Mkpoikana Udoma
16 May 2018, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt — An activist group, the Niger Delta Youth Coalition, NDYC, has urged the Federal Government to make public the names of firms and individuals in possession of licenses to operate modular refineries in the country.
It would be recalled that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, had recently announced that out of the 35 interests that were indicated in modular refineries, the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, had issued licenses to 13.
The Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, had said that the measure was part of the Corporation’s commitment to actualizing the December 2019 target set by the Federal Government to end the importation of petroleum products into the country.
But the Niger Delta Youth Coalition, says those the DPR issued licenses to establish and operate the modular refineries are not known and may not have come from the region.
A statement from the Chairman of the group, Mr. Godswill Dagogo, explained that even though youths of the region may get employment through the establishment of modular refineries, it is important to know who the owners are and the basis for selection.
Dagogo urged all pressure groups in the Niger Delta to resist any attempt by the government to manipulate them on the issue, lamenting that the people of the region have been taken for a ride for too long, and need to end their silence.
He, however, explained that the Federal Government’s initial plans to set up modular refineries in the region was to end illegal refining of crude and also create employment and wealth for the Niger Delta people.
