Must Read!!! 16 Things Niger Delta Leaders Want From Buhari

As part of efforts to stop the lingering crisis in
the Niger Dekta region, President Muhammadu
Buhari met leaders and traditional rulers from
the region on Tuesday, November 1.
The meeting was held to discuss the issue of
militancy and security in the region which has
led to a sharp decline in oil production and
affected Nigeria’s earnings.
Below are the 16 demands the Niger Delta
people want for peace to be restored in the
oil-rich region.
1. Inclusive participation in oil industry and
ownership of oil blocs
The people are demanding that the federal
government include the region in the sharing
and ownership of the oil blocs in the country.
They want policies and actions that will
address the lack of participation, as well as
the imbalance in the ownership of oil and gas
assets to be affirmed.
2 The presidential amnesty programme
The oil-rich region is asking for a review of
the programme to reappraise its core mandate
to provide a robust exit strategy. The people
want the government to make provisions for
jobs for the ex-militants after the programme.
This will effectively integrate them and wean
them off dependency on stipends so that their
new-found skills would be of benefit to
themselves and the larger community.
3. Law and Justice
The Niger Delta people want the federal
government to address a number of pending
law and justice issues regarding some
aggrieved groups and individuals. by the
people of the Niger Delta, under the aegis of
Pan-Niger Delta Forum.
4. Relocation of the administrative and
operational headquarters of the IOCs
They want the headquarters of major
International Oil Companies (IOCs) to be
moved to the Niger Delta region as most are
located outside the region. According to them,
this deprives the people of all the
developmental and associated benefits that
would have accrued to the region from their
presence. Moving the headquarters to the
Niger Delta region would create a mutually
beneficial relationship with the host
communities.
5. The effect of increased military presence in
the Niger Delta
The people are asking the government to halt
the escalation of tension in the region which is
caused by the increase in military presence.
They listed the effects of the increased military
presence in the region to include invasion of
communities, displacement of persons,
harassment and other forms of human rights
abuses.
6. Plight of internally displaced persons
The oil-rich region wants the relevant
government agencies to take urgent measures
in meeting the immediate needs of those
displaced by the upsurge of insecurity in the
region.
7. The Ogoni clean-up and environmental
remediation
The people of Niger Delta are demanding that
the government speed up the clean-up
exercise and also enforce the zero gas flare
deadline. The government has been asked to
urgently tackle the devastating effects of
coastal erosion and lack of an effective
shoreline protection for the coastal
communities. They also asked that the federal
government commission a region-wide
credible assessment of the impact of crude oil
pollution on the environment in the region and
undertake to enforce environmental laws.
8. The Maritime University
The Niger Delta people want the Niger Delta
University to take-off promptly.
9. Key regional critical infrastructure
The region is asking for the completion of the
East-West road and full implementation of the
rail project that is designated to run through
the Niger Delta region to Lagos.
10. Security surveillance and protection of oil
and gas infrastructure
The people are asking for pipeline surveillance
contracts to be given to the communities
rather than to individuals in a manner that
will be beneficial to their responsibility. This
way, communities would see their
responsibility over the pipelines as protection
of what belongs to them.
11. Power Supply
The people of the region advocated a power
plan that strongly ties power supply in the
region to gas supply, thereby giving all sides a
stake in proved stability.
12. Economic development and empowerment
The Niger Delta wants Brass LNG and a
fertiliser plant, including the Train 7 of Nigeria
LNG implemented; a review and update of the
national gas master plan to integrate the
economic interests and industrialisation of the
region; the creation of a Niger Delta industrial
corridor that would process some portions of
the hydrocarbon natural resources; expedited
work on the export processing zones; and the
harnessing of the huge rain-fed agricultural
potential of the area through the development
of farm estates, fishery development projects
and agro-allied industrial clusters, etc.
13. Restructuring and funding of the NDDC
The communities want to have a say in what
projects come to them and also want full
implementation of the funding provisions of
the NDDC Act.
14. Strengthening the Niger Delta Ministry
The people are asking for the ministry to be
adequately funded and strengthened to fulfill
the purpose for which it was created.
15. The Bakassi question
The region wants the government to look into
a comprehensive resettlement plan for Bakassi
indigenes who have been displaced. The plan
should include development for the host
communities and displaced population to
reduce the risk of making them into stateless
persons.
16. Fiscal federalism
The Niger Delta people expressed their support
for the call for true federalism. They called on
the federal government to treat the matter
speedily.