Chineme Okafor
included engaging the oil-producing communities and sustaining the Amnesty Programme for the repentant militants were in existence already.
Insisting that the administration was determined to tackle militancy and achieve peace in the region, Kachikwu noted that it would be bullish in its focus on remedying the environment of the Niger Delta, which he said was also rich enough for aqua tourism for revenue generation.
To clean up the environment, Kachikwu said Buhari would continue to implement the existing seven-point agenda and other behind-the-scenes engagements of relevant stakeholders.
According to him, the first point on the 20-point agenda he plans to launch would be for oil companies to engage the state governments and communities on issues affecting a particular state.
The second point, he noted, would focus on inter-agency collaborations between the Ministries of Petroleum Resources and the Niger Delta, as well as the NDDC on crosscutting development and operational issues of the region. The third point would be a ring-fenced approach to ending the militancy. On this, he stressed that the Federal Government would stop dealing with militancy as a national issue and adopt a state-by-state approach to ending it on the ground that each state in the region appeared to have peculiar challenges that prompt militancy in their areas.
Kachikwu said government would focus on creating 100,000 jobs in each of the oil-producing states in the Niger Delta in the next five years, while the Amnesty Programme would be decentralised because Federal Government can no longer fund the programme alone as a result of dwindling oil revenue.
Another plan under the agenda Kachikwu launched would be to adopt the“Security Hold Hands Approach”, which according to him, was aimed at strengthening security in the region through the collaboration of all the relevant agencies.
He also identified peace and investment initiatives as another focus in the new agenda, and stressed that peace encourages investment while crisis serves as a disincentive to investment. He noted that the agenda would encourage states in the region to continue to pursue peace in exchange for improved investment.
The minister equally added that there would be a core business focus wherein the Federal Government will continue to attract business opportunities to the Niger Delta, stressing that at the core of the militancy was the lack of economic opportunities for inhabitants of the region to earn decent lives for themselves and their families.
He said the setting up of cottage industries and business startups in the region will encourage violent agitators to shun militancy and engage in business activities that will earn them good incomes.
Kachikwu said that oil companies would be encouraged to embark on the revamp of oil and gas infrastructure in the Niger Delta, in addition to focusing on the“clean-up of our mess”. He noted in this respect, that the government had launched the Ogoni clean-up exercise which should restore the environment of Ogoni land.
Other aspects of the 20-point plan included the domestication of oil and gas business opportunities to achieve greater participation of the people of the oil-producing region without excluding other Nigerians.
He said the government would also encourage education programmes in the Niger Delta to make the people embrace education and shun militancy. He stated that the Amnesty Programme would be launched on a state-by-state basis to create opportunities for 5,000 to 10,000 youths in each states of the region.
Further on security and peace, Kachikwu explained that ensuring justice for all the stakeholders in the region would be the major plank of the agenda, while the government would continue to strengthen the military and other security agencies to maintain peace as it would no longer accept instances of militants holding the country to ransom.