Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday in Houston, Texas, gave an insight into the federal government�s road map for managing the crisis in the Niger Delta.
He said President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua had authorised the release of all funds due the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to handle projects earmarked for growth and development.
�Special funds will be provided for special projects in line with the master plan,� he added.
The VP has also been mandated by the President to co-ordinate federal ministries, NDDC and oil companies working in the region, making it the first time that ministries, agencies, states and oil companies will be co-ordinated by a single office to handle the situation.
The Niger Delta Regional Master Plan which was sponsored by the NDDC has been adopted as the basis for infrastructural and socio-economic development and all federal ministries have been given copies for the purpose of budgeting, he said.
Although, he did not disclose the amount to be released, the vice-president spoke with a sense of urgency, emphasising that the administration of Umar Musa Yar�Adua has the political will to engineer change in the area which will in turn drive economic development.
Addressing Nigerians in Diaspora at an event organisedby the All Niger Delta Peoples Conference (ANDPC) in Houston, Texas, Jonathan said �this government has the will to put an end to this crisis. Of this, there must be no doubt.
�Now that the federal government is totally committed to the development of the region, peace and stability us return.
�We have no other option. This is the time to say no to taking oil workers hostage �no to vandalism of oil installations �no to piracy� and no to cult wars and killings of innocent people.
�We must all collectively provide security in the Niger Delta. For the Niger Delta, this is the time for peace, time for dialogue and time for development.
�We must maximally explore the opportunities set forth by this administration,� he added.
The vice-president commended Nigerians in Diaspora for organising the event, while challenging them to take advantage of the opportunity to make valuable contributions to their country based on their wealth of experience.
He urged them to consider themselves as�part and parcel of the solutions we seek.�
The VP received a thunderous applause when he observed that, �You have to fix the Niger Delta in order to fix Nigeria. You have to fix Nigeria to fix Africa and to fix the world, you have to fix Africa.�
Making more statements from his speech titled �The Niger Delta, he said, �We Must Win the Peace�, Jonathan stated that we must become agents of hope and resist our wealth being appropriated by a few.
�Where in the past we were masters of agitation, we must in the present become apostles of hope, regeneration and development.
�We must ensure that every resource available to us is used in the pursuit of happiness for the entire citizenry. Never must we tolerate a situation where our common wealth is appropriated by a few,� he said.
�We cannot guarantee peace under such conditions,� he remarked. He traced the history of kidnapping in the Niger Delta to the pre-colonial times when King Jaja of Opobo was kidnapped in September 1897 over the struggle for the control of oil palm trade with the Europeans.
Opobo, he noted, was kidnapped and exiled to the West Indies where he died.
An international summit on the Niger Delta will be held by the government before the end of the year, he said.
It is in line with this that he has been negotiating and dialoguing with various groups, he stated. In his speech, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Ojo Maduekwe, represented by the Deputy Head of Chancery, Nigerian Embassy Washington DC, Ambassador Usman Baraya, assured the people of government�s readiness to achieve the seven-point agenda of the administration, with the Niger Delta as a priority.
The Chairman of the ANDPC North America, George Anibowei, represented by Lincoln Sneider, noted that the government had promoted a spirit of inclusiveness by way of its approach to solving the problem.
The Consulate General of the Nigerian Embassy in Atlanta, Dr Okafor, observed that Nigeria expected from the Diaspora similar roles played by the American Jews in the development of Israel and the Indian Diaspora in the development of their motherland.
Oct192007