Professor Yemi Osinbajo's visit To Gbaramatu Kingdom (Photos)

On Monday, the 16th of January, 2017, I visited the Gbaramatu Kingdom on behalf od President Muhammadu Buhari. I had the privilege of meeting with his royal majesty, the Pere of the Gbaramatu Kingdom and his chiefs. It was such a warm reception

 The message for the people of the Gbaramatu Kingdom and the people of the Niger Delta was short. It was about preparation for the future.

In 2014 alone, there were over 3,700 incidents of pipeline vandalization, from January to June 2016, there were over 1,447 incidents of vandalization. Between 1998 – 2015, over 20,000 persons have died from fire incidents arising from breaching pipelines. These figures do not even take into account the environmental degradation.

Around the Niger Delta, there are signboards of proposed infrastructural projects many of which are uncompleted and some others that are simply abandoned.   The city is poor, poor infrastructure, few schools and thousands with health challenges as a result of severe environmental pollution.

From the Niger Delta Development Board in the 60’s to OMPADEC to NDDC, & the Amnesty Programme, many of these projects have not been able to meet the objectives for which they were established.

My message in simple terms is it is time to prepare for the future.
Unfortunately, there is no time because the future is already here, every citizen should  ensure that  the future is not worse than today.

We understand that for things to change, three things must happen and l want you to follow the points below closely:

1. We must recognise that the Niger Delta is a special place , a special economic zone for this nation and so must be treated as a special development zone .
2. We must recognise the unique environmental and daring challenges of Niger Delta.
3. The future is full of challenges for the oil industry.

SPECIAL DEVELOPMENT ZONE
Long ago, the Willinks Commission recommended that because of the peculiar environment of the Niger Delta, and the profound challenges, it should be treated as a special development zone. And I agree entirely that this zone has to be treated as a special development zone,  but what does this mean in practical terms ?

It means that the Federal Government, State Government and the National Assembly  representatives alongside NDDC and the Civil Society representatives of the  Niger Delta  people must sit together and develop a plan and concrete arrangements for  development of the Niger Delta.

There is no excuse for not planning together. The State Government should also be prepared to devote substantial portions of their budgets to this special projects.

 The PANDEF has submitted a concise list of 16 dialogue issues that will be extremely helpful in ascertaining the key development priorities for the future of the Niger Delta region.

We must also hold some of the international oil companies accountable to the agreement made with host communities as it relates to development of those areas. We must ensure that in commercial  opportunities rising from oil exploration  activities, pipelines supervision, contracts should  favour host communities.

The critical issue is infrastructure, roads, rails, hospitals  and schools .

In the 2017 budget, we have provided for the commencement of the Lagos-Calabar rail way, the coastal railway which  will go through  the Niger Delta . We are doing  this with the Chinese.  We will also be visiting Kurutie, the site of the Maritime University.

The President has directed the Ministry of Petroleum to work  quickly to see the  realization of all of the objectives  in implementing this crucial  educational institutions. The Bill of  the Maritime  University have just passed the second reading in the National Assembly and l know we have the commitment  of the members of the National Assembly to fast-track this to ensure that the Maritime University  can come to fruition as soon as possible
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All of these are listed  in the 16 dialogue document, projects that will benefit not just  the Gbaramatu Kingdom but  the  entire Niger Delta.

But the issue is how to finance, there must be resources and revenue and if the revenue does not come we merely deceive ourselves.  Revenue can only come when we are sure that there is peace and I do believe that this must come with justice, legal justice itself is needed for these to be effected.

ENVIRONMENTAL CLEAN-UP
The second thing that must happen in order to ensure that we prepare adequately for the future is the clean- up of environmental  degradation  of the entire  Delta. The Ogoni clean-up has already been  flagged off and an implementation  committee is in place. For the clean-up not to be a waste of  money,  we must enforce strict  environmental  standard for the oil producing companies including  regulatory  commitments  on gas  glaring and all our communities  must prevent vandalization  which is also a major source  of environmental degradation.

FUTURE OF OIL

Finally, in preparation for the future, we must understand that the future is full of challenges  for the oil industry. And we must recognize that  in another 20 to 30 years our oil will not be as precious as it is today  and that is reality.
America has stopped  buying oil from us. All the countries in the Asia that buy oil now are developing alternative sources of power, China and Japan are developing  electric cars. Infact Japan now has more charging stations than petrol stations. Solar power & other various sources of energy are getting cheaper.
We must be smart, we must act intelligently, intentionally and on time. We have a window of opportuniy, we must use our oil to develop  our people.

If we don’t take that window of opportunity  we will spend that window toying with  ourselves. I earnestly hope that we will work together to  make sure that we are able to  deliver for the future, & for all of our people.
I informed the Youth Councils , that I would take their messages back to Mr. President.

But let me say to all of the young men and women here, the future belongs to you. You are not the leaders of tomorrow, you are the leaders of today because the future  is already here, it has come but it comes with  tremendous  responsibility.

The first responsibility is to ensure peace beacause development  cannot rise without  peace, the world is moving quickly, we must not waste time.

 For President Muhammadu Buhari, every part of this nation is important to him and he is completely  committed to ensuring that  there is justice  in Gbaramatu Kingdom, justice  in the Niger Delta , peace and progress  in the Niger Delta region.
Source : Prof Yemi Osinbanjo.