ABUJA—Delta State State Government
and Niger Delta Peoples’ Congress, NDPC, weekend said the Niger Delta
region was excited with the visit of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to the
zone last week, saying it was a sign of better things to come.
Delta State Government, through the State Waterways and Land Security
Committee, and NDPC appealed to people from the region to maintain the
peace and avoid any form of pipeline vandalism, insisting that
government could only address the development needs of the people in an
atmosphere of peace.
It will be recalled that Vice President Osinbajo kick started peace
talks with stakeholders in the Niger Delta by visiting Gbaramatu in
Delta State last week Monday.
The Vice President is also scheduled to visit Rivers and Bayelsa states at a later date to finalise the peace talks
Osinbajo in Delta
Speaking, Chairman of Delta State Waterways and Land Security
Committee, Chief Boro Opudu, while commending the visit of Prof.
Osinbajo, called for quick take-off of the Maritime University at
Okerenkoko.
In a statement, Chief Opudu said: “The recent visit of the
Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to the Niger Delta, which was a
fact-finding mission, is a commendable development because the visit has
clearly shown that the existing structures and facilities at Kurutie
(the temporary site of the Maritime University) are enough for the
university to take off. This confidence-building and fact-finding
mission heralds readiness of the Federal Government to engage the Niger
Delta positively on development matters, particularly when this is
translated to reality in no distant time, as the Niger Delta needs less
talk and more visible action of real development. With the positive
feelers of pragmatic development of the Niger Delta heralded by the
Vice-President, I hereby appeal and call on all Niger Deltans to
maintain the peace and avoid any form of pipeline vandalism as
government can only address the development needs of the people in an
atmosphere of peace.”
On his part, convener of NDPC, Chief Mike Loyibo, said the visit had
raised hopes that the demands of the people tabled to President
Muhammadu Buhari by the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, on November 1,
2016 and NPDC on November 15, 2016 would be met by the government.
Speaking weekend in Abuja, Loyibo said: “For us as leaders that are
the true representatives of the people, there is no better time than
now. The visit of the Presidency to the heart of the problem, that is
the core Niger Delta area, is the best thing to be able to assess first
hand. It was a fact-finding visit. What are the problems? How do we get
out of them? For us as leaders, it shows that the Presidency is actually
committed and genuinely concerned in addressing in a very holistic
manner, the age-long neglect of the Niger Delta.
“When the Vice President went there, he said, Niger Delta is a
special zone and it needs to be treated that way and that is why he
announced that by September, academic activities at the Maritime
University will kick off and that is one of the best news we have been
expecting as a people.”
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