Professor Osinbajo says government remains committed to Niger Delta masterplan

VICE president Professor Yemi Osinbajo has promised that the federal government will remain focused on implementing the Niger Delta masterplan as part of a programme to develop and regenerate the region.

 

Once the hotbed of militancy in Nigeria, the Niger Delta remains one of the most deprived parts of the country as a combination of neglect and environmental pollution has left it highly under-developed. In response to youths in the region taking up arms in frustration, the government of former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo formed the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to address the problems.

 

Speaking yesterday at the inaugural meeting of Partners for Sustainable Development Forum organised by the NDDC, in Port Harcourt, Professor Osinbajo said President Muhammadu Buhari had also expressed concern about the current degradation of the environment with a view to addressing challenges faced by the region. He added that the nation’s over-dependence on crude oil was partly responsible for the redundant human resource base and the high level of corruption.

 

Professor Osinbajo said: “The Niger Delta remains a priority of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government with a view to attending to current devastation and environmental degradation in the region. The federal government will give the NDDC all the necessary assistance and support to achieve its mandate of ensuring rapid and sustainable development of the region.

 

“For meaningful and sustainable development to take place in the region, citizens and stakeholders must be peaceful while curbing militancy and eliminating terrorism. Youths should reduce the level of restiveness because the NDDC does not have the capacity to solve all their problems and restiveness and tension caused by some youths in the region clearly have a direct negative impact on development.”

 

He added that Niger Delta, being the world’s third largest wetland, had immense potentials to become an agriculture hub. According to the vice president, there has to be a major shift from dependence on oil to agricultural production, which would assist job creation and encourage development of the manufacturing sector.

 

Professor Osinbajo assured that the ongoing clean-up of in the Ogoni area of Rivers State and other communities in the region would be completed. NDDC managing director Bassey Dan-Abia, said poor funding was a major challenge facing the commission.