Osinbajo who stated this in Akure, Ondo state capital, during the Second National Council on Niger Delta (NCND) meeting said Nigeria’s oil will no longer be profitable in international market in no distant future.
The Vice President said many countries of the world were planning towards finding alternative to oil saying “many countries are getting alternatives to oil, the development which would make the resource unprofitable in few years.”
He noted that the United States of America (USA), remains the largest importer of Nigeria crude oil, and plans are underway to find alternative to oil by the USA government, while Asian countries like Japan, China and others countries are also in desperate search for alternative to oil.
He said “the future of oil is in decline, that is why it is the duty of all stakeholders to explore all the opportunities now and to ensure we are not constantly battling with the security of the pipelines we should use the resources to develop other potential of the region.
“It is the duty of this council now to ensure we provide the road map for the future. The future that will not necessarily depend on oil.
“Many of the countries in Europe have set deadlines for phasing out cars using hydrocarbon,” he said, adding that the development meant that Nigeria’s crude oil would not be needed in the global market.
“It is obvious that oil is not going to last forever. As a matter of fact everything that will see showed that oil is declining very quietly.
“We have no reason why we should not develop all other potentials apart of oil in the region. If we can do this the full potential of the region will be fulfil and our collective vision will be realised.”
“We should use the resources to develop other potentials of the region and it is the duty of this council to provide that road map for the future, the future that we will not necessarily depend on oil.
The Vice President however charged stakeholders towards finding an alternative to oil and advised stakeholders the Niger Delta region to allow peace to reign in the region so that the Federal Government can use the resources or proceeds from the oil to develop the region for the benefit of the people.
“The future of oil is declining and that is why it is the duty of all stakeholders to exploit all the opportunity now and to ensure that we are not constantly battling with the security of the pipeline,” he said.
He assured the people of the region that the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari would ensure justice, peace and equity to the people of the Niger Delta saying this is to ensure that the people of the region benefit from their wealth.
Speaking on the Ogoni cleanup, Osinbajo said “it is on but that it might be undergoing slow pace than anticipated” and explained that the administration was applying caution so that it would not flop like efforts made by the past administration.
The state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu in his address commended the federal government for ensuring peace in the Niger Delta region and requested for operational licence for deep sea mining port In Ilaje Free Trade Zone
Akeredolu said that the development of the Deep Sea Mining Port would serve as the veritable potential to turn the Niger Delta Region of Ondo State into a hub of investment opportunities.
Akeredolu who recalled the long history of development intervention in the oil producing areas, said that the “commendable” effort made by past administrations to transform the economic and physical landscape had yielded positive marginal results.
He noted that there were glaring “facts of grinding and relentless poverty which has been the lot of the region. This is deplorable.”
“Issues of gross infrastructural deficit, security challenges and the general absence of social amenities expected in a modern society remain intractable.
“This region presents a cruel paradox; the entire country depends on it almost entirely for sustenance.
“It, however, lacks evidence of development depicting its status as the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg.”
He said the government and stakeholders in the Niger Delta region must seize the opportunity offered by the special meeting to ruminate on the methods adopted, which had made insignificant impact in bridging the infrastructural gap.
“It is also incumbent on us to set our priorities right. Embarking on any white elephant projects cannot be in their interest.”
He called for the empowerment of youths in the region and demanded the strengthening of transparency and accountability in the various interventions in the region.
He appealed to the Federal Government to grant the state the license for deep sea mining port in Ilaje to boost economic activities in the delta region of the state.
“The development of the deep sea mining port possesses the veritable potential to turn the Niger Delta areas of Ondo State into a hub of investment opportunities.
“It will assist, greatly, the quest to provide possibilities for infrastructural development of not only the area, but also the state and Nigeria at large.
‘It will add value to agricultural products and solid minerals development as evacuation of agricultural products and solid minerals (e.g bitumen) can be easily done without stress” he said.
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