By John Ikani
Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has assured the people of the Niger Delta that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration will complete critical projects it has embarked upon in the region.
Prof. Osinbajo gave the assurance on Tuesday at the 6th anniversary lecture/Niger Delta Awards organised by Gbaramatu Voice Newspaper, which held in Lagos.
The VP who was represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Office of the Vice President, Mr. Edobor Iyamu, said government’s commitment to ensuring completion of the project is in furtherance of its new Vision development agenda for the Niger Delta.
“In 2017, following my tour of the Niger Delta, which involved extensive consultations with key stakeholders in the region, the New Vision for the Niger Delta was birthed in response to the various challenges which had been plaguing our people.
“The objective of this New Vision is to ensure that the people of the region benefit maximally from their wealth, through promoting infrastructural developments, environmental remediation and local content development,” he said.
He added that, “as part of the quest to expand economic opportunities in the region, this administration has promoted investments in modular refineries. The objective of this initiative is to address our present energy demands and empower the Niger Delta people through promoting local content.”
The VP stated that while there are several modular refineries at different stages of completion across the region, three have been completed including the Niger Delta Petroleum Resources (NDPR) Modular Refinery in Rivers State; OPAC Modular Refinery in Delta State, and Walter Smith Modular Refinery in Imo State.
Osinbajo further assured of the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring the completion of projects that include Ogoni clean up, ongoing construction work on the 34-kilometers Bonny-Bodo Road/Bridge as well as the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri Rail Line project.
He went on to disclose that the Federal Government is developing a number of deep sea ports across the region, including the Bonny, Warri, and Ibom Deep Sea Ports, among other development projects such as the establishment of Export Processing Zones to boost economic activities.
