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Fasehun, Sylva want Anyaoku, global bodies to steer Niger Delta talks
A PEACE deal in the strife-torn Niger Delta that is to be brokered by the former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku or international bodies, was canvassed by two prominent Nigerians yesterday.
Fasehun said that since the leaders of the Niger Delta have rejected Prof. Ibrahim Gambari as the chairman of the Niger Delta summit, the Federal Government should name a replacement for him.
Sylva said that international involvement in the resolution of the Niger Delta crisis could unlock over one million barrels of crude oil currently shut in and bring down prices in global market.
He made the call while speaking yesterday at the Nigerian session of the on-going 19th World Petroleum Congress (WPC) in Madrid, Spain, adding that contrary to the general impression in the public domain, the indication was that hostage-taking, arson and attacks on oil facilities were on the decline in his state.
"If all George Bush and Tony Blair could achieve after their visit to Saudi Arabia was commitment to producing an additional 250,000 barrels per day to OPEC supplies, perhaps they should visit the Niger Delta to settle the problems there where over one million barrels of oil production remain shut-in," he said.
Others who spoke at the Nigerian session include Senator Sanusi Daggash, who represented the Minister of State for Energy, Odein Ajumogobia, the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, Honourary Adviser to the President on Energy Strategy, and Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, Managing Director of Oceanic International Bank Plc.
The governor said it was time the world awoke to the reality that the problem in the Niger Delta was an international and not a local one because increased oil production from the area was directly related to pricing.
He disclosed that plans had been concluded for the establishment of the Niger Delta Information Resource Centre aimed at putting out the right information in the public domain.
Sylva said Bayelsa State had for the first time taken a stand at the WPC to reach out to prospective foreign investors and sensitise them to the investment opportunities as well as efforts at guaranteeing security of such investment.
The governor blamed the crisis in the area on the failure of multinational oil exploration and production companies, noting that they were operating faulty and ineffectual corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.
This development, he said, resulted in the collapse of the educational sector, which in turn led to high unemployment in the area among other negative social problems.
According to him, the government at various levels have entrenched the peace in the Niger Delta region by resolving over the past two years the 50-year-old problem of how to split the oil revenue between the Federal Government and the oil producing states.
"While many people in the Niger Delta argue that justice means a fairer share of oil revenue for the oil producing states, geography simply demands more funds for the Niger Delta", he said.
He also stated that the cost of infrastructure development in the region was 1000 per cent higher than in other parts of Nigeria.
The governor disclosed that as evidence of his government's commitment to tackling the insecurity in the state - hostage-taking, attacks on oil platform among other problems which reached a peak in August 2006 - has dropped since his assumption of office and invited independent assessment of his claims.
He attributed this achievement to the triple 'e' policy of engagement, empowerment and enforcement aimed at growing confidence in government action.
As a way of taking advantage of the huge hydrocarbon resource base of the state, he disclosed that the state-owned oil company, Bayelsa Oil Company, acquired two assets, including an Oil Mining Lease OML 46 (marginal field) which has a reserve portfolio of 26 million barrels and Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL 240) with a proven reserve of 243 million barrels.
Sylva assured that plans had reached an advanced stage for re-entry of Atala field (OML 46) before the end of 2008, adding that the state company was ready to partner interested investors.
Speaking on "Reforming the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry as a catalyst for Economic and Social Development" , Ajumogobia stated that four deliverables were set target for the government reform policy, including a comprehensive national oil and gas policy, the enabling and comprehensive petroleum industry bill, the revised institutional framework and implementation road map.
The minister said one aspect of the reform process was that the concept of joint venture cash calls would be replaced by the equity, debt and third party financing.
He explained that the essence of such incorporation was to make it flexible for the operating companies to be able to operate as commercial entities.
Lukman said the reform exercise was aimed at opening the sector to foreign investors and that all the laws being reviewed were done in accordance with international practice.
On her part Mrs. Ibru said with the consolidation of Nigerian banks, issue of finance by Nigerian banks was no longer a problem, adding that the local banks in conjunction with foreign banks were well equipped to raise capital for many projects in the oil and gas sector.
She specifically mentioned the banks' feat in support of LNG development and ExxonMobil projects where Nigerian banks played an active role in raising fund for their execution.
In a statement yesterday, Fasehun recommended that former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Anyaoku, heads the panel which, he said, should be a stop-gap body specifically mandated to promptly bring combatants to the negotiating table and defuse the brewing crisis.
The OPC founder said Anyaoku possessed fantastic credentials for intervening in the clash, considering his neutral disposition, his superior diplomatic skills and his international grounding in conflict resolution across the Commonwealth.
Other top Nigerians that Fasehun proposed for his dream panel include Chief Anthony Enahoro, Dr. Tunji Otegbeye, Comrade Sylvester Ejiofor, Col. Abubakar Umar (rtd), Dr. Balarabe Musa, Chief E.K. Clark and Prof. Grace Alele-Williams.
According to him, the panel's first assignment would be to negotiate an immediate cease-fire through dialogue, which will enable fighters to reconsider their tough stance and sheathe their swords.
Rationalising his proposal, the OPC leader said: "What is brewing in that zone is a dangerous cross-breed between an uprising, a civil strife and a mini civil-war; and all the concerned parties will achieve better results with jaw-jaw than war-war. This group of trusted Nigerians will bring both parties to the dialogue table and help quell the raging storm before we suffer an unnecessary explosion that will firmly ground Nigeria's petroleum industry and economy and lead to unnecessary deaths and damages."
Fasehun said the Nigerian government ought to learn from years of past experience in Odi, Choba, the Internal Security Task Force led by Lt.-Col. Dauda Komo and lately the Joint Task Force that the indigenous agitators became more hardened with each military incursion.
But the OPC leader felt most disheartened that the impending armed face-off held the potential of untold hardship and death for peace-loving masses in the zone, while retarding the country's democracy.
"Unleashing any scale of military operation in the creeks would give the Federal Government the unenviable image of levying war against its own citizens, with all its attendant human rights and genocidal implications", he said.
Meanwhile, the International Group of Awareness on Democracy (IGAD) expressed support for Gambari.
A statement issued by the Executive Director of IGAD, Sina Awelewa, said that the summit would surely bring about the desired peace, which has eluded the region for so long.
Awelewa stated further that Gambari's conflict resolution credentials made him suitable for the position because "the summit is not a Niger Delta event per se but an international event which required an international figure with an enviable track record like Gambari to chair it."
According to him, "Prof. Gambari has performed a similar role creditably well in many other countries like Angola, Iraq, Myanmar and a host of others. We should not allow personal sentiments to rob us the kind of international experience that would greatly benefit the summit."
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