OPEC scribe-designate okays dialogue with militants

From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, ‎Abuja
THE incoming Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Countries (OPEC), Mohammed Barkindo said the best way to solve the renewed agitation in the Niger Delta was the “carrot and stick” option.
He said he was in support of the Federal Government engaging in dialogue, with the militants especially as it was beginning to yield positive results in the barrels of crude being pumped per day.
The Federal Government had said it was open to negotiations with the militant group, Niger Delta Avengers so that they would stop the bombing of oil installations in the country.
The group had given the FG conditions upon which it would agree to meet on the dialogue table.
Speaking with State House corre-spondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Barkindo: “For me, based on my own experience here, the option of carrot and stick, as they call it, is the way forward. Government, I understand, are negotiating, discussing and we are beginning to see positive results. So I don’t think it will be proper to preempt this discussions that are being handled by Dr. Ibe Kachikwu. But I remain confident that through this negotiations, stable and permanent solutions will be found to this problem because the Niger Delta region is a very important part of our country and whatever we can do to address the challenges of development, I think, is the way forward.
“I have been told that production is beginning to rise again, so for us in OPEC, this is the first thing we look at, how much is a member country producing. When we saw that production was falling in Nigeria as a result of recent challenges, the international community, the market also took note of that. But now I think things are beginning to come back to nomalcy and I have seen some of your reports that are also very positive. So your support is also very important because the oil market is fed by information not by crude oil,” he said in response to how Nigeria can solve the Niger Delta crisis.”
He thanked Buhari and the Minister of State for Petroleum, for their support saying he rode on the integrity of the President.
Barkindo is the third Nigerian to be elected Secretary General of OPEC after the late Micheal Fadele and Rilwanu Lukman.
His appointment was made known at the end of OPEC’s 169th Ordinary Meeting, in Vienna, Austria, in June.
He would replace Libyan Abdalla El-Badri, who has held the position since 2007.