President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has revealed that agitations by some stakeholders of the Niger Delta led to the non-completion of the East-West Road, which connects most of the states in the Niger Delta region by the Buhari administration.
He made the revelation on Friday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, at the end of the three-day Niger Delta stakeholders’ summit with the theme: “Renewed Hope for Sustainable Development of the Niger Delta.”
The Senate President, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the event, said the road project was stalled after it was transferred from the Ministry of Niger Delta to the Ministry of Works, in response to the request of some stakeholders in the region.
He said: “On my part as a son of the Niger Delta, the East-West Road would have been completed under my tenure as Minister of Niger Delta under the last administration, but some stakeholders, particularly of Ogoni extraction, led a delegation to meet with the then president, President Mohammadu Buhari, to inform him that they did not want the Minister of Niger Delta to complete the road, they wanted the road to be transferred to the Ministry of Works, at that time headed by my brother, former governor Fashola of Lagos state.
“I was very shocked, we have just secured about N75 billion in our conclusion, at least, particularly from the Eleme Junction when that came. And the person said if that is what you want so be it. The road at that time was then transferred to the Ministry of Works that had no budget that year for the East-West Road.
“Even the N75 billion that we secured could not be used. I am saying it is Niger Delta that sometimes brings down Niger Delta.
“This summit must resolve to abolish the syndrome of PhD which is Pull Him Down syndrome. From the day the Ministry of the Niger Delta stepped out of that road, no progress has been made till today.”
In his opening remarks, the chairman of the summit and former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, called on Niger Deltans to start preparing their minds that the hydrocarbon being explored in the region will soon dry up.
Jonathan said: “We are here because we produce oil. Everybody knows that fossil fuel, hydrocarbon, the future is so lean. It will dry up, just like the Oloibiri field dried up.
Noting that the era of fossil fuels is currently at risk, the former President said; “The global environmental policy is already planning for a world without hydrocarbon and so will stop and exploration of fossil fuel and so, Niger Deltans should begin to think about Niger Delta without hydrocarbon.
“We must prepare our youths and our children for a Niger Delta without hydrocarbon. There are so many ways to do it and I admire the competence of the key actors in NDDC. Let our youths be well educated and acquire skills so that they can work anywhere in the world.”
He observed that some of the major challenges of the NDDC included distraction by the political class which forced successive management teams of the commission to lose direction.
Jonathan urged the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, as a leading politician from the region to encourage his fellow politicians to cease from putting the NDDC under unnecessary stress.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman of the governing board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Barrister Chiedu Ebie, said the stakeholders’ summit is a testament to the commission’s commitment to the vision of President Tinubu and the Minister of Niger Niger, Engr. Abubakar Momoh.
Ebie stated that NDDC is dedicated to setting the Niger Delta region on the path of sustainability and growth.
He said; “This gathering marks a crucial step in addressing the enduring challenges of the Niger Delta A pivoting is towards development that is sustainable.
“Our primary aim is to come together as leaders and key stakeholders from various sectors and ethnic nationalities to collaboratively develop and implement strategies for sustainable development of the region in line with our theme- Renewed Hope for the Sustainable Development Of the Niger Delta.”
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