President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday in Abuja said he has refrained from using military option to deal with the high spate of hostage taking and vandalisation in the Niger Delta because he has very high regard for the sanctity of human lives.
Obasanjo, during a stakeholders meeting with representatives of workers in the oil and gas sector declared that it is very unfortunate that artisans, opportunists and people not in government have continued to fan the flames in the Niger Delta area to their advantage, warning however that criminality would not be tolerated.
Meanwhile, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers of Nigeria (NUPENG) who accused security agencies of conniving with oil pipeline vandals, after the meeting said they would �adopt a wait and see attitude� on the outcome of their meeting with the President.
In a presentation titled �Issues of Concern to Nigeria Oil Workers� Unions� made during the meeting by both NUPENG and PENGASSAN, they noted that their experience has shown that security agencies have abdicated their responsibility of providing security for the pipelines. �We believe that vandalisation would hardly be successful without the connivance of security personnel�.
The unions therefore recommended that the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should deploy high-tech strategies including helicopters and close-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance to monitor the entire pipelines network nationwide, while community leaders and youth organizations engaged in pipelines surveillance should be properly paid and well equipped. �Security personnel found conniving with vandals should be dismissed and treated as economic saboteurs,`� the unions stated.
They also called on the government to immediately implement the recommendations of the Presidential Panel on Measures to Eliminate Oil Pipelines Vandalisation, submitted to the Presidency in July 2006.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Mrs. Oluremi Oyo, had while making Obasanjo�s stand on the current situation in Niger Delta known, stated that �the President is just as concerned about the situation in the Niger Delta as everyone.
“If the President is not rolling out all the tanks, it is because he believes in the sanctity of lives. He believes that it is possible that within the Niger Delta region, we can have people come to the table.
�But what we have currently also are non-governmental individuals, artisans and carpet-baggers who are more interested in the government not finding a solution to the crisis or for the people in the Niger Delta, as they themselves are not aware of the problems that this level of militancy is bringing to bare on their lives and the lives of all of us as Nigerians.�
Oyo added that �the very fact that the carrot and stick mechanism is being adopted shows the level of responsibility that the President has brought to bare on these matters to ensure that lives are not lost, especially those that are in so far away lands. He has asked that the hostage-taking situation be stopped.�
Speaking with State House Correspondents, the President of PENGASSAN, Peter Esele described the meeting as �a good one during which the President assured the workers that the Federal Government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure peace in the Niger Delta.”
Continuing, Esele said �the highest authority in the land has spoken to the unions. So we are going to adopt a wait and see attitude. Now, we are going to meet this evening (yesterday) to discuss further�.
Other demands made by the oil workers during yesterday�s meeting include:
� Declare a state of development emergency in the Niger Delta region;
� Secure a truce with the aggrieved and agitated elements;
� Accelerate the establishment and implementation of a comprehensive master plan for the development of the Niger Delta region;
� Secure the release of hostages and stem the tide of hostage taking;
� Put in place an effective strategy for persuasion, sensitization and awareness campaign to address the issues of insecurity;
� Persuade oil companies to give skilled and competent indigenes of the region adequate consideration in employment opportunities;
� The government, through the Ministry of Labour, should urgently address the abuse of out sourcing by the oil companies, casualisation and contract staffing which provides no hope of conversion to full time employment, no equitable remuneration nor career prospect which predominantly affect the people from the region;
� The government should take measures to effectuate the agreement reached with the unions on September 14, 2006 with respect to the hosting of an all stakeholders summit to provide input for the Niger Delta Development master plan; and
� Create employment and empowerment opportunities, graduate employment, skills acquisition, youth training and empowerment schemes and micro credit schemes for small-scale enterprises.
Feb92007