The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has called on Niger Delta youths to shun crime and adopt intellectual persuasion in pursuing progress.
Senator Akpabio made this remark at the two-day Niger Delta Oil and Gas Investment and Security Summit held in Calabar from August 29 to 30.
Akpabio further emphasised the need for the people of Niger Delta to be known for their intellectual engagement to get things right, rather than mere lamentation and agitation.
He also noted that the oil industry has many laws, but their implementation rests with the people.
Akpabio highlighted the Petroleum Industry Act, Local Content Act, and Environmental Content Development and Monitoring Act as frameworks for progress.
He urged the people to take advantage of these provisions and invest in the oil and gas industry, saying there’s nothing wrong with forming companies to invest in the sector.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Gas, Ekpirikpe Ekpo, highlighted federal government investments in the sector, including a gas-to-methanol plant in Bayelsa.
Represented by his Senior Technical Advisor, Mr Abel Nsa, Ekpo noted that Cross River was strategically located to attract methanol projects.
He explained that developing a methanol plant in the state would create jobs and promote technology transfer.
He stated that it would also position the state as a hub for a gas-based industrialisation.
Ekpo said that Cross River had enormous gas export potential due to the Eastern Horizon Pipeline.
He explained that gas was being transported from Akwa Ibom through a valve station connected to the Obigbo-Aba line through to Cross River, terminating at UniCem, a factory in Mfamosin in Cross River.
“This infrastructure creates a unique opportunity for Cross River to serve as a gateway for gas exports to Cameroon and the wider Central African markets.
“By leveraging this corridor, Nigeria can generate significant foreign exchange revenues, strengthen regional energy security, and position Calabar as a true export hub,” he said
Ekpo, however, added that all of those opportunities depended on securing the nation’s assets.
He added that oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and sabotage were threatening not only revenue but also investors’ confidence.
Dr Chinedu Ogwus, a member of the International Society of Petroleum Engineers, said the challenges in the Niger Delta were caused by poor leadership and justice system in the nation.
Ogwus, who is also the Regional Director, Africa Robotics and Autonomous Systems, said the nation could drastically reduce the insecurity in the region by simply investing in technology and the youths to keep them busy.
He said there was nothing wrong in giving them, scholarships, jobs instead of the expatriates, and develop the region’s infrastructures since the large portion of the nation’s resources came from there.
He, however, called on the Niger Delta communities to be united, speak with one voice and eschew greed which was the bane to development in the region.
