Posted by From Kelvin Ebiri, Port Harcourt on
DESPITE the soaring rise in the price of crude oil in the international market and its implication on the global economy, the United States (US) Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, has said his country has no intention to control Nigeria's oil production.
DESPITE the soaring rise in the price of crude oil in the international market and its implication on the global economy, the United States (US) Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, has said his country has no intention to control Nigeria's oil production.
Campbell also reaffirmed that his home government would cooperate with Nigeria in its efforts to combat corruption and as a mark of commitment, the visas of some individuals found to be involved in corrupt practices have been cancelled.
Rivers State Governor Peter Odili has urged the United States of America to support in efforts aimed reducing the disparity between developing and developed nations by pushing and advocating for significant debt relief for poorer countries.
Campbell, during to a visit to the Centre for Advance Social Studies (CASS) in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, said Nigeria's oil and gas resources were and would continue to be of strategic importance to the United States but maintained that it did not desire to control Nigeria's oil production.
He noted that Nigeria's tremendous potential for oil and gas, including human assets if used wisely, would herald its socio-economic development.
The envoy said the significant part of the U.S. bilateral assistance with Nigeria revolved around helping it to diversify its economy and reduce dependence on oil.
According to him, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was already helping Nigeria to identify new high potential non-traditional agricultural exports like ginger, gum Arabic, hide, among others.
Describing the relationship between both countries as "extremely close", the ambassador said the increasing global demand for petroleum products would in every way challenge the international oil companies
operating in the country.
For Nigeria to meet these challenges, he noted that there was need for the country and its international partners in the oil and gas sector to employ environmentally sustainable production efforts in developing the huge potential of the Niger Delta region.
Campbell refuted the allegation in a national newspaper (not The Guardian) that President George Bush had written to his Nigerian counterpart, Olusegun Obasanjo, questioning the $22 million allegedly found in his son's account.
He said he had contacted Washington and that the report about the letter was false. He then reaffirmed America's resolve to help Nigeria combat corruption.
"There is a U.S. government executive order now in place that enables us to cancel the U.S. visas of
individuals involved in corruption and we have started doing so in Nigeria", he added.
The ambassador said the development of democracy in Nigeria was of "extreme importance" to the U.S., which was already looking forward to providing assistance to both state and federal authorities for the 2007 elections.
Governor Odili, who played host to the ambassador at the Government House, Port Harcourt, urged him to persuade Washington to make concessions for significant debt relief for developing countries.
This, according to him, would drastically reduce the disparity between the rich and poor nations.
Odili said though some of the monies might have been "irresponsibly deployed" in the past as experiences have shown that most of the projects for which the monies were borrowed could not be found, it was imperative that the U.S. pushed for the cancellation of the debts of developing countries.
He commended the U.S. for its significant global role in spreading freedom, justice and enthronement of democracy in Nigeria and other parts of the world.