Daniel Kanu
The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and the United Niger Delta Energy Development Security Strategy (UNDEDSS), the umbrella body for the region, have reiterated calls for the Federal Government to, without further delay, relocate the mega dry dock specifically designed for the region from Lagos waters, where it had been lying unused, to the Niger Delta.
Rising from a special Webinar meeting chaired in Lagos to mark the 93rd birthday anniversary of PANDEF leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, the leaders, after critical assessment of the Niger Delta’s economy after the lockdown, submitted that the relocation of the Shipbuilding Dry Dock, believed to be the largest in Africa, would be the ideal enterprise for President Muhammadu Buhari to commission in the post-COVID-19 economy for the benefit of the region and the entire country.
In a statement on the webinar meeting of the groups in Lagos, UNDEDSS Executive Secretary who also doubles as General Secretary of PANDEF, Tony Uranta, said the benefits of the dock to the region would be immeasurable considering the Maritime University in Delta.
‘Relocating the Dry Dock project to the Niger Delta would be the biggest post-COVID-19 investment in the region as it would open up the economy of the region,’ he said.
The House of Representatives in March 2020 had urged the Federal Government and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to return and install the floating dock acquired at a cost of over N50 billion to Okerenkoko, Delta.
The lawmakers also urged the Federal Government to, as a matter of utmost urgency, direct the installation of the floating dock at Okerenkoko, the location it was decided upon by the government as the operational base of the maritime facility, reminding the authorities that Nigeria was paying over N4 billion annually as demurrage charges for where it was parked.
It would be recalled that the dock since its arrival in the country on June 11, 2018, had been in a storage cart, owing to controversial bureaucratic wrangling over where it would be located as its operational base.
The House urged NIMASA to abide by all the terms and conditions precedent to the acquisition of the floating dock with a view to ensuring that the dock was put into operation forthwith in Okerenkoko, Delta.
Uranta, however, said the Okerenkoko floating dock project was duly considered and approved by the Federal Executive Council at its 37th meeting on 23 October 2013, and the approval was conveyed to the Federal Ministry of Transport on 29 October 2013.
According to him, ‘the location of the Dry dock to Badagry in Lagos State is contrary to the initial approval by the Federal Government for its location in Delta.
‘Our appeal is that the dry dock should be moved permanently, installed and commissioned in Delta, considering the contributions of the region to the nation’s economy.
‘The dry dock is lying fallow in the waters of Lagos state and should be taken to Delta next to the maritime university to provide practical knowledge to the students.
‘The dry dock, if located in the Niger Delta, will open up the region and make it more viable, including the employment it will generate and training on shipbuilding processes.’
He disclosed that the meeting had set up a committee to be chaired by Prof Pat Utomi to look at its institutions, state leadership and contributions of its elected members in the National Assembly to the development of the region.
‘We are going to begin to study more vigorously, the daily records of how many bills promoted by the region’s representatives at the NASS.
‘Our focus will also be on state governments and its ministries in the region to ascertain utilization of statutory funds to cut down corruption,’ he said.
He, however, said that the coalition appealed for more palliatives to the Niger Delta to keep it robust and assist its people whose lands were no longer viable for farming due to abuses of its lands occasioned by excavation and explorations.
Uranta said that the region remained a cash cow for the nation and should be made to benefit from its resources, pointing out that whilst oil prices had crashed, gas prices had risen.
He reiterated the groups positions, supporting the Federal Government’s ordered audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC) and for cleansing the Ogoni land oil spills.
The activist, however, said that the group urged governors of the region to step up action for internal security of their states.