…Says N-Delta may explode if…
 
Foremost Niger Delta group, the Ijaw Interest Advocates (IIA), popularly known as Izanzan Intellectual Camp has lambasted the minister of Niger Delta affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio for fueling crisis in the Niger Delta region, adding that the growing greed and manipulative tendencies of the minister, in causing the delay in the inauguration of NDDC Board, are threats to peace and multi-national operations in the region. 

The group stated this in a press statement signed by its President, Arerebo Salaco Yerinmene, on Saturday, November 13, 2021.

The Niger Delta advocates added that oil multi-nationals were planning to exit the region following the continuous agitations of host communities as regards the poor treatment and underdevelopment arising from the reckless management of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), by Godswill Akpabio.

The press statement by IIA titled, “Akpabio’s Greed Threatening The Peaceful Existence Of Multinationals ln Niger Delta Region”, stated that oil producing communities have equally lost hope in NDDC for the fact that Akpabio has decided to move all the activities of the only government agency in the region to far away Abuja, noting that Host Communities and oil corporations in the country have been abandoned to their fate.

According to the group, “It is becoming glaring that the atmosphere in the region is getting charged as most major IOC’S operating in the Niger Delta are planning to exit as they are already having dwindling production in the region as the environment is no longer conducive for their operations following the continual agitations of host communities.”

The statement noted that, “Akpabio’s gimmicks on NDDC substantive board inauguration is fueling the already battered discord between the multi nationals and the oil producing communities.”

The group noted that “today as we speak, AGIP oil company is at the verge of collapsing following the reduction of production per day. Chevron is shaking, Shell is barely surviving and even threatening to exit Nigeria. As at 2015, AGIP oil company was producing about 250,000 barrels per day, but today they are producing less than 30,000 barrels per day, Shell was producing about 600,000 barrels as at 2014 but today it has crashed down to the extent of threatening to pull out of Nigeria.”

President of the group, Salaco, who expressed fears of renewed crisis in the region called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to wake up from their slumber before Akpabio pushes the country into avoidable crisis.

IIA also stated that “there are many other factors but indisputably, the main reasons have to do with communal challenges. Before now, the NDDC board members of various states were playing major roles in relationship between the host communities and multi nationals. Akpabio who is saddled with this primary responsibility does not even consider it as part of NDDC responsibilities to create enabling environment for the multi-national companies to operate.”

Amb. Salaco maintained that “Akpabio has failed woefully because he is only interested in the allocation that comes to the commission. The oil producing communities too have lost total hope because Akpabio has moved all the activities of the only government agency NDDC to far away Abuja, leaving the companies that came to do business in the region to their fate. Abuja should act fast otherwise one man’s greed will snowball to unimaginable economic chaos to the nation.”

The group further cautioned that “Abuja should not be carried away and be sharing the goodies and mouth-watering stories from Akpabio. Be informed of the silent damages being caused to multi nationals in their respective host communities which if not quickly attended to might majorly affect the entire country economy.”

IIA observed that “having gone round the Niger Delta region, we can authoritatively say that there are lots of abandoned oil Wells now in the region and not because they can’t produce but due to communal issues that have forced the companies to abandon them but provokingly, people in Abuja keep sharing the commonwealth of the people with Akpabio without doing the right thing which caused the oil companies more harm than good as they’re almost at their kneels, thus we pity them when they have already invested billions of dollars.”

According to the group, “if the Presidency continues to fall into the acts of Akpabio which are huge negative contributory factors to communal challenges, causing unnecessary tension especially with the issue of the inauguration of the substantive board of NDDC, that means in the coming months the multi Nationals might have no further option than to exit Nigeria as they are reporting already.

The signals are not too good because surely it will crumble Nigeria’s economy and undoubtedly there will be proliferation of insecurity in the Niger Delta region.”