Oritsegbubemi Omatseyin
At a one-day interactive session on security issues, the Bayelsa State Police Command, the Department of State Service, DSS, and the Joint Task Force, JTF, Operation Delta Safe commended the NCDMB, the organisers of the event, for initiatives that have engendered greater awareness and a cooperative spirit among stakeholders, particularly among youths, security agencies and corporate entities in the oil and gas industry.
Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, Asinim Butswat said Bayelsa State currently enjoys official rating as the State with the lowest crime rate in the South-South and ranks very high among all the states in the Federation.
“Bayelsa State is lucky as all security agencies are here and we collaborate, we collaborate with members of the local communities, interest groups as afforded by platforms such as the interactive session,” he said.
He said beyond maintenance of law and order, the Police prioritise the protection of critical infrastructure in the State, which includes oil and gas facilities, highways, and telecommunications equipment among others, and that by its proactive approach to policing and the technology applied, particularly the use of drones and cameras placed at strategic locations, the State Command has achieved great success. He urged the NCDMB to continue organising such interactive sessions and stakeholder meetings.
Commander J.O. Bayode of Operation Delta Safe, who represented Rear Admiral J.U. Okeke, also commended the existing collaboration among security agencies in Bayelsa State, assuring that measures put in place to combat illegal oil bunkering and sea piracy have significantly minimised such criminal activities.
Like CSP Butswat, he enjoined members of the public to assist the security agencies by providing useful information on suspicious activities in their communities. He also enjoined the NCDMB to sustain its promotion of stakeholder engagements.
In a paper, titled “The Place of Intelligence Gathering and Information Sharing in Promotion of Security and Peace-building amongst Youths and Public/Private Entities,” the DSS representative, Mr. Bernard Matthew, said greater synergy amongst security agencies through information sharing and joint operations remains a desirable strategy to curb challenges such as hostage-taking and kidnapping, illegal oil bunkering, and cultism among other vices.
He advised youths to “acquire skills even if you have a degree,” arguing that self-development was a way of ensuring that one could secure a good job or enjoy career advancement or even be self-employed. To organisations, his advice was that Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, should be accorded appropriate attention, while office-holders at all levels should strive for good governance and accountability.
A professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies at Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, Femi Olufunmide, spoke on the theme, “The Utility of Constructive Engagement with Corporate Bodies”. He said acts like violence on people, issuing of threats, blockade of business premises, and vandalisation of pipelines, were non-constructive, and never served any useful purpose.
He urged host communities and youths to seek constructive avenues for the pursuit of their objectives. He advised that civil communications like letter writing, stating issues and seeking peaceful engagements are better. He also suggested dialogue and negotiation, goodwill gestures, and collaboration.
In a presentation, “Communicating and Interfacing with NCDMB Zonal Offices,” the General Manager of Corporate Communications and Zonal Coordination, NCDMB, Barr. Esueme Dan Kikile, represented by the Deputy Manager of Media and Publicity, Mr. Obinna Ezeobi, stated that the Board’s philosophy of stakeholder engagement and collaboration had been demonstrated from its earliest beginnings in Yenagoa.
While noting that “engagements with stakeholders in Yenagoa in 2010 shows that it is a priority of the NCDMB,” he said the Board has ever been determined to create value in Bayelsa State.
