{"id":18269,"date":"2019-05-27T15:59:20","date_gmt":"2019-05-27T15:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=18269"},"modified":"2019-05-27T15:59:20","modified_gmt":"2019-05-27T15:59:20","slug":"pipeline-vandals-hurt-the-people-more-than-govt-buhari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=18269","title":{"rendered":"Pipeline vandals hurt the people more than govt – Buhari"},"content":{"rendered":"

Release<\/strong>
\nBy\u00a0Femi Adesina<\/strong>, Special Adviser to the President, (Media & Publicity)
\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari Monday in Abuja said the destruction of oil facilities by vandals was hurting the host communities, the majority of the people and the environment more than the government.
\nReceiving South-South Monarchs Forum (SSMF) led by King Edmund Daukoru, Mingi XII, Amanyanabo of Nembe Kingdom, at State House, President Buhari appealed to South-South elders to do more to end pipeline vandalism in their communities.
\nThe President told the traditional rulers who came to congratulate him on his re-election and discuss issues of specific relevance to the zone, that they were culturally and traditionally positioned to complement government efforts on enhancing security in the Niger Delta.
\nHe, therefore, charged them to educate the youths on the dangers such nefarious activities posed to the environment and the economy.
\n\u2018\u2018You need to educate the people that the destruction of installations is hurting the majority of the people.
\n\u2018\u2018If pipelines are blown and the waters are polluted, it affects both the fishermen and farmers. Even the fishes in the sea are affected.
\n\u2018\u2018These people who blow up the installations are hurting the people more than they are hurting the government,\u2019\u2019 the President said.
\nPresident Buhari also decried the spate of kidnapping in the area, urging the royal fathers not to relent in their support to security agencies to effectively contain the negative trend.
\nResponding to an inquiry by the group on 10 per cent equity participation for host communities in solid minerals and whether the same is applicable to the oil sector, President Buhari said:
\n\u2018\u2018The constitution is very mindful of the way resources are shared. The 13 per cent derivation means that relative to whatever you are producing, 13 per cent is given to your States.
\n\u2018\u2018Then, whatever is offshore in the continental shelf belongs to the nation. Again your States get their own shares. This means your constituencies get two shares, the 13 per cent derivation and the balance in the continental shelf, which is shared among the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
\n\u2018\u2018If the 13 per cent or what is in the continental shelf is not getting to you then I think by now you ought\u00a0 to have known because you have qualitative leaders with great antecedents.
\n\u2018\u2018For example, when I was a junior officer, one of the royal fathers here was Governor of a State.
\n\u2018\u2018Everybody knows him and he has continuously been in the limelight of the politics of the country, and if the Federal Government is cheating you by denying you part of the 13 per cent derivation or the balance from the continental shelf, you as the leadership ought to have seen it by now and brought it out.\u2019\u2019
\nOn Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the President told the Forum that his administration was mindful of the core mandate of the commission.
\n\u2018\u2018We are concerned about the leadership of NDDC and we hope that money which is constitutionally allocated to it is properly utilised for infrastructure in the area.
\n\u2018\u2018Be assured that we are very mindful of the conditions in your area and how strategic your geopolitical zone is to the economy and stability of the country,\u2019\u2019 the President said.
\nCongratulating the President on his re-election, Daukoru said: \u2018\u2018In exercise of our role as traditional rulers, we plead with all those who are unhappy with the imperfections of our electoral process to graciously transcend their grievances and to join the immense task we all face of building a secure and prosperous Nigeria.\u2019\u2019
\nA prepared text presented by the Royal Father on behalf of the Forum raised the issue of Niger Delta security, economic development, infrastructure, environment and oil sector matters.
\nOn oil sector matters, King Daukoru said: \u2018\u2018Mr President, we think it is time to hold operators accountable for their lack of transparency in community development programmes.\u2019\u2019
\nThe traditional ruler accused the operators, among others, of \u2018\u2018polarising communities and by-passing traditional authority by pandering to the interest of bully boys and their local militia.\u2019\u2019
\nSpeaking on behalf of Bayelsa Elders\u2019 Council, HRM Alfred Diete-Spiff (former military governor, old Rivers State), the Amanyanabo of Twon-Brass Kingdom, appealed for more tangible Federal presence in Bayelsa.
\nHe urged the Federal Government to give priority attention and award contracts for Ogbia-Nembe-Brass Road, Yenegoa-Oporoma-Ukubie-Koluama Road and Sagbama-Ekeremor-Agge-Road.
\nAccording to the Royal Father, the contracts for the construction of these roads were awarded by him 50 years ago as military governor, but nothing much had happened.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Release By\u00a0Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President, (Media & Publicity) President Muhammadu Buhari Monday in Abuja said the destruction of oil facilities by vandals was hurting the host communities, the majority of the people and the environment more than the government. Receiving South-South Monarchs Forum (SSMF) led by King Edmund Daukoru, Mingi XII, Amanyanabo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":13345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18269\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}