Following the idea to grant resource control to gold miners in parts of the North, especially in Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara and Osun states by the Federal Government, the leadership of the Niger Delta Congress (NDC) has urged the government to “extend similar programmes to the artisanal oil refiners in the Niger Delta region”.
In a release issued by acting spokesman of the NDC, Adokiye Oyagiri, a copy of which was made available to The Nigerian Xpress, the group said the latest move by the Federal Government to grant miners resource control and economic autonomy of their God-given resources in the North was a pointer to what it had always stood for which is resource control of regional mineral resources.
It also demanded that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should commence purchasing refined products from the artisanal refineries in the South South.
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The statement read thus, “The Niger Delta Congress has received with joy the news of resource control and economic autonomy granted to majorly Northern Nigerian states by President Buhari through the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Initiative (PAGMI).
“In the press release from PAGMI titled ‘SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE REACHED AS THE FIRST ARTISANLLY MINED, RESPONSIBLY SOURCED, AGGREGATED, PROCESSED AND REFINED GOOD DELIVERY GOLD AND SILVER BARS ARE SET FOR PRESENTATION TO HIS EXCELLENCY, THE PRESIDENT OF FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA’, the agency informed the world amongst other things, that the Nigerian government would now purchase gold from artisanal miners through the Central Bank.
“Apart from that, the miners would now be provided with the right tools and infrastructure.
“It is evident that the over five decades agitation of the Niger Delta people, which culminated in the murder of 9 Ogoni activists in 1995 by the government, and a subsequent genocide visited on Niger Delta communities from Odi to Umuechem to Gbaramatu, for mere mooting the idea of benefiting from their resources, have not been in vain.
“While we are happy for the people of Northern Nigeria, it gives us concern that this initiative has not been extended to our region.
“It also confirms for the umpteenth time what we have always known, that the Nigerian State exists for the continuous exploitation and subjugation of the Niger Delta people.
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“The Niger Delta Congress subsequently calls on the Nigerian State to immediately extend similar programmes to the artisanal oil refiners in the Niger Delta region, while we also look forward to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) purchasing refined products from the artisanal refineries considering that a credible report from the Stakeholders Democracy Network (SDN) has shown that refined products from some of these artisanal refineries are cleaner than those imported by the NNPC for the country’s consumption.
“The NDC notes that failure to extend these programmes to the Niger Delta region in the shortest possible time, will force Congress to take steps it deems necessary for the benefit of the people of the region.”
