Town Hall Meeting To Round Off The Niger Delta Interactive Engagements

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OSINBAJO TO OIL PRODUCING COMMUNITIES: OUR GOVERNMENT IS RESPONSIBLE, WE TAKE OUR RESPONSIBILITIES SERIOUSLY 

*Assures communities of FG’s commitment to address lingering issues

“You have a Federal Government today that takes their responsibility seriously.  And that is why I am here today because the President takes this community seriously and takes all of the desires of this community seriously.’’

REMARKS BY THE VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, AT THE TOWN HALL MEETING TO ROUND OFF THE NIGER DELTA INTERACTIVE ENGAGEMENTS IN IGBOKODA, ONDO STATE ON TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 2017. 

PROTOCOL

I am very happy to be here with you, the good and hospitable people of Ilaje Local Government Area and I am particularly happy to be here in Igbokoda again. I was here just before the elections, I was here for the campaign.

So, I am here as an emissary of the President, Commander- in- Chief, President Muhammadu Buhari, as part of our engagement with the oil producing communities.

After the visit of leadership of the Pan Niger Delta Forum in November 2016, the President decided that we must undertake visits to engage with the leadership and people of our oil producing communities, to hear them, to seek to understand their problems and concerns first hand and to offer to these communities in the Niger Delta a new vision and a new compact.

Here in this great source of the wealth of this nation, as is the case in many oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta region, the blessing of oil is sometimes paradoxically a curse or at best a burden.

The means of livelihood of many, especially fishing and farming have consistently been destroyed by pollution. Worse still huge resources earned over the years have simply disappeared.

The roads, schools, hospitals and social amenities that the oil wealth should have provided are not there or are patently inadequate.

The majority of people of these communities, including Ilaje Local Government, and several parts of the oil-producing states have heard of the wealth that oil has brought but have hardly benefited from it.

And so we have come here today on behalf of the President Commander-in-Chief,  with some of my cabinet colleagues, and heads of relevant agencies to propose a new vision and to signpost a new era to the people of the oil producing communities of this state in particular and of course Nigeria.

What the Federal Government has proposed to do is to begin a partnership with the oil-producing states, local governments, oil companies, the private sector, and civil society for the rapid development of these communities including Ilaje Local Government and the communities here.

We must treat oil producing communities as special development areas focusing in particular, on how to ensure that people see the benefits of the wealth of the land.  We believe that it is just and right that the Ilaje Local Government Area and the oil producing communities must benefit from the rich resources of this area. And we will do so.

As was said by the representatives of the youth who presented their paper and several other, and His Excellency, the Governor has also said, there has been a problem of power in this local government.

But I am very happy that the representative of the youth who spoke, confirmed that the project for the sub-station and transmission lines, has been abandoned for over eight years, in fact, it may have been abandoned for up to ten years. So, the contract was awarded almost eight to ten years ago but it has not been completed.

I think that we must also hold people responsible for not doing the right thing, some people were awarded the contract, there were governments before this government and they should be held responsible.

Our own government is not an irresponsible government, we take our responsibilities seriously and this is why just a couple of months ago, we have re-awarded that contract and we have paid the sum of N600million for the completion of the 132/33KV substation in order to put in place a 45 kilometre transmission line from the Omotosho power plant to Erinje Okitipupa in order to be able to supply this community and this local government with power.

So, as far as the power situation is concerned, we and the governor are talking with the BDC, which is the DisCo that is responsible for providing power here. The major problem is the transmission line and the sub-station and we are convinced that in a few months, the contractor has agreed that the project will be completed, maximum in nine months; building the sub-station and bringing the transmission line here.

I am ready to confirm that we should have power here, if this is done quickly, and we believe the contractor will do that. NDDC will ensure that the project is done and completed. That is how a responsible government operates.

I don’t want to be talking about governments; there is a difference between the government that is serious about the people and other governments. You have a government in Ondo state today that will deliver; you have a Federal Government today that takes their responsibility seriously.  And that is why I am here today because the President takes this community seriously and takes all of the desires of this community seriously.

Let me talk about the appointment of a member from Ondo state to the NDDC. We have already made an appointment, what is awaited is the confirmation by the Senate. What the Executive does is to appoint, the name has been sent to the Senate, so I think at this point, whatever plea and appeal we need to make must be made to the Senate in order to confirm the person who has been appointed from the oil producing communities unto the board of the NDDC.

I want to say that for every one of the requests made, I will look through them carefully, but be assured that we take our responsibility to this community and to all communities very seriously indeed.

I am very happy to be working with my very dear brother, the governor of this state because I know that working together, we can do a lot and achieve a lot in this state. This particular local government that has been in darkness for so long, I can assure you that very soon, that darkness will turn to light.

I want to thank everyone again. I look very quickly at what the women are asking for, one of the major things they are asking for is money for a business. We have our special microcredit loans for women, if you don’t already have a cooperative, you should set up a cooperative and that cooperative is funded through our microcredit loans under the social investment programme.

I hope that the women will take advantage of this and make sure that they are also beneficiaries. Make sure before you leave here today, you register for this special facility which the Federal Government has made available in many parts of the country already. You can be participants in the scheme only if you register.

Like I said, the President, Commander-In-Chief, President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to ensuring that this community and all other communities are deservedly given everything that they should have and require.

I want to thank you again for your time and attention, God bless you.