BEVERLY HILLS, February 13, (THEWILL) – Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has declared that the Federal Government is working to transform the Niger-Delta region into a more vibrant and dynamic economic zone in the country.
Osinbajo made this known in a speech which he delivered on Monday at the Rivers’ State oil-producing communities stakeholders meeting held at the government house banquet hall, Port Harcourt in continuation of a series of interactive engagements with leaders in oil-producing communities in the region.
“I am here as an emissary of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari who after the visit of leadership of The Pan Delta Forum in November 2016, decided that we must undertake visits to engage with the leadership and people of our oil producing communities, to hear them, to seek to better understand their problems and concerns first hand and to offer to these communities in the Niger Delta, a new vision and a new compact,” he said.
“Rivers State is unarguably our oil and gas capital hosting as it does many of our onshore oil and gas fields, two of our domestic refineries, the Nigerian LNG plant, the Oil and Gas Free Zone at Onne amongst other things. It has of course hosted several oil companies and associated firms just as it is home to the international airport intended to serve this part of the country as well as the second largest port outside Lagos.
“It is of course also home to the Ogoni people who symbolise in many eyes, domestically and internationally, the previous neglect of the Niger Delta and the environmental damage that has been done to the area as we have exploited oil and gas to grow the rest of the economy. This is indeed why the Buhari Administration prioritised the ‘Ogoni Clean-up’ and with working with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and other partners to undertake this important task.
“The clean-up project is to be funded by SPDC with an initial $1bn disbursed at $200m per annum over 5 years. A $10m take-off grant has been provided. Of course, Ogoniland is just one, though important part of the Niger Delta.
“Environmental remediation is essential across the entire region in order to restore healthy living conditions, enable other productive activities to take-off or resume and improve the quality of lives in general. This would of course require that we do not worsen the situation by acts which would further worsen the environmental damage that has already occurred.
“It is now clear that Niger Delta needs a new vision. But not just a new vision but a fresh commitment and a renewed spirit by all stakeholders including the states, federal agencies and oil- bearing communities.
“The Federal Government will begin a partnership with the oil producing states, local governments, oil companies, private sector, and civil society organizations for the rapid development of these communities.
“Oil exploitation by itself cannot suffice to assure our people of decent jobs and a decent income. We must make our oil producing communities hubs for petro-chemical industries, small and large. We must make these communities hubs for refining and related activities.
“The Ministry of Petroleum in collaboration with the oil companies is working on several initiatives for host communities including working with illegal refiners in oil bearing communities to participate in modular refineries to be established. There is no doubt that thermal power stations should be stationed here, it makes sense, the gas deposits are here.
“The biggest benefit we can obtain is to attract more investment to the region. But investments have a choice. They will go where they find an enabling environment especially security. It is up to us as government and people to assure the necessary enabling circumstances for investment.
“I had stated at the start of my tours that there was no reason why the infrastructure in the Niger Delta should not look and feel like Dubai. This is a point that I continue to stress. However, we must admit to ourselves that damage to pipelines and export facilities are also damage to infrastructure.
“Such damage also affects gas supply and if we are unable to generate electricity, all our demands for electrification may come to nought since there will be nothing to distribute.
“One thing that this government is determined to do is to change Nigeria from being a country that merely exports crude oil to ensuring that other parts of the economy contribute their own share while at the same time ensuring that we add value to our oil and gas resources.
“This is why we will be ensuring that our refineries are up and running while also encouraging the establishment of co-located refineries. Our petrochemical industries and fertiliser plants will similarly be boosted.
“The intention of course is to create jobs and opportunities for small and medium scale enterprises along the value chain. However, people can only work and businesses thrive in an environment of peace.
“This is why the Federal Government on its part is committed to continued implementation of the Amnesty Programme and to ensuring that its social investment interventions impact on lives in the Niger Delta. It was indeed a matter of some pleasure to find out that young graduates in Rivers State took advantage of the N-Power programme to the extent that this State has the second single largest number of participants in the scheme.
“Your Excellencies and the good people of Rivers State, the future is here. There is no time to waste. We must all re-commit to working together to making the Niger Delta a vibrant and dynamic economic zone.
“On its part, the Federal Government will use its forthcoming Economic Recovery and Growth Plan to restore growth, diversify the economy and promote social inclusion. We intend to do so through dedicated spending on capital and by paying particular attention to ensuring supply of power and petroleum products in addition to using small businesses to drive our push for industrialization.”
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