FG Commits to Tackling Oil, Gas Infrastructure Vandalism

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio has restated the efforts of the federal government to tackling the vandalisation of critical oil and gas infrastructure in order to stabilise and promote the socio-economic development and well-being of the Niger Delta region.
Akpabio stated this at a townhall meeting organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture with the theme “Protecting Oil and Gas Infrastructure in Abuja, Monday.

Akpabio said: “The most destructive impact of the agitations in the Niger Delta region are the activities of vandals who disguise themselves as agitators and wantonly destroy critical oil and gas infrastructure thereby disrupting oil and gas production in the region. The effect of this on the economy of the Nation cannot be over-emphasised.”

He added that oil flow stations and pipeline destruction had resulted in damaged environment, polluted land and the communities are subjected to more hardship since the economy of the people are basically agrarian farmers and fishermen.

On the issue of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Akpabio stated that the “journey of a thousand mile begins with a step and not about three and five per cent that is being deliberated on by both the House of Representatives and the Senate respectively but by the passage of the Bill before the close of July ending.”

He noted that the PIB had been in the pipeline since 2010 and lasted for too long a time, appealing to the Senate to pass the Bill so that the sufferings of the people can be alleviated.

The federal government, he said, recently launched a $1 billion clean-up for some parts of the region, most prominent of which is the Ogoni clean-up, adding that the estimated clean-up and total restoration time for the swamps, creeks, fishing grounds and mangroves is about 25 years.

According to him, the situation had remained a no-win situation for the federal government, the oil companies and the people of the Niger Delta whose environment has been destroyed.

Akpabio stated that there had been several programmes and initiatives aimed at addressing youth restiveness and bringing development to the region.

Some of these include and not limited to the establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the defunct Oil Mineral and Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC), and the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

He said that his ministry had also made concerted efforts towards ensuring attitudinal change among the youths through intensive and consistent values reorientation, advocacy programmes, which has made significant impact in the reduction of pipeline vandalization since the inception of the administration.

The minister revealed that the ministry is on the verge of developing a reorientation programme targeted at primary and secondary school pupils in each of the nine states of the region with the aim of developing the right orientation within them and ultimately leading to the desired peace and progress in the region

“The project is a broad based approach that will guarantee lasting peace, accelerated progress and development to the Niger Delta region through an active orientation of the youth’s approach, ” he said.