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| L-R: A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah; Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; President Muhammadu Buhari; a former Minister of Informantion, Chief Edwin Clark; Senator Florence Ita-Giwa and other Niger Delta leaders during a meeting with Buhari in Abuja... on Tuesday. Photo: State House |
Stakeholders from the Niger Delta under
the aegis of the Pan Niger Delta Forum on Tuesday attributed the renewed
militancy in the region to what they called alienation and lack of
meaningful development of the region.
They said they had consulted widely and
had come up with 16 points that could help the Federal Government
achieve its “quick wins initiative.”
The Amanyanabo of Twon Brass Bayelsa
State, King Alfred Diete-Spiff, presented the requests to President
Muhammadu Buhari at a meeting the leaders had with him at the
Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting held behind closed doors had
five state governors, traditional rulers and other stakeholders from
the region in attendance.
According to a 10-page document
presented to the President, the Niger Delta leaders called for
“inclusive participation in oil industry and ownership of oil blocs.”
They asked for what they called Host
Community Content within the Nigerian Content framework across the
entire enterprise chain of the petroleum and maritime sectors.
“The sense of alienation of Niger Delta
indigenes from the resources of their land will continue until there are
affirmative actions that guarantee the involvement of these communities
in the ownership and participation in the oil and gas industry.
“We therefore urge the Federal
Government to enunciate policies and actions that will address the lack
of participation as well as imbalance in the ownership of oil and gas
assets,” the document read.
Diete-Spiff also called for the awards of pipeline protection contracts to communities and not individuals.
In doing that, he said communities would begin to see the pipelines as belonging to them and they would protect them adequately.
He said, “The incessant breaching and
vandalisation of pipelines and oil theft have taken direct tolls on oil
production and supplies with corresponding adverse effects on the
economy of our country.
“Pipeline vandalism also damages the
environment, health and economic activity of inhabitants of affected
areas, as well as complicates environmental cleanup efforts.
“It is therefore our view that an urgent
review be done to pipeline surveillance contracts to give the
responsibility to communities rather than individuals in a manner that
ties some benefits to their responsibility.
“Communities would then see their responsibility over the pipelines as protection of what belongs to them.”
The stakeholders also called for the
relocation of administrative and operational headquarters of
International Oil Companies to the region.
The stakeholders also called for the de-militarisation of communities in the region.
“The increased deployment of military
personnel into the Niger Delta has resulted in rise in cases of invasion
of communities, displacement of persons, harassment and other forms of
abuse of human rights. This has continued to escalate tension and
insecurity in the region. We urge that this trend be reversed,” it
added.
They added that the fallout of the
ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon had continued to threaten the security of
the southern part of the region.
They said the unresolved issues arising from the Green Tree Agreement continued to create tension and plaque the region.
The stakeholders observed that there was
lack of a well-coordinated transparent blueprint for the development
and resettlement of the displaced populations.
“The host communities face huge abuses and are unable to re-establish their respective means of livelihood.
“We therefore recommend a comprehensive
resettlement plan including development for the host communities and
displaced populations to reduce the risk of making them into a stateless
people,” they added.
While commending Buhari for the
commencement of the clean-up of Ogoniland as recommended by the United
Nations Environmental Programme, they also urged the Federal Government
to speed up the exercise.
They stressed the urgent need to
restructure and increase the funding of the Niger Delta Development
Commission in order to refocus it as a truly intervention agency.
They also called for adequate funding and strengthening of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
On fiscal federalism, they said, “The
clamour for fiscal federalism has continued to be re-echoed by different
sections of the country. The people of Niger Delta region support this
call and urge that the Federal Government should regard this matter
expeditiously.”
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