The Federal Government
may have adopted the 16-point demand presented by Niger Delta leaders,
under the aegis of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), as working document
to resolve the crisis in the oil-rich region, according to PANDEF.
PANDEF leaders hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for the step.
Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa (left) receiving the Vice
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, during his
one day working visit to Delta State, at Osubi Airport.
The leaders hinted, yesterday, that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo spoke
about Federal Government’s favourable disposition to the 16-point demand
being adopted as working document to end the Niger Delta crisis when he
led a high-powered delegation to the region last week, beginning with
Delta State.
Osinbajo is expected to visit two other Niger Delta states – Rivers and
Akwa Ibom – as part of the peace shuttle to the region.
The 16-point demand, prepared by PANDEF, under the leadership of an
Ijaw leader and a former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin
Kiagbodo Clark, was presented to Buhari when the group met the President
at the Presidential Villa on November 1, 2016.
PANDEF, in a statement, yesterday, by a member of its Central Working
Committee (CWC), said: “PANDEF notes with satisfaction the pronouncement
made by His Excellency, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, on the adoption of its
position paper, containing well-articulated 16 item dialogue issues,
as a working document for the attainment of sustainable peace, equity,
justice and development in the Niger Delta region, during his
fact-finding visit to Delta State on Monday January 16, 2017.”
The Clark-led group said it was confident that the Vice President’s
visit had afforded him the “opportunity to interact for peace and
fruitful engagement with the long-neglected and marginalised people of
the Niger Delta,” saying the 16-item dialogue document embodies the
core, broad and vexed issues that cut across every segment of the
nationalities in the coastal states of the region.
“PANDEF is impressed that beyond rhetoric, the Federal Government has
given definite approval for the opening of the Nigeria Maritime
University, Okerenkoko, as well as the Export Processing Zone (EPZ)
comprising the Gas City Project at Ogidigben and the Deep Seaport in
Gbaramatu, Warri South-West local government area, Delta State. These
projects, when fully operational, will definitely cause a turn-around of
the socio-economic and security landscape of not just in Delta State,
but the entire country,” PANDEF stated.
The group, however, said that while it was quick to place on record that
beyond the pronouncement, which has elicited joy in the region”, the
Federal Government must move the necessary steps further to fast-track
the implementation of the Niger Delta projects.
“PANDEF sympathised with Mr. President on the accidental bombing of the
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp in Rann, Borno State, by the
Nigerian Airforce, which led to the death of several IDPs. “PANDEF
condoles with the families of those who lost their lives and the injured
victims in this unfortunate incident. It is our prayer that God will
give the families of the dead the fortitude to bear the irreparable
losses, while wishing the wounded, a quick recovery,” the group added.
“PANDEF, however wishes to maintain that dialogue remains the most
sustainable process for the resolution of the lingering Niger Delta
question. This is in tandem with Mr. President’s edifying remark in his
New Year Message on January 1, 2017 where he said “….We must continue to
support and tolerate one another and live together as one. We will
continue to pursue peace initiatives in the Niger Delta as I again, call
on our brothers in that region who have taken to violent disruptions of
economic infrastructure to come to the negotiating table…”
“PANDEF congratulates Mr. President for this speech of statesmanship.
We, therefore, add that one sure way of achieving Mr. President’s dream
of coming to the negotiation table is for the Federal Government to set
up its negotiating team to commence the process of dialogue with
PANDEF.
“We hereby appeal to our youths and all aggrieved stakeholders to
continue to maintain peace, and eschew any act of vandalism and
destruction of vital national assets, and the ecosystem. Let us give the
Federal Government a chance to carry out its plans for the development
of the Niger Delta region,” he said.
Also yesterday, a former acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta
Development Commission (NDDC), Pastor P.Z. Aginighan, said the
fact-finding visit of Osinbajo to Gbaramatu Kingdom and Iwere Kingdom as
well as his engagement with Niger Delta leaders at the Petroleum
Training Institute Conference Centre, Effurun has brightened the
prospects of peace founded on socio-economic justice in the Niger Delta.
Aginighan, who explained that the visit underscored the commitment of
President Muhammadu Buhari to the sustainable development of the Niger
Delta, said in a statement: “There can be no stronger expression of
Federal Government’s understanding of the situation in Niger Delta than
the pronouncement by the Vice President that the region should be
treated as a special development zone.
“The Federal Government’s commitment to the take-off the Nigeria
Maritime University Okerenkoko and the Gas City Project at Ogidigben
gives a ray of hope that the oil-rich but hitherto alienated coastal
belt of Delta State will be integrated into the mainstream of national
development”.
The 16-PT demand
The Presidential Amnesty Programme
Law and Justice Issues
The Effect of Increased Military Presence in the Niger Delta
Plight of Internally Displaced Persons
The Ogoni Clean-up and Environmental Remediation
The Maritime University Issue
Key Regional Critical Infrastructure
Security Surveillance and Protection of Oil and Gas Infrastructure
Relocation of Administrative and Operational Headquarters of IOCs
Power Supply
Economic Development and Empowerment
Inclusive Participation in Oil Industry and Ownership of Oil Blocs
Restructuring and Funding of the NDDC
Strengthening the Niger Delta Ministry
The Bakassi Question
Fiscal Federalism
– Vanguard.
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