Vanguard
25 March 2011
...it was the late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, who made huge strides in addressing the problems of the region with the establishment of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, granting of amnesty to armed youths, and subsequent initiation of a post-amnesty programme.
This has gone a long way to douse the tension and violence that the region had been known for. The current President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the first indigene of Niger Delta to occupy that exalted office consolidating on the gains of his predecessor has brought remarkable and tremendous peace and stability to the region and the result is the up shoot in oil production of the nation.
This achievement can be attributed to the foundation laid by his predecessors and his vast and well grounded understanding of the region and its people having served as Deputy Governor and Governor in Bayelsa, one of the states in the region. The people are, therefore, now seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
With the Federal Government's intention to privatize the power sector which involves selling 51 per cent of its shares in the thermal power generating plants to core investors, comes another opportunity to uplift the economic and social well being of the people of the Niger Delta. Three of the power stations to be sold are in Sapele, Ughelli and Afam all in the Niger Delta with huge volume of natural gas reserve in the country.
It is therefore important to see how the privatization of these facilities will impact particularly on the people of Niger Delta. We believe that if consideration of the right of first refusal is given to entrepreneurs of Niger Delta origin with credible portfolio and relevant industrial track record, coupled with financial capacity to buy government's minimum of 51 per cent stake, this will further give the people of the region a sense of belonging and excite patriotic behaviours from them.
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