Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
By now President Mohammadu Buhari and all those who supported the idea that former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva should be the Minister of State for Petroleum would be happy for recognising a round peg in a round hole.
Sylva who missed out in the first cabinet constituted between 2015 and 2019 has made the second cabinet and within two months in office has offered hope for the Niger Delta region.
At the height of militancy in 2008, Sylva as governor was the initiator of the Amnesty Programme which he used in Bayelsa State and sold to the late Presidency Umaru Yar’ Adua. It was therefore disappointing for the people that he was not given any cabinet position in Buhari’s first term. That however did not deter him from supporting Buhari’s presidency throughout the 2015 and 2019 elections.
On August 21, he was given a sensitive position which is very relevant to the people of the Niger Delta. Speaking shortly after his inauguration at a reception held in his honour, Sylva captures the significance of his appointment and the nature of President Buhari as the leader of Nigeria.
He said: “This honour is not done to me personally but it was done to Bayelsa State and the whole of Ijaw land. And who do we give the credit to apart from God; we can only give credit to President Muhammadu Buhari. I have always preached Buhari to you. In fact when my people asked me in 2014 whether we have an option B, I said no. Option A, B and C are Buhari.
“ Many people do not understand the nature of people because you are not close to them, but when you are close to people then you know them. I want to tell you that I know President Buhari to be a very a good and compassionate man. He cares more than anybody I know about poor people and that is why he cannot tolerate people who steal money from the treasury that should go to the poor people. I have rededicated myself to the services of this country and service of my people. I will never disappoint you.”
The President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Pereotubo Oweilaemi said Sylva’s appointment has made Ijaw people happy.
“Indeed, Buhari has proven to be a President with listening ears. The Ijaw nation is very happy for this kind gesture. We use this medium to also congratulate Sylva for being appointed as a Minister of State for Petroleum. With his wealth of experience in public office, we have no doubt that he will deliver in his ministry. We are also certain that Sylva will use his position to build bridges in the Niger Delta for the sustenance of the existing peace. We advise the new Petroleum Minister who is a product of the Niger Delta struggle to commence with the process of healing the wounds by bringing the government closer to the people,” Oweilaemi said.
The Secretary-General of IYC, Alfred Kemepadei, also added his voice saying,”President Buhari has appointed a true son of the region who understands our challenges and environment.”
Sylva has demonstrated his mission to build peace in the volatile Niger Delta region between oil communities and oil companies so as to ensure undisrupted production of oil resources in the country. He harped on this in his first visit to Okpoama his community in Brass Local Government Area after his inauguration where he declared that increased production of oil resources is paramount to the Federal Government.
“First we will need to sanitise the oil industry. I believe that we cannot condone losses in crude oil production. We must ensure zero loss. We must not lose any crude oil. We must develop our abundant gas deposits in the sector and generally sanitize the sector,” he said.
The recent resolution of the 35, 000 OML 25 dispute involving Belema Oil Producing Company, Shell Petroluem Development Company (SPDC) and communities in Kula Kingdom of Aku-ku Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State brokered by the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari within the two months of Sylva’s reign at the ministry is an indication that better days of peace are here for people of the Niger Delta region.
Speaking at the signing of the dispute resolution agreement, Sylva reiterated that his mandate as HMSPR was to ensure a zero disruption in crude oil and gas production across all assets.
He said the Petroleum Ministry under his watch had resolved to settle all pending legacy issues capable of igniting loss or disruption in production, adding that every drop of oil produced in Nigeria must get to the desired destination to create the much needed value for all stakeholders.
In Kula kingdom, Sylva stressed the importance of peace for the people of Niger Delta to reap the dividends the Buhari government has for it on the table. He noted that the biggest beneficiaries of the agreement were not just the oil companies but the members of the OML 25 communities and every Nigerian.
“We need unity in our land today. We have fought to this point and the Federal Government has started looking our way. It is time for us to change strategy and ensure that we bring the benefits of investments to our various communities. If we don’t make our communities peaceful, investments cannot come. The investors are ready to come here, unfortunately in some cases there is no peace,” he said.