From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has called for the intervention of the United Nations in the development of the Niger Delta region.
Akpabio made the call when he received in audience, the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande.
Muhammad-Bande was accompanied to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs by the immediate past Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, and current Director, International Organisations Department (IOD), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Samson Itegboje.
Areas listed by Akpabio for the intervention of the United Nations were skills acquisition, flood remediation, education, health, amongst others.
Akpabio told Muhammad-Bande that the most important thing is that the skills acquisition centres in the region have to be utilised, saying that with the requisite skills, the people of the Niger Delta region will be able to utilise the centres.
Akpabio also said the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs is involved in housing construction, disclosing that flooding, particularly whenever Cameroon open their dams once in a year, it affects the entire Niger Delta and most of the communities suffer a lot of flood.
“So, whatever you can do in terms of flood remediation and assistance, it will help us also,” Akpabio said.
Akpabio further called for the United Nations’ assistance in the area of education and told Muhammad-Bande that whenever there are educational opportunities, the Ministry will send some wards to attend the United Nations’ programmes.
This, Akpabio stated, will expose the people of the region to good behaviours, adding that when they get exposed to the right attitude and the right behaviours, they will return and practice same in the country.
The former Governor of Akwa Ibom State also said healthcare delivery system is a problem in the region and called for intervention in the area of production of malaria vaccines just like the world has done in terms of COVID-19.
Akpabio recalled his meeting with the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, where he asked the British envoy that the world woke up to realise that COVID-19 was killing so fast, but in Africa, particularly West Africa, malaria kills more than COVID-19 and cancer.
“So, for over 500 years, we have a lot of pharmaceutical companies abroad producing malaria drugs of different types and packing them to us. Why have we not thought of malaria vaccine in 500 years? But when COVID-19 came, we were able to rise to the occasion and under one year, we were able to get vaccines for COVID-19.
“I am not saying it is not good. It is good for the world to survive, but let Africans also survive; let West Africans who are suffering from malaria survive.
“So, this is one of the things you will assist us with. There should be vaccination. The world should assist us to produce vaccination for malaria and of course, most of those malaria drugs could be produced in-country and it would create a lot of job opportunities,” Akpabio also said.
In terms of environmental issues, Akpabio said it was not only in Ogoni land that required reclamation, adding that there were so many other areas that needed such attention.
He also listed food production such as fish production which will also be needing the United Nations’ intervention in order to make them useful for export.
Akpabio further said the region will continue to pursue peace because without peace, there cannot be any meaningful development, adding that the peace of the region is also the peace of Nigeria since it contributes over 90 percent to the nation’s foreign exchange earnings.
Earlier, Muhammad-Bande said he was at the Ministry not just representing the United Nations System, but on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that there can do a follow-up.
Muhammad-Bande added that for the United Nations, all the issues relating to the Ministry of Niger Delta are very important such as inclusion, environmental rectification, issues pertaining to dealing with youths and social justice.
“These are extremely key and the straddle. Literally, every committee that is important in the United Nations System, from security to health, to development, to justice, everything! And Nigeria is a great country, an important country. What we do in the Niger Delta is reflective of what we are as a country,” Muhammad-Bande said.