Mkpoikana Udoma
Recall that the Federal Government through the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, last week at the Niger Delta Summit in Akure, Ondo State, said it would partner oil companies in the country to develop the Niger Delta and its people.
Osinbajo had called on stakeholders in the oil sector and oil producing areas including IOCs to make effective use of the proceeds from oil to develop the Niger Delta region.
Speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, the Publicity Secretary of the Association, His Majesty, King Leslie Nyerisi Eke, said the Federal Government had so far demonstrated its concern towards the development of the Niger Delta communities.
Eke who described the move as a step in the right direction, said that the plans would also go far in addressing sundry issues in the region.
The Monarch charged the federal government on the need to back its decision with actions, as to relax the age long tension in the region.
According to him, “The Federal Government’s moves, upon operation, would also settle the issue of unemployment in the Niger Delta region.”
The monarch regretted that the thought even though was coming too late, when the people have already suffered untold hardship in the hands of multinationals in the area, but expressed optimism that new dawn was here.
He also called on the oil companies to rise up and do the needful, explaining that states like Texas in America and others are what they are today, due to the availability of natural resources on their soil.
He said, “the Niger Delta should reap from the resources on their oil, the people have exercised enough patience.
“The oil rich part of the country, must not lack in any form, no group should be denied of any benefit in the country.”
