To facilitate development in the
Niger Delta region, South-South and South East lawmakers have urged the Federal
Government to review the ownership structure of oil wells in the country.
“The people of the Niger Delta
region should possess at least 65 percent of the oil wells contrary to the
present ownership structure where less than 10 percent of the oil blocks belong
to our people.”
They noted that the region’s
development is being hindered by the present payment mode of derivative oil
funds.
“There is an urgent need for the
Federal Government of Nigeria to put in place adequate machinery that would
ensure direct payment of derivative oil funds into the hands of Niger Delta Benefiting
communities” the principal officers and members of the Houses of Assembly in
the region said.
Rising from the first parliamentary
session of the South-South and South-East Houses of Assembly in Owerri, Imo
State during the weekend, the lawmakers condemned the criminal and nefarious
activities of the so called herdsmen.
“Legislators of the Houses of
Assembly in the South-South and South East can no longer watch helplessly as
our region drifts aimlessly while our people walk the razor edge under the
strain of impoverishment, environmental degradation, insecurity and uncertainty
on the one hand and the destruction of oil/gas installations and the attendant
consequences including their impact on the ecosystem and the economy on the
other hand”
They urged the youth to shun
confrontation, violence and militancy in pressing for the redress of the zone.
“They must
embrace dialogue and diplomacy and channel their grievances through various
constituted platforms”
The joint session
of legislators from the South -East and South –South geo-political zones not
only condemned the evil acts of kidnapping, hostage taking and bursting of oil
pipelines but stressed that militants from the zones should be constituted into
an officially recognized brigade for the protection of oil installations
“They should
among other things be charged with the responsibility to halt the rise of other
offensive militant groups who may from time to time threaten to spring up”
The lawmakers
advised the Presidency to direct the security agencies in the country to brace
up and be alive to their constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and
property.
“They must save
the people of the geo-political zones from the hands of the marauding herdsmen.
Governments of the South-East and South-South geo-political zones should set up
a high powered joint judicial panel of inquiry to unravel the facts and
circumstances surrounding the incessant attacks by the herdsmen and determine
the best way to prevent its recurrence in the zones. They should also establish
special task force drawn from the various security agencies and neighborhood
watch in each local government to checkmate the excesses of herdsmen and
prosecute them”
The legislators,
who called for more proactive measures to address the activities of herdsmen,
restated their commitments to pass bills restricting cattle rearing,
prohibiting grazing of cattle from one location to another through farmlands
thereby causing damages to farm lands, health hazards and obstruction of vehicular
and human traffic.
The lawmakers
while attributing the defective and harsh socio-economic environment, lack of
employment opportunities, lack of empowerment for the youth, environmental
degradation, lack of infrastructure, general underdevelopment and inadequate
benefit of the resources from the region, despite being the major source of the
economic resources of the nation to the causes of upsurge in militancy
activities in the region, rejected the proposed bill to establish and control
grazing routes and reserves before the National Assembly and State Houses of
Assembly.
They urged the
Federal Government to revisit the performance of the amnesty programme, the
United Nations Environment Programme Report and the Hydrocarbon Pollution
Restoration Project with a view to strengthening grey areas and called on the
National Assembly to ensure the accelerated passage of the Petroleum Industry
Bill
“The Federal
Government should enter into peaceful dialogue with the critical stakeholders
in the South-South and South- East in resolving the dispute and operate within
the rule of engagement without incurring collateral damage”
Speakers and Deputy Speakers of
Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo,
Enugu and Imo states were in attendance.
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