The federal government yesterday assured that the proposed modular refineries would be sited only in oil producing areas as part of measures to address the developmental challenges arising from years of neglect.
Vice-president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo gave the assurance while responding to cries of marginalisation by oil producing areas of Abia State during a town hall meeting held in Umuahia as part of the ongoing engagement with the Niger Delta States.
Abia State is among the nine members of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with nine communities in Ukwa West local government of the state but stakeholders from the area cried out to the VP over their marginalisation in intervention programmes for oil producing areas. He also promised that thermal power stations would equally be sited in the oil communities, noting that an arrangement was being concluded with the National Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF) and industry experts on take-off of modular refineries.
Osinbajo, who was conferred with the chieftaincy title of Enyioha Abia (friend of all Abia people) by the state council of Ndi Eze, said that the oil producing area of Abia should dry their tears as he had come to Abia to propose a new way of doing business with oil communities and to signpost a new deal for them.
“The deprivation that people suffer is not new,” he said, adding that there was no doubt that the people of oil producing communities had only heard of oil wells but had not benefits from what comes from it.
“We have to change the situation (neglect of oil communities).We’ll focus on how the majority of the people will see the benefits of oil wealth,” the VP.
Prof Osinbajo, who was accompanied by the ministers of Niger Delta, Pastor Ugulu Usang Ugulu, trade and investment, Mr. Okechukwu Enelama and minister of state for petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, commended Abia for the stability in the oil producing areas.
He said that Abia would reap the benefits of peaceful conduct in due course as local and international investors would find the state very conducive to put their money.
The issue of non-inclusion of Abia people in the Presidential Amnesty Programme generated a lot of heat during the town hall meeting as the presidential adviser on Niger Delta and coordinator of the amnesty programme, Brig gen Paul Boro (rtd) was booed when he insisted that that 237 Abians had benefitted from the programme.
The claim was faulted by Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South) and Hon Uzoma Abonta (Ukwa East /Ukwa West federal constituency) as well as representatives of the oil producing areas.
However the VP intervened, acknowledging that “there is a problem somewhere (and) somebody some where is doing something funny” with the people of Abia. He promised that the state governor would be fully involved in the new amnesty programme to ensure that genuine Abians would be captured.
It was a litany of woes as presentations by Abia Elders council, host community, traditional rulers from oil producing areas, women and youth representatives painted a gloomy picture of deprivations in the area.
They demanded for completion of all abandoned roads in the area, establishment of federal university of technology, employment by oil companies and federal agencies, inclusion in scholarship programmes and skill acquisition programmes.
No comments:
Post a Comment