Stakeholders from Delta, Edo and Ondo have identified with the Niger Delta New Vision initiated by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo aimed at speeding up the various development projects in the region to ensure sustainable peace
The Niger Delta New Vision brings together a robust set of promises, solutions, targets and initiatives aimed at ensuring that the people of the Niger Delta benefit maximally from the region’s oil wealth.
The New Vision offers a detailed response to the 16-point Demand Agenda submitted to President Buhari by the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) in November 2016.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is leading the NewVision engagement, on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government. He recently visited oil-producing communities across the Niger Delta, listening to them and outlining the Federal Government’s commitment for the peace, security and development of the region
The vision is divided into three broad areas, security, development and political. Under the security framework, the federal government will Implement State Amnesty Programmes, Militancy to Education Initiative and peace among others.
Mr. Edobor Iyamu, Senior Special Assistant, to the Vice President on Niger Delta and Charles Achodo who spoke at the New Vision workshop in Warri, Delta state on August 2, 2018 said the development framework will strengthen inter-agency collaboration and deploy capacity building initiatives, encourage investment in modular refineries and target provision of 100,000 jobs across each state over the next 5 years as well as set up a Niger Delta Development Fund and empower youths in the Niger Delta by Creating Business Opportunities
According to the implementation work plan a total of 475 projects value at about N2.065 trillion were currently on going
An Inter-ministerial working group has been set up and they meet quarterly at a Ministerial level to review progress across the 13 target areas.
There is also a monthly working meeting of the technical group to report and review agencies’ progress on the projects it is responsible for under the plan while all projects will be actively mapped and tracked with a clear space for citizen involvement to improve accountability.
Inter-ministerial working group will also seek to identify tools to allow ministries to track projects and citizens to report and comment on their implementation
Speaking on Communicating the Niger Delta Vision through the Media, Mr. Philip Jakpor, urged journalists to focus on ordinary people because they bear the brunt of the impact of government decisions and suffer most from deprivation arising public expenditure priorities
Also speaking on the occasion, the Vice Chancellor, Nigerian Maritime University, Prof. Maureen Etebu appreciated the role played by Vice Osinbajo in ensuring the take off of the University last April with the admission of 340 students
In his presentation, Mr. Christopher Ilukhor, Technical Assistant to the Hon Minister of State(Refineries and Downstream infrastructure) regretted that of the 44 licenses given out for investors to set up modular refineries 40 per cent of these had expired because the investors did not do their home work very well while majority of them complain of lack of funds
In order to encourage investors, Mr. Ilukhor said the federal government was offering incentives such as zero duty payment for importers of equipments for modular refineries
He emphasized that the federal government would not directly be involved in the construction of modular refineries as well as rule out the legalization of illegal refineries. He also spoke about plans by the federal government to increase the penalty paid by international oil companies for gas flaring
Most of the participants commended the Vice President and hope that there will be the political will to implement some of the outlined projects
