Ben Dunno, Warri
Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has said the Federal Government’s interest in the Niger Delta goes beyond the region’s oil and gas deposits.
The vice president said government in Abuja is more committed to achieving infrastructural and human capital development of the Niger Delta; as a way of complementing revenue derived from oil and gas production.
Osinbajo, who made this known at the first matriculation ceremony of the Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Warri South-West council in Delta State at the weekend, noted that this is part of the development plan mapped out in the New Vision of the Niger Delta (NVND).
The vice president’s Special Assistant, Mr. Edobor Iyamu, said this when he represented him at the occasion.
He said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government is committed to the region’s development and that accounted for certain initiatives he has taken concerning the Niger Delta.
Osinbajo noted that as parts of government’s commitment to the region, the president has embarked on some projects which included flag-off of the Ogoniland clean-up in Rivers State, after many years of being ignored by successive governments.
He also spoke of construction of modular refineries, four of which are at varying levels of completion across the region, as well as the gas flare commercialisation programme aimed at ending gas flaring in the Niger Delta, among projects executed by the present administration.
“There is potential not only limited to oil and gas. Niger Delta will soon not be defined by only oil and gas. But, by human capital resources.
“We have a vision. Nigerian Maritime University (NMU) will be known all over the world as a centre of Maritime Excellence,” the vice president stated.
In his speech, acting governor of Delta State, Kingsley Burutu Otuaro, reaffirmed the belief of the Niger Delta to Buhari’s conviction in the NMU, Okerenkoko, being a vision that would fast regional growth.
“The actualisation of NMU, Okerenkoko was collective aspiration of Ijaw and the entire Niger Delta people for the purpose of fast tracking the human capital development of the region.
Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety (NIMASA), Mr. Dakuku Peterside, emphasised the need for more funds to facilitate infrastructural development for the school.
Professor Maureen Etebu and the institution’s Governing Council, led by Chief Timipre Sylva, commended the vice president for the facilities on the take-off campus in Kurutie and called for collaboration of all stakeholders to ensure the success of the institution.