President Muhammadu Buhari said on Tuesday that his administration would review the situation in the Niger Delta with a view to ending militancy and vandalism of oil infrastructure in the area.
Buhari said this during a high-level meeting with leaders and other stakeholders of the Niger Delta region.
While welcoming the 16-point request presented for negotiation by the Niger Delta leaders, Buhari said he was still expecting reports from officials he had instructed to review the implementation of the Amnesty programme to determine where government fell short so that amends could be made.
He said the service chiefs were putting together their own assessment of the militancy situation, saying “when I have these reports, including this one (just presented), we will revisit the situation (in the region) to ensure that we succeed this time.”
He, however, cautioned the leaders of the Delta that they “have more to do than anyone else to bring peace to the region, given the influence they have on militant groups’’.
Buhari, who pitched a vision of unity and progress for the country in which peace reigns, said “peace, security, investment and prosperity are linked together.
“If we give peace a chance, investors will come here to invest. Nobody will invest in an insecure environment.’’
The President, in a speech dripping with nationalist fervor, said the problems his administration found on the ground were many, as illustrated in collapse of oil prices and inability of 27 of the 36 states of the federation to pay salaries.
Other challenges, according to him, included the absence of savings to fall back and having to deal with an elite, who didn’t seem to care.
All these, he said, made his government to conclude that: “life as usual is no longer affordable.”
He expressed the determination of his administration to stay focused on its key campaign promises of securing the country, fighting corruption and creating jobs through the improvement of the economy.
“We are determined to make life comfortable and affordable to all Nigerians.
“If anybody has a country to go to, let him go; we will stay here and salvage our country,” he said.
The President, who delivered his report card on the war against corruption and the efforts to secure the country repeated his call to the Niger Delta leaders to join the administration in bringing peace to the troubled region.
“Please, Your Excellencies, Your Majesties, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, we all have our individual constituencies. Let us try to pacify our constituencies. Let us first recover our country, secure the country and let us invite people who will invest.
“Let us create jobs for our people and let us be accountable to our people where we are sitting on treasuries, whether it is local government, state or the center.
“We should ensure that we rebuild this country. Nobody wants to fail. So, the only way out is, if people understand and believe that we are doing our best at all levels, then we will have some peace.
“But if they have reason to doubt our performance and sincerity, then we will have problem,’’ he added.
In their presentation, the leaders and Stakeholders of the Niger Delta Region led by Chief Edwin Clark, a former minister, put across to the President 16 issues for dialogue, for which they demanded a composite government committee.
The issues included, among others, the completion of major road projects in the region, the take-off of the maritime university, the full activation of ports in Niger Delta and other water ways, the relocation of international oil companies to the region.
Others issues include the issuance of oil blocks to the states and other stakeholders as well as the strengthening of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
They also broached the issue of fiscal federalism.
The Niger Delta leaders reaffirmed their support for the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari and expressed total commitment to the unity, peace and stability of the country.
Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Babachir David Lawal accompanied the President to the meeting.
Others were the Ministers of Justice, Defence, Petroleum (State), Transportation, Niger Delta, Education (State) and the Chief of Defence Staff.
The National Security Adviser, the Director-General, DSS, the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, the representatives of the Chief of Air Staff, and the Inspector-General of Police were also in attendance.
The Niger Delta stakeholders presented a 16-point request before Buhari asking, among other things, for the restoration of peace in the region.
Chief Alfred Diette-Spiff, the Chairman of Bayelsa State Traditional Council, confirmed this development to State House correspondents in Abuja after a meeting between President Buhari and the stakeholders from the region.
According to Diete-Spiff, some of the other demands border on the need to fast-track interventions on some of the indicative regional infrastructure, the Presidential Amnesty Programme, law and Justice as well as the need to reconsider the planned deployment of more armed forces to the Niger Delta.
He said the plight of Internally Displaced Persons, the Ogoni Clean-up and Environmental Remediation, the issue of Maritime University, Okerenkoko and security surveillance as well as protection of oil and gas infrastructure, were part of the demands.
Diete-Spiff said the stakeholders also presented the issues of the relocation of administrative and operational headquarters of oil companies to the region, power supply, inclusive participation in oil industry and ownership.
“The 16-point included, generally whatever we say, infrastructure development, manpower and human resources and of course, you have the welfare of the people.
“These are the main things. The location of the oil companies is one of the points that we pointed out.
“These IOCs (international oil companies) have their headquarters somewhere in Lekki or Abuja and even their operational headquarters are not within the area of their operations.
“This is not right because even the `pay as you earn tax’ is not coming to the region.
“The workers, nobody is engaged locally there; they just come and harvest and go away.
“The presence of the military, of course, you know, has been agitating the boys and that too we said it should be reversed.’’
Diete-Spiff assured that the people of the Niger Delta region remained committed to achieving peace and progress of the country.
He stated that the region had resolved to help the President Buhari-led administration to succeed.
He said, “our position, we hasten to add, takes full cognizance of the current parlous state of our economy.
“We would also like to assure you that we the people of the Niger Delta, as patriotic and law-abiding citizens, remain committed to the unity, peace and progress of this great country.
“Our resolve as leaders of the region, is to do all, within our power, to help this administration to succeed.
“In particular, is the urgent need for us to pull the national economy out of recession through a speedy solution to the spate of militant agitation.
“We are therefore, totally committed to creating the right environment, in our communities to ensure that the wealth, which God has placed in our own part of the country, continues to be available to the benefit of all.’’
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, who also spoke at the event, said the Niger Delta stakeholders also asked for the review of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme and proper funding of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
He said the stakeholders also asked for business opportunities especially allocation of oil blocs to indigenes, and also some level of support for those who were displaced as a result of the activities of the militants in the region.
Kachikwu expressed delight that the involvement of traditional and community leaders had started yielding fruitful results.
He revealed that about 2.1million daily production of barrel of crude oil was achieved as of Oct. 31.
Chief Edwin Clarke, an elder statesman, said dismissed the insinuation that there had been rifts between President Buhari-led administration and the people of the Niger Delta region.
Clarke, who also spoke on president Buhari’s reaction at the meeting, said the the president was impressed and happy with the deliberation.
Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta, who also briefed the correspondents on the outcome of the meeting, said the ongoing negotiations were largely about the future of the Niger Delta region.
He, however, condemned the criminality and destruction of valuable national assets by some militants in the region.
According to the governor, the people of the region are not agitating for withdrawal of security agencies safeguarding valuable installations and infrastructure in the region, as being insinuated in some quarters.
“It’s good that we understand the issue of military presence in the Niger Delta as separate from military occupation of communities.
“I don’t think that our elders are asking for the military to be withdrawn from the Niger Delta.
“That will create chaos.
“What they are requesting is that military presence or military occupation of communities should not be.
“But, the military presence will have to be there to ensure that we are able to attend to all forms of criminality and I think that there has been a lot of response from the Federal Government in that regard.”
The Niger Delta region has been witnessing social unrest, occasioned by the activities of militant groups, leading to cut in Nigeria’s oil output.
The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Alhaji Maikanti Baru, was quoted as saying that “Nigeria lost over $7bn (around N2 trillion) to militancy and pipeline vandalism since the beginning of the year’’.
According to him, the supply disruptions have significantly affected the country’s oil exports.