Roadmap to end militancy in Niger Delta to be released in 3 weeks

The roadmap designed by the Federal Government to facilitate the implementation of processes that will end militancy in the Niger Delta region and entrenching peace and economic development will be unveiled in three weeks’ time.

This was disclosed Thursday by Charles Achodo, special adviser on Niger Delta affairs to Ibe Kachukwu, the minister of state for petroleum resources.

He disclosed this while speaking at the inaugural meeting of the inter-ministerial working group on ending militancy in the Niger Delta, comprising of stakeholders from the ministries of petroleum, environment, defence, as well as those from the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and other development partners.

According to him, “it is expected that the 16-point agenda made by PANDEF will be harmonized with the 20-point agenda set by the Kachikwu, with funding support from other development partners to achieve the region’s developmental agenda.”

Achodo called the forum a “common platform for agencies to save resources, avoid duplication of duties, and ensure joint accountability for the nation’s scarce resources entrusted to them.”

Also in attendance was Paul Boroh, who is coordinator of the presidential amnesty programme, who “expressed the commitment of the working group to work with government to end militancy in the Niger Delta and create peace, stability, as well as security and development in the region.”

According to Kachikwu, Niger Delta crisis, coupled with the 45 per cent drop in oil production, has worsened the financial challenges of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, which gets only 55 per cent of the revenue which was available to the government in previous administrations.

To tackle this menace, Kachikwu unveiled a 20-point agenda in February 2017 titled “Oil Sector Militancy Challenges…Roadmap to Closure,” which he said is aimed at the institutionalization of permanent peace in the oil rich Niger Delta.

The articles on the 20-point agenda include engagement town hall meetings, inter-agency collaboration, ring fenced state approach, security hold hands, peace and investment on state basis, as well as core business focus.

Other areas to be looked at are job creation, focus on investment in gas to power, incentive for peace scheme, massive civil infrastructure revamp, clean up, domestication of oil business opportunities, and establishment of the Niger Delta Development Fund.

This development agenda is expected to help create opportunities for about 5,000-10,000 youths in each state, as the federal government currently struggles to fund the programme alone due to its current reality of dwindling oil revenue.