Amaechi Calls For More Troops In N'Delta
From Kelvin Ebiri, Port Harcourt
Smarting from the frustration of the underdevelopment of the Niger Delta allegedly worsened by the activities of Militants, River State Governor Chibuike Amaechi yesterday differed with other stakeholders over the path to peace in the region.
While other stakeholders have canvassed the total demilitarisation of the region, Amaechi wants more soldiers to be deployed in the region to stop the militants form stalling development projects.
Also, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Ufot Ekaette has appealed to the militants to lay down their arms and give the government a chance to prove its sincerity towards the development of the region.
Amaechi made the call during this year's yearly summit organised by the South-South parliamentary caucus of the House of Representatives, which started in Port Harcourt yesterday.
Present at the summit where Governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke, the Deputy Governors of Rivers and Bayelsa States, Tele Ikuru and Peremobowei Ebebi, Minister of State for Energy, Odien Ajumogobia, Edwin Clark, Prof. Kimse Okoko, Ledum Mitee, Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte and other dignitaries.
According to the governor, while economic activities were thriving in cities like Lagos and Abuja, those of Port Harcourt and other Niger Delta cities were dormant due to the activities of some misguided few who were masquerading as militants.
Amaechi who said he had resolved to bear the political consequences of confronting militants whom he referred to as criminals, said their activities were doing grave harm to the Niger Delta economy.
He said the only way the legislators could contribute to the development programmes of the Niger Delta governors who had decided to integrate their economy, was by prevailing on the Federal Government to deploy more troops in the region to flush out the militants.
Amaechi who described the Niger Delta as a raped and abandoned woman, said if the lawmakers failed to demand for military offensive against the militants, then they would be providing more justification for the region to be deprived.
The governor bemoaned the systematic economic strangulation of the Niger Delta. He cited the neglect of once thriving seaports in Port Harcourt, Warri and Calabar, the location of corporate headquarters of multinational oil companies outside the Niger Delta and the carting away of the region's resources as some indicators.
The governor threatened that the Rivers State Government might be compelled to shut down the operational office of Total if it failed to consider indigenous oil companies based in the state for the award of a multibillion Naira oil facility contract.
He castigated the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) for awarding more scholarships to people from other parts of the country and denying the people of the geographical region from which the funds for the programme are derived, such opportunities.
On his part, Ekaette suggested that since the neglect and deprivation of the Niger Delta had been highlighted and the government had begun to address the areas of concern of the people, the militants should lay down their arms to test government's sincerity.
He explained that as a result of continuous molestation of construction and oil workers, Julius Berger had formally written to the Federal Government that it was withdrawing from the construction of a section of the East-West Road. He warned that if the level of violence in the area was not checked, the region might soon be isolated from the rest of the world.
Ekaetta said: "Rather than continue with sermons and militancy, our youths should join hands with us to bring about a coordinated and sustained development of the Niger Delta. Rather than serve as soldiers of destruction, they should be at the vanguard of enlightening their peers on the need to embrace education so as to avail themselves of the opportunities available in the oil and gas industry."
The minister explained that all his ministry had set out to do for the Niger Delta could only become a reality when there was a congenial atmosphere for contractors and other investors to move into the area and work.
He denied allegation that he was opposed to the medical treatment of detained leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Henry Okah. He said those opposed to his steering the ministry had fabricated the allegation to create disaffection amongst the people of the region.
