New Telegraph

2023: When PANDEF presented 16- point agenda to Obi

Background:

The 2023 general Election is fast approaching and in all, the most important is the presidential election which is featuring three major presidential candidates from the three regions of the country. The election is however generating enough tension as the candidates have already divided the citizens of the country especially along party lines. For people democratic party candidate Atiku Abubakar who wants to come and replace another northerner, political pundits are of the opinion that he is not supposed to get to Aso rock because for them, another northerner is not supposed to win and for all progressives party candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he supposed to win while others are of the opinion that he may not be able to scale through considering his health status and for Peter Obi the labour party candidate, his party does not have structure which nay sayers said will affect his candidature but the youths of the country said that it does not matter as far as he has something to offer. And that was why an apex group that comprises of all the groups in the Niger Delta region recently in Yenagoa admitting that he is eminently qualified presented him with sixteen point agenda to work with when he wins.

PANDEF presents agenda

In a meeting with the leadership of PANDEF, the group’s national chairman Emmanuel Essien handed over the document to the labour party candidate which was signed by himself and Godknows Igali, secretary board of trustees. The document read “When you win you have to protect our interest because the Niger Delta is the region that produces over eighty percent of the revenue for the country and we cannot be taken for granted. We asking you to consider structural adjustment/devolution of power with more resources to the sub-nationals.

This will help the regions to develop at their own pace and will help the country to grow. “We also want you to look at the restructuring of NDDC, which was established to help the Niger Delta region and ensure that the policies implemented including regional master plan which was made but has not been implemented. Also, projects like railway within the South South, referral hospitals, agricultural value chain , the East West road which for over twenty years has not been completed. Im sue you came through that road and you saw how it is.

Immediate reactivation

“The immediate reactivation and creation of all sea ports like Calabar port which is not functioning well in and creation of new ports in the region so as to create opportunity for movement of goods and services from the South South through the South East and North Central to the North East region of this country.

This will also boost economic and employment opportunities for our young people. “ We want you to enforce the relocation of the headquarters of international oil companies, to the region. We are losing a lot of revenues as a result of their absence in their area of operation. We are not jealous of Lagos but part of the revenue that Lagos is getting even from vat is from this region. “We will appreciates you in supporting the setting up of modular refineries to promote employment opportunities, check security challenges in the Niger Delta and supplement local production of refined products.

“We want you to completion of the gas mega city in Delta State, the Brass fertilizer company in Bayelsa State and the reactivation of ALSCON aluminum smelter plant in Akwa Ibom State. We want you to form coast guards under the supervision of the Nigerian navy for the protection of the resources in this area. “We like to improve on the implementation of amnesty programme which the region is currently enjoying. “We have a sixteen point agenda which we presented to the sitting Muhammadu Buhari in 2016 when oil production went as low as 800,000 barrels per day. We pleaded with our warlords to surrender for peace and economy of the country and they did but up till this moment only about one has been done. I will also give you a copy so that you study for implementation. “We will provide copies to you and your team for your perusal and finally, we will like to place on record, the desire of the South South zone to play critical roles for the success of your government when you win as president of the federal republic of Nigeria.

Obi responds

Responding, the labour party presidential candidate assured the group that he was committed to all that are written in the document. He said ” Anybody may have any reason to give anybody will have any reason but it is unacceptable the way the region has been treated considering their contribution to Nigeria.

He said “I’m a finance personnel in a bank. I have not seen where you continue to withdraw without paying in. I’m yet to see that bank. But that is the way Nigeria has been run and because of that, we run a country that is unproductive, a country that has been churning out poverty to everybody. “Bayelsa state that the road was awarded in 1970, no matter the excuse you give, fifty years, no matter any reason you give there is the no excuse for non-completion of eats west road. “The list of what is happening in Niger Delta is endless.

Some youths said we have to sit down and pay for youth restiveness and I said no. That is not the future. I want to support the youths to build their future. “Today oil is becoming a diminishing asset whether you like it or not and if for any reason oil becomes a diminishing asset today, you have lost everything because you did not benefit from it when it was a viable asset because you are blessed with an environment that nobody will be able to pay to recover it. “So the there is a reason to start making Nigeria productive by using these resources that we are generating today to start repairing your environment, by starting to put money into it.

