By Michael Eboh

ACTING Director-General of the proposed Maritime  Security Agency, MASECA, Mr.  Jacob Ovweghre, has  attributed the resurgence of crisis in the Niger Delta region to the high level injustice against the region over the years, high rate of youth unemployment and infrastructure and human capacity development deficits.

Ovweghre, in a statement in Abuja, after a two-week grassroots peace campaign/ seminar titled, ‘Building a Secured and Peaceful Niger Delta that will become the Economic Hub of Africa 20-2020; with you we can achieve it,’ however, pleaded with the militants and other aggrieved groups to come out or send their representatives to dialogue with government because without peace no meaningful development will take place.

He lamented that the country has lost billions of dollars to the attacks on oil and gas facilities by the militants, stating that it is important and needful for the militants to lay down their arms, while efforts should be made to improve security and guarantee peace and order, especially as continuous destruction or interruption in the production or supply of petroleum products would throw every other sectors of the economy in jeopardy and fiasco.

He argued that Nigeria was yet to fully harness the opportunities and potentials of the petroleum industry, adding that it is still worrying to note that after all these years, oil companies still flare about 17.2 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year.

According to him, the amount of gas flared can serve the cooking needs of over 320 million people excluding the billions of dollars it would generate for the country per year.

To address the grievances of the region,  Ovweghre  called on the Federal Government to ensure the speedy conclusion of the Final Investment Decision of Brass Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, upgrade the NLNG Bonny facilities, and build the Export Gas Processing Free Zone in Escravos, as these would reasonably impact on job creation, employment, security and foreign exchange supplement.

“Government should urgently draw up a strategy of how jobs can be created so that the youths will not be enticed to take to arms,” he said.

He stated that as a  maritime security and conflict management expert, he will contribute his quota to stop anything that will impede peace or petroleum production in the Niger Delta, in conjunction with the elder statesmen in the region and women, community leaders, youth leaders, traditional rulers and organization in the Niger Delta.

He said he is ready to go to the creeks and mediate between those aggrieved groups who are not ready to leave their creeks and the federal government to address all the lingering problems of youth restiveness and agitation with utmost urgency and sincerity of purpose.

Speaking further on the amnesty programme, he stated that “President Muhammadu Buhari inherited a near collapsed amnesty programme, with the former government owing former militants three months outstanding stipends.

“Though the region had witnessed relative tranquility occasioned by the skewed implementation of the Presidential Amnesty Programme for some Niger Delta agitators, but the crave for everybody to be a leader (general), the over patronage to the leaders (warlords), undermining of the warlords’ lieutenants and followers, non-recognition of smaller groups/camps can be attributed to the resurgence of crisis in the region.