The Minister for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe
Kachikwu, on Friday, said over $40bn has been put into the Niger Delta
in the last 12 years with nothing to show for it.
The minister, who spoke during his visit
to the residence of Ijaw National Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, said the
funds that have been allocated to the region do not tally with the
situation in the region.
He said, “Over $40billion has been put into the Niger Delta in the last 12 years but when I went through the creeks at the risk of my life, I saw that there is no infrastructure to justify that amount. The President has been very emphatic that the only solution to this problem is dialogue and he keeps saying to me to tell the leaders to call their young boys to order.”
He said, “Over $40billion has been put into the Niger Delta in the last 12 years but when I went through the creeks at the risk of my life, I saw that there is no infrastructure to justify that amount. The President has been very emphatic that the only solution to this problem is dialogue and he keeps saying to me to tell the leaders to call their young boys to order.”
Kachikwu also said that the age-long problem in the Niger Delta would only be resolved in peaceful environment.
He said, “I have said it from day one
that we must work for the final solution. My belief is that the final
solution doesn’t lie in militancy. It requires a well articulated
position of how to find solutions.
“First, there is a short term solution,
which is to bring people together to have peace and a long term
solution, which is to address the things the people have been faced with
over the years.
“If we do not have peace, we can’t
address these issues and it is important that we organise those who can
help us in the process and I am extremely and 100 per cent committed to
looking at these and the need to make amends.
“I’m committed to finding peace and
opportunities in these areas but if most of these coastal states can’t
be developed like what we see in Dubai, then we have failed because we
have the resources and everything going for us.
“It is important that we work
collectively and all those who have taken to militancy must collapse all
of that, come back to the table and let us speak with a voice and seek
solutions. The Niger Delta needs more than a ceasefire, what is needed
is perpetual peace.”
Meanwhile, the seeming disagreement
between Clark and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
has been finally resolved as both parties have pledged to work for an
enduring peace in the region.
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