Federal Govt, International Oil Companies Urged To Address Underdevelopment Of Niger Delta Region

By Amos Okioma,Yenagoa.

The Federal government of Nigeria and International Oil Companies operating in the Niger Delta Region have been called upon to urgently address the glaring neglect and underdevelopment as the only panacea in the region.This was contained in a press release by Wanama Onya and made available to Authority in Yenagoa.

According to the statement, the Bayelsa state Commissioner of Mineral Resources, Elder Markson Fefegha made the call while speaking as a panelist at just concluded Nigeria International Petroleum Summit, organized by the Federal Mineral of Petroleum.

Elder Fefegha who spoke on the topic ” Maximizing Nigeria,s Gas Potential ; Learning from past. Preparing for the future ” at the panel which was chaired by Chief  Don Etiebet  former minister of petroleum Resources .

Citing Oloibiri in Ogbia Local government area of Bayelsa state as a poignant symbol of neglect and deprivation of oil producing areas, the commissioner emphasized that there should  be inclusiveness and deliberate plans to revers the development in the region.

This, he maintained could be achieved by drawing up a more robust and comprehensive  fiscal regime by the federal government through legislations  and policies framework , implemented by the federal ministry of Petroleum Resources.

Quoting Governor Seriake Dickson, Fefegha said that a purposeful inclusion of oil producing areas for development is necessary, because ” what other call oil wells are indeed the ancestral properties of the Niger Delta Region ” he said.