Leadership (Abuja)
Iyobosa Uwugiaren
27 June 2008
The Federal Government has appealed to both international and local communities to give it the benefit of doubt over the proposed Niger Delta Summit, assuring that by the time the summit ends, the hostile environment in the region would change for good.
The Minister of Special Duties in the presidency, Elder Godsday Peter Orubebe, gave the assurance when he paid a courtesy call on LEADERSHIP Newspapers group yesterday in Abuja.
"The summit will kick off next month; by the time we end this conference, the whole thing will change, the situation and the problems of the Niger Delta will be resolved," the minister coordinating the summit said.
He said the proposed summit will use a sharp departure from the several past talk shops on the region.
"The summit is going to be very different from the past conferences; there have been suggestions about the problems of the Niger Delta by different groups of people, but they have not been able to come up with what to do," the minister stated.
"This time around, we are going to come out with specific and concrete solutions. The federal, state and local governments, the multi-national oil companies, the traditional rulers and the youths will be given specific assignments to do."
Appealing to the media to help drive the process of the summit, Orubebe said the Niger Delta question has taken national and international dimensions.
According to him, "The problem of the Niger Delta is no longer the problem of the region, it has taken both national and international dimensions. Therefore, we appeal to the media to drive the process; we need useful and credible information that will assist the summit."
Giving a critical perspective to the crisis , the minister said there are genuine agitations over the issues and there are criminal dimensions to the crisis, but said the criminal aspect of the problems is not different from criminal activities in Lagos, Kano and Sokoto States.
"Recently some students in Imo State went to Port Harcourt and kidnapped some people, kidnapping is not done by the Niger Delta people alone.
"There are criminal and genuine agitators and we are going to take a hard stand in dealing with the criminal aspect of the problem. There are some people who are benefiting from the crisis.
"President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has empowered the Vice President to handle the issues. They are committed to resolving the issues and they need your help.
"We have a president who is focused and believes things should be done in the right ways and he is committed to the issues. Let's give him a chance.
The minister said like some governors across the nation, some governors in the Niger Delta failed to use the huge allocation to the region for developmental projects.
"All over the country, there is stealing of public funds. It is not limited to the Niger Delta alone and the reports of EFCC have shown that. True, some Niger Delta governors did not do well. If they had utilised 60 per cent of the allocation, the region would have been different," he stated.
The minister and his team were received by the Chairman/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, along with his management team.
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