognise the struggles of Chief Harold Biriye to keep Nigeria one , promote peace in Niger Delta. His efforts made it possible for federal government to access oil economy in the Niger Delta region.
“Chief Biriye supported the unity of Nigeria during the civil war and today Nigeria is gaining from the oil in the Niger Delta. I respect Chief Awolowo.
“We are calling on our President, a man we love to rename the airport after Chief Dapa Biriye. He was among those that ensured flow of oil in the Niger Delta for sustenance of the country.
“Chief Dapa is the founding father of old Rivers state, he asked for the creation of the state from Gowon.
