ALL HANDS MUST BE ON DECK FOR DEVELOPMENT OF NIGER DELTA -OSINBANJO

The Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbanjo, has averred that the Niger Delta region must be treated as a special development zone. To do this he charged that the Federal and State Governments must in conjunction with the National Assembly, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) must come together and develop a plan for the rapid development of the region.

“The Federal Government alone cannot solve the problems of the Niger Delta region,” he stressed.

He was speaking on Monday on the occasion of his one day Fact Finding visit to some oil producing communities in Delta State.

Professor Osinbanjo stated that it is time to prepare for the future of the Niger Delta region. A great future laden with development. He said that to achieve this one of the things that would happen is that the environment must be well understood.

Earlier, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari fasten the process of the development of the region.

“While we acknowledge with appreciation Mr. Presdent endorsement of the primacy of dialogue as the sine qua non for the resolution of the issues in the region, in his New Year message, it is disheartening to note some officials of the government to the effect that Mr.President was still in search of credible leaders of the Niger Delta region with whom to dialogue. This is to say the least an assault on the sensibilities and integrity of the people of the Niger Delta region.

“PANDEF remains a united body of credible patriotric leaders who have paid their dues in various walks of life, and not a body of attention seekers and charlatans as being bandied by the enemies of the region.

The body called for the opening of the Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko.

“The Nigeria Maritime University is owned by the government of Nigeria. It is the only one of its kind in Nigeria. There iis no justification whatsoever in delaying its opening,” PANDEF pleaded.

On strategic projects that are pivotal to winning the peace that is derly craved in the region, PANDEF called on the Federal Government to expedite work on the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) in the region.

It also called for the dredging of the Escravos Bar to permit navigation of ocean-going vessels to the ports of Warri, Koko and Sapele.

Mention was also made about the need to complete the East-West Federal Highway and the completion and operation of the Itakpe-Aladja railway.

PANDEF said that “there is an urgent need for a review of the amnesty programme to appraise its core mandate to provide a robust exit strategy in order to transit recipients into jobs, effectively integrate them and free them of dependency on stipends, so that their new found skills would be of benefit to themselves and the larger society.”

On the Ogoni Clean-Up and Environmental Remediation, PANDEF said that “the long delay in starting it had sapped confidence locally, and had caused the broader Niger Delta to doubt the intentions of government.

“We therefore urge the Federal Government to speed off this exercise, especially by following through the emergency steps outlined in the UNEP Report, which includes the provision of safe drinking water for a populace whose water has been declared unfit for human consumption by UNEP years ago.”going further, PANDEF charged International Oil Companies to relocate their administrative and operational headquarters to their areas of operation as “this move would create a mutually beneficial relationship with the host communities.”

Governor Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa, the host governor, said that the people of the state will provide an enabling environment for peace to thrive.

Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, denied the insinuation that the presidency was averse to dialogue.