CHAIRMAN of the governing board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, on Thursday, asked militants in the region to give peace a chance and end violent attacks on oil installations, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari means well for the nation.
Ndoma-Egba, in a statement by the Head, Corporate Affairs of the NDDC, Chijioke Amu-Nnadi, told the militants that the president was determined to end environmental degradation in the region, adding that the militants must play their part by ending violence.
The former Senate leader also commended the Federal Government for its readiness to end the paucity of development in the region, adding that with peace, development would permeate the region.
The NDDC chairman cited the increase in the budgets of the Ministry of Niger-Delta Affairs, the NDDC and the amnesty programme as some of the signals that the government was ready to depart from the old ways of managing the Niger Delta adopted by past administrations.
According to him, the new urgency for the completion of the East-West Road, the East-West rail line, the Ogoni clean-up, as well as the recent dialogue with leaders from the region embarked upon by the Presidency were further clear signals of President’s Buhari’s goodwill and good faith towards the region.
Senator Ndoma-Egba said the above mentioned projects would be fully established if the enabling environment was created in the region, adding that the time had come for “all the militant groups to stop the breaches and vandalism of oil facilities.”
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