Acting President Yemi Osibanjo says the private sector is best suited to drive investment and ensure rapid socio-economic development of the country.
He says though expectation has been that the public sector should be at the fore front of bringing about investment, the private sector is the best suited to drive investment when the enabling environment of peace and stability, particularly in the oil producing regions can be guaranteed.
“It is the private sector that drives investment, we must attract investment into our country, this is the path to sustainable development,’’ Osibanjo said.
The acting President who spoke during a day town hall meeting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, urged the youths of the region to be interested in technology education, adding that ‘’the future lies in technology.’’
“We must encourage them, societies are built on innovation, and we must be wise to use our oil resources for development. This is to time to focus on development, the future depends on innovation,’’ he said.
Osibanjo, who pleaded with the people to give the present administration time to produce result, said the oil producing areas in the Niger Delta should be treated as special development centres, adding that the Federal Government was working towards the establishment of modular refineries in the country.
He said the oil producing areas should be hub for refineries and petrochemical complexes and power stations, pointing out the Federal Government would work with international oil companies (IOCs) to ensure the realisation of the demands by the oil communities that the head offices of the companies be relocated to the Niger Delta.
On the Ibaka deep-sea port being initiated by the Akwa Ibom government, he said the Federal Government would partner the state towards the realisation of the project, explaining that there were plenty of projects for Akwa Ibom State in the 2017 budget.
In his remark, Governor Udom Emmanuel lamented the absence of oil and gas facilities such as petrochemical complexes including refineries, adding that there had been no major Federal Government project in the state.
The governor, who made a special appeal for Federal Government’ support over the Coconut Refinery being undertaken by the state, lamented the neglect of the multi million dollar Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON), adding that such a project that could create at least seven more profit centres should not be allowed to die.
“We are setting up a plantation of at least two million seedlings of coconut. We want to extract coconut oil. When the minister of agriculture heard about this, he jumped up and said if Akwa Ibom is actually doing that, he would make sure the Federal Government partners with us to set up the refinery,’’ he said.
According to Udom, there should be a ‘political solution’ to resolve the problem of the aluminium plant, while also appealing to the Federal Government to assist the state in the completion of the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the Ibom International Airport.
“We need to partner with the Federal Government for the completion of the project; it is 75 percent completed, if we have a loan facility, we will back the loan,’’ he said.
The governor, who also appealed to the Federal Government to assist in making the processes of doing business in the state to be easier, said the bottlenecks had scared away investments in the oil and gas sector.
He also made a case for the appointment of indigenes of the state into top management of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation.
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