JUST IN : Osinbajo sues for peace in N'Delta urges militants to lay down arms

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo
has said that the lingering crisis in
the Oil-rich Niger Delta will be
resolved and eventually become a
thing of past while asking
aggrieved militants in the region to
sheathe swords and embrace
peace.
He stated this in Benin City, the
Edo State capital, during his visit
to the state as part of his fact-
finding mission to the Niger Delta.
Stakeholders, who were invited to
the ultra modern Samuel
Ogbemudia College, venue of the
meeting with the Acting President,
had a hectic time getting to the
venue. Those with invitation letters
were allowed to pass security
blockade while others parked their
vehicles at adjoining streets.
However, speakers at the meeting,
bared their minds on issues
affecting the 38 oil producing
communities in the state.
Representatives from the three oil-
producing local government areas
– Ovia Northeast, Ikpoba-Okha and
Orhionmwon – were allowed to air
their grievances.
Chief David Edebiri, who spoke on
behalf of Ovia Northeast, urged the
Acting President to ensure that
projects earmarked for the Niger
Delta region were completed
without delay. He wondered why
projects meant for the Niger Delta
were abandoned.
According to him, “After Oloibiri in
Rivers State, Ovia Northeast here
in Edo State is the next place oil
was discovered in the whole of
Niger Delta, but there is nothing to
show for what it produces. We are
not among those agitating for
militants’ allowance. Our youths
are patriotic citizens. The oil
company exploring oil has not
shown sufficient zeal to better the
life of our people.”
Johnson Achelonu, who spoke on
behalf of Ikpoba-Okha Local
Government, said oil exploration
has been going on in 11
communities for the past 40 years
but the people have remained
poor.
He said schools in some of the
communities have only two
teachers, which showed that the
oil companies have been
insensitive to the plight of the
people.
The sad story of Orhiomwon Local
Government, which has the largest
gas reserve in West Africa, was
narrated by the traditional ruler of
Oben, Odoligie Ogiemwonyi. He
said communities in Orhiomwon
where the gas field is located
suffers from gas flaring.
He appealed to Osibanjo not to
ensure that projects abandoned by
the Niger Delta Development
Commission (NDDC) were revisited
and completed.
He said Seplat Petroleum
Development Company should
implement the agreed employment
quota of 30 per cent senior staff
and 60 per cent junior staff. He
also called for the implementation
of the Federal Government Local
Content Policy, the establishment
of a Federal Government Institute
of Science and Technology and the
provision of a skill acquisition
center.
Niger Delta women group under
the auspices of Society for the
Protection of Women Welfare in Oil
and Gas Producing States
described the direct payment of 13
per cent derivation fund to states
government as illegal and
unconstitutional.
The group, in its presentation by
its President, Princess Nomwen
Uhununagho and Secretary, Obi
Nneka Esther, said the fund should
be directed to producing
communities as compensation for
the loss of fishing rights and
productive farmlands.
According to them, “Two
mandatory provision of the 1999
constitution of the federal Republic
of Nigeria as amended.
“Section 162 (2) of the 1999
constitution as amended confirms
that 13 per cent derivation fund is
the first charge on the Federation
Account.
“Thirteen per cent derivation fund
as enshrined in the amended
constitution of 1999 is exclusively
for the oil and Gas Producing
communities, primarily as
compensation for the loss of
fishing rights and productive farm
lands arising from Oil exploration
and activities.
“The Chairman Revenue
Mobilisation and Fiscal
Commission (RMFC) had insisted
further that it was an act of gross
mismanagement and
misappropriation on the part of the
state government to have diverted
the 13 per cent derivation fund to
develop their state capitals and
non-producing communities in
abject poverty and penury” and
that this includes “elites
everywhere and it is not just in the
oil-producing areas have very
frequently deprived the people of
the opportunity to enjoy the fruit
of the land.”
The Executive Director of the
African Network for Environment
and Economic Justice, Rev. David
Ugolor, who submitted an
extensive report his group had
carried out in the Niger Delta
region, said the Federal
Government need to focus more
on capital projects.
He said a visit to many of the
communities showed that projects
claimed to have been completed
were not.
There was commotion in the town
hall meeting as members of oil
producing communities insisted
that the Acting President should
leave the meeting and visit the
communities.
A representative of the oil
producing communities, Don Ben,
grabbed the microphone and told
the Acting President to leave the
oil alone, if the communities were
too insecure to be visited.
He said they had been at the
Benin Airport waiting for the
Acting President only for them to
be told that the visit to the
communities had been cancelled.
Osibanjo assured the protesters
that he would reschedule another
visit to the state to enable him go
to the oil producing communities
and see things for himself.
He said the new vision for Niger
Delta region would define a bright
future for the communities, adding
that the Federal government would
hold any defaulting contractor
handling projects in the Niger Delta
as well as prosecute those that
abandoned projects.
Osibanjo said the Buhari
administration wants to ensure
that the people get the real
benefit of the wealth the country
has.
He said: “I have read out and I
have listened to several of the
complaints in several areas.. I can
tell you precisely how much had
been voted of same in several of
our own communities and there is
no sign of development in those
areas. I can tell you how many of
these projects are supposed to
have been completed and when
you look into some books, they
said they had been completed, but
they have not been completed.
They have not even been done;
many have not even been started
at all. That is the story not just in
the oil producing communities of
Edo State but it’s the story
everywhere.”
“There is the story of neglect,
there is many cases of corruption
that have deprived our people at
the expenses of people in the oil
producing areas their means of
live,iBook for so many years. That
is one of the issues that we intend
to address and this is why I have
come on behalf of the President
and Commander In Chief to put a
new way of doing things, to
signpost a new era in the oil
producing areas of Delta and
everyone of the state’s of Nigeria.
This is an important engagement
that we are not taking lightly at
all”
Osinbajo added: “We are
committed to every one of the
things that we say we want to do,
it does not make sense for
leadership to look at the plight of
the people, especially, in the oil
producing areas. This is the
source of the wealth of the nation
and to ignore the people even if it
is for a while; the time will come
when you can no longer ignore
them. So, there is no question at
all that we are committed to doing
what we said we would do and
that is a pledge coming directly
from President Muhammadu
Buhari.”
Governor Godwin Obaseki informed
the Acting President that there
were 38 oil producing communities
and 205 flow station in the state.
Obaseki said oil communities in
the state had their own share of
neglect, adding that several
projects by the Federal
Government projects in the area
had yielded no results due to
corruption, ineptitude and lack of
capacity.
He said the youths have a very
strong feeling of deprivation and
marginalisation which was why
they express themselves earlier in
the prograamme.
Obaseki said his administration has
planned to develop a masterplan
for the 38 oil producing
communities, adding that he would
not allow any agency to carry out
any project without adhering to
details in the masterplan.