Osinbajo explains Buhari’s ‘new vision’ for Niger Delta

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has reiterated that the Muhammadu Buhari administration means well for the people of the Niger Delta and that it was determined to do things differently in the region.

Mr. Osinbajo made the remarks, Tuesday, at Abuja when he received a delegation from Bayelsa State which met with him over a $3.6 billion Brass Fertilizer & Petro-Chemical Company in the state.

The delegation, which included the executives of the company, was led by the Bayelsa Governor Seriake Dickson.

The company is expected to start production soon.

Mr. Osinbajo said President Buhari’s new vision for the troubled region involved an active and effective collaboration between the government, the private sector and the communities, Laolu Akande, a spokesperson for the acting president said in a statement.

The new approach, Mr. Osinbajo said, would ensure that “we finish whatever we start.”

The statement said the acting president lamented that only 12 per cent completion rate was recorded in several of the projects undertaken by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in the past years. The rest, he said, were abandoned.

“Sometimes projects are designed not to succeed, but just for some people to make money,” Mr. Osinbajo was quoted as saying.

Mr. Osinbajo commended Governor Dickson and the collaboration that led to the establishment of the Brass Fertilizer & Petro-Chemical Company.

“This is what we describe as the new vision: a partnership between the Federal Government, the States, the communities and the private sector. This is the new way of thinking that is emerging,” he said.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, who was present at the meeting, described the company as “a game changer” in the region and said that there was a need to encourage the company.

Mr. Osinbajo has been touring the Niger Delta region lately in an effort to build trust between the federal government and the poor and restive oil-producing communities.