Pages

Wednesday 29 August 2012

NIGER DELTA: NO MORE HOSTILITY, YET NO INFRASTRUCTURE TO IMPROVE LIVES_Daniel Alabrah

Despite the relative PEACE & RESOURCES tapped from soil of the Niger Delta there is really no visible Infrastructure & development to show for it compare to the huge Resorces & PRIZE of the prevailing PEACE that has obviously boosted the Economy of Our Great Nation yet there's nothing to show for the Niger Delta NATURAL ENDOWMENT...


Though the relevance of a Peaceful Society is one that can never be relinquished, because the desired Peace is obviously a Road Map to the achievement of giant strides in the Region. KUDOS to the sustenance of the PRESIDENTIAL AMNESTY PROGRAMME which has heralded the emergence of Trained, Qualified and Rehabilitated YOUTHS who are poised to cause a CHANGE in their Environment.

In a recent Tour of the Niger Delta States. Dan Alabrah Head, Media Presidential Amnesty office carefully illustrated the key Role of Amnesty PROGRAMME which he said has restored PEACE to the Region boosting the Nations Economy from the abysmal 700.000bpd to 2.6M bpd stressing the Key OBJECTIVE of the Presidential Amnesty PROGRAMME is to Consolidate & Sustain PEACE after the disarment of the Militant and therefore not responsible for Infra structural Development of the Region as many assumed

And only recently One of Foremost Niger Delta Governors, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State in a Lecture Presentation @Asaba postulated, "If Nigeria derives all these benefits from the Resources taken from the Niger Delta Region... Then what would happen to the People when OIL & GAS Resources Finish? as they must One Day. This, is the most compelling question, which we must urgently address.

Thus, At this junction, like Hon. Kingsley Kuku SA to The President on NIGER DELTA Affairs/Chairman Presidential Amnesty PROGRAMME would say it's only ON POINT to enjoin the Governors of the South-South Region to seize this opportunity to diversify their Economy and EMPOWER the "BOYS" Youths to sustain the PEACE in the Region in readiness of LIFE BEYOND AMNESTY!

And Dan Alabrah said;

In recent times, there seen to be some discordant voices to whether the amnesty offered ex-agitators in the Niger Delta have achieved its objectives.

There is no gain saying the fact that the Nigeria government Amnesty Programme have boosted the nation’s oil production but whether the Federal Government is taking advantage of the peace which the amnesty programme have brought to build infrastructures which was the root cause of the arms agitation in the oil-rich but strife torn region is another ball game.

While the Federal Government has successfully stamped out insurgency in the Region through the Amnesty Programme, what is lacking is the Road Map to Infrastructural Development of the Region for which the Amnesty Programme has offered.

The crux of the arm struggle by local youths who felt cheated with the huge resource leaving their backyard with nothing to show for it was because successive government never bothered over the impoverished state of the region which has been the main stay of the nation’s oil wealth.

Until the proclamation of the amnesty deal by late President Yar’Adua in 2009, the Delta was a hot bed of the arm struggle by local youths who took up arms in agitation for the development of this virtually abandoned geopolitical zone. Many were of the view that if not for the youth’s violence agitation, the Niger Delta would be wearing a new look and once peace is restored, there would be massive development in the region.

Now, three year after the success of the amnesty programme, a holistic approach adopted by the late country’s president to cause a roadmap to development of the region, nothing seem to be happening. Several riverine communities in the region where a bulk of the nation’s oil is day-in-day-out soaked, remains shadow of itself. Oporoza, headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State where the major fight took place between the federal troops and local youths remain isolated, neglected and impoverished.

While the oil exploitation business by the multinationals is booming and a thousand of the youths who fought to drawn the attention of the federal government to the plight of the region are well taken care of, the region remain as it was. Nothing have change! The amnesty programme as proclaimed by the late president was mandated to plod insurgency which was then becoming a national disgrace in the region. The ideal was that once amnesty is proclaimed and the region is made peaceful, the federal government was going to deploy its resource to work massively in the Niger Delta.

Currently, with the Amnesty Programme, the country can successfully boost of several barrel of Crude Production per day, tripling what they had during the dark days. Oil production has tripled tremendously. Stories of kidnapping of local and expatriate oil workers have reduce and the youths now adequately empowered through a “arm for money” deal they had with the federal government.

Thousands of the Youths, otherwise known as EX-MILITANTS Now TRANSFORMED!


-@MOAgbajoh

No comments:

Post a Comment