Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has described the over-dependence on oil
resources as the cause of the high level of corruption, dwindling economy
and redundant human resources base in the country.
Osinbajo also observed that the over-reliance on oil was behind the
agitation for resource control, especially in the South-South geo-
political zone.
The vice president made these remarks on Monday while inaugurating the
Partners for Sustainable Development Forum organised by the Niger Delta
Development Commission in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Osinbajo described the forum as strategic and apt considering the current
decline in global oil revenue.
Represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Adeola
Ipaye, the vice president added that the inauguration of the forum was
coming at a time when the implementation of the new globally adopted
Sustainable Development Goals were about to commence.
Osinbajo said, “The country’s over-dependence on oil is only the cause of
the downturn of the economy for now; it has been responsible for the
emergence of redundant human resources base and high level of corruption.
“It is also at the root of agitation for resource control, particularly
from the South-South. The theme of the forum could not have been more
apt, coming at a time that we have a global decline in oil revenue,
especially in a country such as ours that has total dependence on oil for
survival.”
He, however, expressed the Federal Government’s commitment to the
development of the Niger Delta region.
“Realising the concept of sustainable development comes with numerous
challenges, especially in the Niger Delta region that represents the
world’s third largest wetlands, with several years of unaddressed oil
pollution issues that have hindered agricultural growth of the region as
well as affected the general health of the populace,” the vice president
said.
On the clean-up of Ogoniland, Osinbajo explained that the Federal
Government had begun the exercise in the area and other seriously
affected communities, adding that it was putting measures in place to
alleviate the impact of the areas already polluted.
He expressed the need to intensify activities in the rural areas with a
view to improving socio-economic well-being through agricultural and
related rural enterprises, and provide access to markets and the rural
areas by improving the road network and value chain development.
Earlier, the Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission, Mr.
Bassey Dan-Abia, listed poor funding as one of the challenging facing the
intervention agency, even as he maintained that the NDDC should not be
seen as an alternate government.
Dan-Abia urged the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company to initiate the
process of paying its own contribution to the funding of the commission
based on the fact it was among the oil and gas producing companies
operating within the Niger Delta region.
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