Posted by By Innocent Anaba on
A South-South leader, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor has commended the Delta State House of Assembly for passing the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission Bill....
A South-South leader, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor has commended the Delta State House of Assembly for passing the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission Bill, which makes it mandatory to set aside 50 percent of 13 percent derivation fund accruing to Delta state to form the financial backbone of the Commission.
Chief Ogbebor who spoke to Vanguard in Lagos yesterday said, 'it is with great pleasure that we received the news that the Delta State House of Assembly has finally passed the bill. I congratulate everybody concern. My gratitude goes to Almighty God, President Olusegun Obasanjo and Governor Olusegun Agagu of Ondo, who was the first governor to set aside a percentage of the 13% oil derivation for the development of the oil producing communities".
'However, all is not rosy yet because although we know that the bill has been passed, we know that there are some people that will not want it well implemented. Well, when we get to the bridge, we will cross it", she added.
Meanwhile, she also called on the Federal Government to publish the names of Niger Delta indigenes who were offered employment, in the on-going recruitment exercise into the Nigerian Armed Forces and the Police, as part of government effort to address the Niger Delta problem.
Chief Ogbebor said, 'sequel to the outcome of the stakeholders meeting with President Olusegun Obasanjo at Abuja in April on the way forward in the Niger Delta area, the president directed and promised the recruitment of youths in the Niger Delta, particularly in the coastal communities into the Nigerian Armed Forces and the police".
'On this note, the presidency promised a slot for each of the ethnic group in Niger Delta based on their quantum production of oil and gas in other to reduce the rate of unemployment, poverty and pipeline vandalization in the area.
However, the Itsekiri ethnic nationality has discovered that their people were not informed of the recruitment exercise as promised by the president".
According to her, 'in the course of the finding by the Itsekiri monitoring team, we were able to understand that bulk of the forms were passed through the Delta State government without due consideration to the people of the coastal area. The Itsekiri ethnic nationality want to appeal to the relevant military authorities to correct this injustice and comply with the directives of the president. Anything that will deprive the Itsekiri ethnic group of their due slot in the on-going recruitment exercise would not be accepted to us (Itsekiri)."