 |
| Vice President Yemi Osinbajo |
He said: “Niger Delta remains a priority of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress government with a view to attending to current devastation and environmental degradation in the region.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the Federal Government is
focused on the implementation of the Niger Delta Master Plan to drive
development of the region.
Osinbajo stated this at the inaugural meeting of Partners for
Sustainable Development Forum organized by Niger Delta Development
Commission, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Monday.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari had also expressed concern with
current degradation of the environment with a view to addressing
challenges faced by the region.
He said: “Niger Delta remains a priority of the President Muhammadu
Buhari-led All Progressives Congress government with a view to
attending to current devastation and environmental degradation in the
region.
“The Federal Government will give NDDC all necessary assistance and
support to achieve its mandate of ensuring rapid and sustainable
development of the region.
“For meaningful and sustainable development to take place in the
region, citizens and stakeholders must be peaceful while curbing
militancy and eliminating terrorism.”
Represented by Adeola Ipaye, the Deputy Chief of Staff in the
Presidency, Osinbajo added that Niger Delta, being the world’s third
largest wetland, had immense potential to become an agriculture hub.
He said the nation’s over-dependence on crude oil was partly
responsible for “redundant human resource base and high level of
corruption”.
According to him, there has to be a major shift from dependence on
oil to agricultural production, which will assist job creation and
encourage development of the manufacturing sector.
The Vice President promised that the ongoing clean up of several
years of un-addressed oil pollution in Ogoni area of Rivers State and
other communities in the region would be completed.
The Managing Director of the NDDC, Bassey Dan-Abia, said poor funding was a major challenge facing the commission.
Dan-Abia explained that the commission was an intervention agency and not an alternate government as widely held by some people.
He said: “Youths should reduce the level of restiveness because NDDC does not have the capacity to solve all their problems.
“Restiveness and tension caused by some youths in the region
clearly have direct negative impact on the development of the region.”
Dan-Abia called on the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company to
commence the payment of its own contribution to funding of the
commission.
According to him, this is based on the fact that NLNG falls within the oil and gas producing companies within the Niger Delta.
Comments
Post a Comment