The Ijaw Youth Council National (IYC), has renewed its ultimatum of 90 days beginning from July 12 to International Oil Companies (IOCs) to relocate to the Niger state region or face the wrath of the Ijaw youth. The group, while expressing disappointment with the federal government, also rejected the proposal by the latter to host just two modular refineries each in the nine states of the Niger Delta. Addressing a press conference at Izon Wari secretariat of the group in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital, the national president of the IYC, Mr. Oweilaemi Roland Peretubo, said having just two modular refineries in the Niger Delta states would defeat the purpose of the establishment of the modular refinery as it would not be able to curb oil theft, noting that the clause “host” by the acting President is too ambiguous. According to him, it is only the participation of
According to him, it is only the participation of Ijaw people and other Niger Deltans that can make the policy succeed. “The modular refineries must be owned and control by the people of the region, not owed by outsiders and the people just host the refineries. “While we commend the federal government for its effort to site modular refineries in the Niger Delta, we reject the proposal of only two of such refineries in each of the Niger Delta states. “Our rejection is due to the fact that we consider that number too grossly inadequate in achieving the government’s advertised objective of stopping oil theft and illegal oil refining in the region. “We believe that the government’s objective could only be achieved by the creation of an environment that guarantees the inclusive participation of Ijaws and Niger Deltans in the oil industry and ownership of oil blocs,” he said. Peretubo who declined to state the action, Ijaw youths would take at the expiration of the ultimatum condemned what it called the demilitarization of the Niger Delta region. Rather, he said the federal government should focus on the industrialization of the Niger Delta so as to douse the tension generated by the deployment of security personnel to the region. “You are aware that not long, the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo asked all IOCs to relocate their headquarters to the Niger Delta region but as we speak the companies have refused to obey that Presidential pronouncement. We are pained by this. More so, the ground for their refusal for relocation to the Niger Delta is unclear and untenable. We want to state categorically that irrespective of some of the few security challenges, this region is the safest in the country today. There is nowhere in the country that there are no pockets of criminal activities. We therefore once again call on the companies to as a matter of urgency to return to the Niger Delta region for the interest of all stakeholders. “We cannot continue to pay the price of having our land suffer from oil exploitation activities while other states benefit from the taxes that are due us. We hereby give them 90 days beginning from July 12 to heed our call. After the expiration of the 90days we are going to take our action.”
DAILYTIMES
