At a time, particularly late last year, it looked like the lingering crisis in the Niger Delta would not abate. Intermittent pipeline vandalism had taken a huge toll on the nation’s resources, hence officials of the federal government had sleepless nights pondering over solutions. But none yielded the desired result until Yemi Osinbajo, vice president, began a series of engagements with stakeholders in the Niger Delta.
One of the most recent of such engagements took place in Benin, Edo State, recently where speakers bared their minds on issues affecting the 38 oil producing communities in the state. Representatives from the three oil-producing local government areas – Ovia Northeast, Ikpoba-Okha and Orhionmwon – were allowed to air their grievances.
For instance, David Edebiri, representative of Ovia Northeast, urged the vice president to ensure that projects earmarked for the Niger Delta region were completed without delay. He wondered why projects meant for the Niger Delta were abandoned. “After Oloibiri, Ovia Northeast is the next place oil was discovered, but there is nothing to show for what it produces. We are not among those agitating for militants’ allowance. Our youths are patriotic citizens. The oil company exploring oil has not shown sufficient zeal to better the life of our people,” he said.
That set the tone for the discussion throughout the meeting as speaker after speaker regaled Osibanjo with stories of how the indigenes of Edo State have not benefitted from the proceeds of crude oil.
David Ugolor, executive director of the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice, believes that the only way to resolve the crisis in the Niger Delta is for the federal government to focus more on capital projects.
Osibanjo agreed with him. He is confident that the new vision for Niger Delta region would define a bright future for the communities as the federal government would hold any defaulting contractor handling projects in the Niger Delta and prosecute those that abandoned projects. Osinbajo explained that the Buhari administration would ensure that the people get the real benefits of the wealth the country has. “I have read out and I have listened to several of the complaints in several areas. I can tell you precisely how much had been voted of same in several of our own communities and there is no sign of development in those areas. I can tell you how many of these projects are supposed to have been completed and when you look into some books, they said they had been completed, but they have not been completed. They have not even been done; many have not even been started at all. That is the story not just in the oil producing communities of Edo State but it’s the story everywhere. There is the story of neglect, there is many cases of corruption that have deprived our people at the expenses of people in the oil producing areas their means of live,iBook for so many years. That is one of the issues that we intend to address and this is why I have come on behalf of the President and Commander In Chief to put a new way of doing things, to signpost a new era in the oil producing areas of Delta and everyone of the state’s of Nigeria. This is an important engagement that we are not taking lightly at all,” said the vice president.