The Niger Delta Coastal States’ monarchs yesterday gave six
conditions to the Federal Government, which, they said, must be
fulfilled if sustainable peace could be achieved in the region.
They urged the central government to constitute a dialogue team that
would facilitate discussions with stakeholders in the Niger Delta on the
way out of the current militancy in the oilrich region.
The royal fathers who made their position known when they paid a
visit on the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe
Kachikwu, also demanded the release of 10 “innocent” school children
arrested by the Nigerian Army on May 28 in Oporoza and the return of the
Golden Sword, the symbol of authority of the Gbaramatu traditional
institution.
The Bolowei of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Chief Wellington Okrika, who read
out the conditions on behalf of the royal delegation, listed other
conditions to include the return of the three traditional council speed
boats in custody of the Nigerian Army; the cessation of hostilities said
to have been perpetrated by the military in the Niger Delta region, as
well as the re-opening of the Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta
State for the 2016 /2017 academic session.
Okrika gave assurance that the monarchs would continue to support
every effort that would help restore peace and sanity to the region. In
response to their demands, Kachikwu commended the monarchs for the
visit, stressing that the restoration of peace in the region was
imperative. He said the ceasefire announced by the Niger Delta Avengers
(NDA) was a welcome development, adding that every effort must be made
to sustain it.
The minister said that it was unfortunate that after the declaration
of ceasefire, a pipeline was vandalised in Nembe community, which led to
the loss of about 150 barrels of oil and a huge quantity of gas. “This
inability to stay steadfast creates military intervention because
government cannot sit down and watch oil production go down.
The president has shown a lot of patience and believes that engaging
the communities is the best model. You should continue to reach out to
others to ensure total ceasefire because as production goes down, it
affects both the federal and state governments in tackling their
financial burdens,” he said.
Kachikwu disclosed that the Federal Government had spent about $40
billion dollars on the Niger Delta region in the last 10 years.
According to him, there was the need for all revenue accruing to the
region to be applied judiciously and royal fathers to ensure that monies
were channelled properly to ensure the development of the region.
In the last one year, the federal government lost about 50 per cent
of its revenue to the dwindling price of crude oil and the situation was
worsened by the renewed militancy in the region. Presently, oil
production has reduced from 1.6 million barrel per day to 1.4 million.
This may translate to further drop in revenue by about 60 per cent.
Nigeria has lost huge revenues owing to the sustained attacks on oil
and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta carried out by militant groups.
Meanwhile, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has called on President
Muhammadu Buhari to respond positively to the outreach from the militant
groups to arrive at a holistic and comprehensive solution. He said at
the moment, the militant groups feel that the government is not
seriously responding to their own outreach. Soyinka, who made this call
yesterday in Lagos at a press conference to announce a cultural exchange
initiative, tagged “The SAIL PROJECT – Lebanese-Nigerian partnership”,
said he is not part of any international intervention group.
His words: “I wish to make personal appeal to the government to
respond positively to the outreach from the militant groups; that is a
request which have been made by some of the groups which got me into
this interventionist role in the first place.
At the moment, they feel that the government of President Buhari is
not seriously responding to their own outreach. “I’m not part of any
international group, but I was approached personally and I have been
responding personally to some of these groups just like I did when
President Jonathan was in power and MEND was the umbrella group of
insurgents.
“So, I make an appeal once again to the government to please respond
to the efforts of these militant groups to arrive at a holistic and
comprehensive solution, this is Wole Soyinka speaking; it is not an
international group. I repeat, there is no international group in
existence, but I hope one gets formed very soon and active too.”
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