Trust matters

“I’m a Niger Deltan by marriage and I respect that. What I say today is very simple. It is all about trust. What we need is care and a Nigeria that is productive. Every part has suffered in this country. “The entire country is not productive. How do you say that Akwa Ibom that has 7000 square kilometers of land, Borno that is 70.9 kilometers depends on Akwa Ibom. They are ten times bigger than Akwa Ibom in size. “But I can tell you that we can make more money from agriculture than we can make from oil. It has been proved all over the world.

The richest state in America is California because they live on agriculture. “Look at Bayelsa with 10.7 square kilometers of land, Niger state has the best fertile land with 76.3 square kilometers of land, seven and half times bigger than Bayelsa and it depends on oil and that is the crises we are facing in the country which must stop. “Taraba State is waiting to share money from the Niger Delta. They can grow coffee, flour. They can grow tea there. We have land, we can’t even feed ourselves because we are sharing the money and we produce poverty.

We have 133 million people living in poverty. We have more people living in poverty than China with 1.4 billion people. “We want to remove that sharing formula with production for everybody must produce something. We want to secure and unite Nigeria. We want to be able to ensure rule of law. We want to ensure an equitable and just country and you can’t have that without having proper devolution of power. “There is no reason why we shouldn’t have state police to secure our states. There is no reason why we shouldn’t have local government police. We need to secure ourselves. We want to move the country from consumption to production.

Commitment

“And when we want to talk about production, we will ensure that those who have produced today are taken care of and I assure you of my commitment. We can have more money from ports operations than oil and the entire Niger Delta is water. What has now happened is that we have the highest number of un- employed youths. Our youths at their productive age are doing nothing. Let me assure that whatever is written here, I’m committed to it. Whatever I say, I want them to tape it. A new Nigeria is possible. “Next year’s election should not be about tribe.

No tribe has uninterrupted electricity, it is all about leadership. Nigeria has taken over India in infant mortality. It is unacceptable. Our country has been criminalized. Even oil we are losing it because people are stealing it. Don’t think that those stealing oil are those taking it with buckets. No. We know those who are stealing it.

They are those in government. They are the one stealing the oil. “We are the only oil producing country that is not meeting up with our quota because all the oil companies are no longer investing. We are losing money. We lost 2,445 million dollars in July this year and in August, we lost 2.5billion dollars. We lost 3.3 trillion naira in two months, for a country that is running on deficit. Between January and April this year, our country made only 1.6thrillion naira in revenue and our expenditure was 4.7 trillion naira and nobody cares.

Status quo

“This state was under water, nobody showed empathy to them. Nobody cared and I was shocked that people were criticizing people said that it was politics. The government of Nigeria didn’t care. “This is where we found our first oil. This is where we make money. They had crisis and nobody cared. Nobody even came to say pleas sorry. And everybody kept quiet because it is a society that doesn’t care. The purpose of government is to care especially for the poor. This one you didn’t even for people who are giving you food. That is what we want to change.

“We have to stop this. It has got nothing to do with tribe or religion. No religion buys bread cheaper. It is only in this country that we talk about religion. “Im pleading with us, next year’s election will be on character we trust. I left over 30 billion naira in Anambra. Till today, Anambra has not bought me a bottle of water and I challenge anybody, anywhere you go and see one piece of land allocated to me by Anambra, come I will stop running. “We will fight corruption, it kills. We have to do everything to we stop it. We want people who are competent. It is nobody’s turn.

I come from a region they said it is my turn. I’m a proud Igbo man but I’m a Nigerian and I’m running this election as a Nigeria and I’m running because I’m qualified. “I believe that I can do the job and turn around Nigeria. That is my commitment. So im begging, this journey requires physical and intellectual strength. It is not a retirement work. I have passion for the job. I’m committed to it and I want to see Nigeria change.

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