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The Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines & Agriculture (PHCCIMA) has described as a welcome development the call by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo that International Oil Companies should relocate their headquarters to their areas of operations but has also implored the Federal Government to also direct the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to move its tower house in Abuja to the Niger Delta Region.
President of PHCCIMA, Dr Emi Membere-Otaji who made this assertion said NNPC should be at the forefront as Nigeria’s foremost public organization that manages the government’s interests in the Nigerian oil industry.
According to him, the move will be strategic and a major step in quelling the under development, poverty and associated social vices of militancy and insecurity in the areas, adding that doing otherwise will be tantamount to playing the ostrich game.
“Just as the management of international oil companies like, Shell, Chevron, Total, etc. reside in warn torn but oil producing countries like Iraq and Libya to work and produce their oil instead of running to safe havens, the fastest way to curbing the insecurity in the oil producing Niger Delta is for these international oil companies management, including our own NNPC to “take the bull by the horn”, to work and reside in their areas of operations. That way they will lobby and support the government to show strong political will in not only churning out good policies, but in developing the area especially in infrastructure, education, health, entrepreneurial skills and maintaining security. Similarly there will be attendant increase in economic activities and the youths will be gainfully engaged instead of doing unlawful and illegal things”, he said.
Dr Membere-Otaji noted that, because most of the key oil producing states of the country are coastal states, with moribund seaports, it has become expedient to re-awaken the Eastern ports in Port Harcourt, Warri, Sapele and Calabar to not only activate massive economic activities in the South-South and South-Eastern ports of the country through ports and shipping services but will also put most of the youths in gainful employment and not criminality.
“Today, the Eastern ports barely function because of obsolete infrastructure and un-dredged channels. Most people in the area import and export their goods through the Western ports of Lagos. When we imagine that Singapore, without any natural resources but just a shipping hub is a first world country and that Port Harcourt founded in 1912 by the then colonial government as a port city and economic Mecca for all, at the time, then one can add up and realize the socio-economic importance of revival of the Eastern ports as panacea to the nation’s current socio-economic dilemma.
It’s time for government to in reality ‘walk the talk” to re-jig the economies of the oil producing area states.