DEVELOPMENT OF NIGER DELTA; Minister, Governors, Others Reinstate Commitment

With the focus and determination of the federal government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, in the development of the Niger Delta region, the Honourable Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani, Governors of the states in the Niger Delta region and International Oil and Gas Companies operating in the region have re-instated their commitment to proper collaboration for the development of the Niger Delta region.

In a statement issued and signed by Marshall Gundu, Director of Press in the Ministry, it notedthat "this commitment was made on Tuesday at the Second Quarterly meeting of the Honourable Minister, Governors of the States in the Niger Delta region, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Presidential Amnesty Programme and International Oil and Gas Companies (IOCs) operating in the region.

Pastor Usani at the meeting disclosed that "the essence of the quarterly meeting was to create a platform for all agencies that have business of development and operations within Niger Delta region to be able to organise and coordinate the activities that are carried out by all participating organisations in the region".

“This meeting is to unveil what was done in the preceding meeting and to set out a milestone for the next”.

"The collaboration of all stakeholders was the part of efforts to implement the various pronouncements made by the Acting President, based on the demands of the people at different town hall meetings with the people of the Niger Delta region, during his visit to the states of the region earlier this year", the Minister reiterated.

“The reason we are doing this is to further guarantee the fact that as a government, we are responsive to the needs of the people and that we also rise to the responsibility of coordinating development efforts by all agencies and organisations within the region”, he said.

Speaking further, Pastor Usani said: “Today’s meeting is a fulfillment of the take-off initiative to ensure that all of us have common knowledge of what each agency is doing in the region.  This initiative will not cease, if we exhaust what we have in our workplan at a point in time, there will be an appraisal on how it can be updated or amended to the design as an addendum to what we have”.

The Executive Governor of Bayelsa State, Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson in his remarks, commended the Federal Government for the initiative of having such a synergy, calling for the support of all stakeholders for the Federal Government to address the development needs of the Niger Delta.

“Politics should not separate us, it should support development”, Dickson stressed.

Also speaking at the meeting, the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Brig. Gen. Paul Boroh (retd) called for team work so as to enjoy the resources in the Niger Delta region.

Meanwhile the Managing Director of Shell Petroleum, Mr. Osagie Okunbor who spoke for other International Oil Companies, affirmed that, this coordinated effort can only be for good, adding that  the oil and gas companies operating in the area will not be found wanting in ensuring that the needed development was brought to bear in the Niger Delta region. 

  

Representative of the Permanent Secretary, the Director Special Duties in the Ministry and the Secretary of the Projects Audit Committee set up by the Minister in the year 2016; Mr. Alhassan Yakmut called for working manpower from the various organizations, to give adequate assessment of this initiative.

In his closing remarks, the Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Prof. Claudius Omoleye Daramola thanked those who made it to the meeting even at a short notice, noting that the Federal Government will not fail in its bid to develop the Niger Delta region.