Photo: Sun News Publishing

More Stories on This Section

As Bakassi natives brood over the loss of their ancestral home to Cameroun on Thursday, the National Executive Council (NEC) has resolved that those who chose to resettle in any of the neighbouring states should be assisted to do so with minimal delay and pain.

The council’s meeting in Abuja presided over by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan and attended by majority of the 36 state governors and some ministers took the decision, placing neighbouring states of Akwa Ibom, Abia, Imo, Rivers and Bayelsa on the alert to receive the people and alleviate as much as possible the problems they would likely encounter while trying to resettle.

Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State who alongside his Imo and Oyo States’ counterparts, Chief Ikedi Ohakim and Otunba Alao Akala and the Minister of National Planning, Senator Sanusi Daggash briefed State House Correspondents on the outcome of the meeting said the council’s decision was to ensure that the affected people did not suffer unduly as a result of the ceding of their homeland to Cameroun.

“One of the key issues and I know one of the most interesting issue to most people will be the issue of Bakassi. We looked at the issue and we noted what has been done and all the states that might likely have problems because of movement of people. We told them to monitor situation. We are more concerned about the human angle and these particular governors have been mandated to go the extra mile to ensure that their sufferings are alleviated”, he stated.

The council also constituted a national committee on gas, comprising governors of Imo, Osun, Rivers, Niger, Kaduna and Yobe, the Minister of National Planning as well as the Minister of State for Energy (Gas) as members. The committee is to submit its report in October.
Governor Aliyu also said the council decided that each should establish a debt management office in determination to be linked to the one at the national level in an effort to keep tab on the debts and ensure proper monitoring of loans.

“Many of the states are still indebted. We said each state should establish a debt management unit, which will now be linked to DMO at the centre, so that we ensure that debts or loans that are taken are properly monitored.

“I remember that the last discussion we had was that every state or governor should be able to take the kind of loans that he should pay within his tenure. But when we have this debt management office at least we will be able to monitor what is already on the ground and what we are capable of taking”, he further pointed out.