Posted by From Damilola Oyedele in Abuja on
A recommendation has been made to the federal government to create a fund for the demobilisation and rehabilitation of militants in the region and accelerated infrastructural development.
A recommendation has been made to the federal government to create a fund for the demobilisation and rehabilitation of militants in the region and accelerated infrastructural development.
The Niger Delta Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee made this recommendation in a report submitted to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja yesterday.
Led by its Chairman, Senator David Briggidi, the committee is of the view that these gestures would douse the tension in the restive region.
Though lamenting the rise in militancy, the report expressed hope that a permanent solution would soon be found to restore peace.
The committee visited almost 90 per cent of the militants' camps, and said; 'There is a critical aspect of this problem that we have not addressed and it is a generational factor. The region is losing a generation to armed struggle and violence. Government should put in place a process for demobilisation, reorientation and possible rehabilitation of all the militants in the region."
The committee also carpeted extant laws in the land, recommending the review of such laws, if not their outright repeal, as it took note that 'the general feeling is that some of our laws as at present are inimical to the progress of the Niger-Delta Region."
Briefing newsmen, Briggidi said: 'One basic problem is the problem of infrastructural deficiency of the region."
Most of our revenue comes from oil, and the money required to tackle the infrastructural deficiency in that region is huge.
'We propose that part of our oil receivables be put in a dedicated fund. To do that, under the present constitution, it will require a bill be passed into law. So, one of our recommendations is that a bill be sent to the National Assembly."
Long years of oil exploration which have badly affected the environmental condition of the area also caught the attention of the committee. 'We recommended that an environmental audit must be carried out to enable us identify and deal with the environmental situation by the way of remedial and regeneration activities," Briggidi stated.