Embrace Buhari’s peace moves, Presidency tells N’Delta

Fidelis Soriwei and Ovie Okpare

The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Brig. Gen. Paul Boroh, has urged the elders and leaders of the Niger Delta to embrace the peace opportunities presented by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Boroh said the visit of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, to the Niger Delta offered serious opportunities for peace and development in the oil-rich region.

Boroh’s comments were contained in an electronic mail sent to our correspondent by the Media and Communication Consultant of

Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr. Owei Lakemfa, on Wednesday.

Boroh also urged the people of the area to take advantage of the government’s acceptance of the 16-point demand by the Pan Niger Delta Elders Forum to the President in November 2016, as a working document for the resolution of the crisis in the region.

Boroh, who is also the chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, also urged the people of the area to utilise the decision of the Federal Government to recognise the environmental challenges of the region and to treat the area as a special economic zone.

The amnesty boss also disclosed that the President had approved the take off of the Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State.

Boroh, who commended Buhari for the gesture, said the President also directed that everything should be done to ensure that the NMU commenced operations in the next academic year.

He called on the National Assembly to pass the Nigeria Maritime University Bill to ensure that the scheduled date for the take-off of the university was met.

The Amnesty boss also urged the oil companies to invest in the environment, human resource and infrastructural development as part of the effort to develop confidence in the Niger Delta.

He called for better understanding and tolerance on the part of the inhabitants of the area in order to put up a united front in the pursuit of the peace and development in the area.

He called on the oil companies to go beyond tokenism and invest in the environment, both human capacity and infrastructure to ensure a win-win outcome as a confidence-building   measure in the Niger Delta Region.

Also, a former Acting Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission, Pastor Power Ziakede Aginighan, on Wednesday said the visit by the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo-led Federal Government delegation to Delta State had shown that President Muhammadu Buhari meant well for the people of the Niger Delta region.

Aginighan, who is also a member of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, said this in a statement on Wednesday in Warri. He noted that there could be no stronger expression of Federal Government’s understanding of the situation in Niger Delta than the pronouncement by the Vice President that the region should be treated as a special development zone.

– Punch