By Francis Sadhere

…Says Visits Shows Buhari’s Commitment to Niger Delta Development

Prominent Ijaw Leader from Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State,Chief Dan E. Ekpebide, the Ibakurowei of Gbaramatu kingdom, has commended the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Emmanuel Kachikwu for visiting Okerenkeko community, site of the proposed Nigerian Maritime University, saying his visit was a sign that President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to the development of the Niger Delta region.

Chief Dan E. Epkebide, the Ibakurowei of Gbaramatu kingdom.

Chief Ekpebide who spoke to our correspondent in an interview in Warri said Kachikwu’s decision to visit the temporary and the permanent sites of the Maritime University to see the structures on ground, has given a ray of hope to the people of the Niger Delta Region in general and the  people Gbaramatu kingdom in particular that the present administration was ready for peace in the oil-rich region.

While describing the visit of the minister as successful, Chief Ekpebide called on the Niger Delta Avengers to give peace a chance and allow the present administration time to address  the issues of underdevelopment in the region.

“I know that the minister (Kachikwu) was amazed by what he saw because what he saw was contrary to what he was told. We took him round the temporary site and the permanent site and he confessed that the structures on ground at the temporary site can stand for any University in the world,” he said.

According to him also; “I am very sure that by the time the Federal Government is properly informed about the facilities on ground, the University will take off. All that will be left is for Government to direct that the VC and all staff should go and resume duties at the University.”

He said he was disappointed with the Minister of Transport, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi who he said has been fighting against the development of the Niger Delta region.

He added that Amaechi who has served eight years as the Governor of Rivers State and who is also seen as a true son of Niger Delta region, should not be the one calling for the cancellation of the Maritime University located in his region.

He said, “Amaechi is a politician, the minister of transport and a Niger Deltan. He is a supervisory minister of NIMASA and therefore has no business whatsoever in what NIMASA is doing. What he said that day was overstepping his boundaries. May be the man in charge of NIMASA is his puppet, otherwise I see no reason why he should say that the University should be scrapped”.

He therefore, called on the Federal Government to ignore the position of Amaechi on the University and set up an independent team to pay a visit to the Maritime University in Okerenkeko to access what is on ground.

Speaking on a lasting solution to the incessant  resurgence of militancy  in the Niger Delta region, Chief Ekpebide said the only solution was the practice of true federalism, adding that all the regions in the country must be allowed to control their resources and allowed to develop at their own pace.

On the hunt for former MEND leader, Chief Government Ekpemukpolo, alias Tompolo by the Nigerian government, Chief Ekpebide said what is happening to  Tompolo is vindictive in nature.

He noted that Tompolo like every other businessman who was interested in making profit, noting that the sale of the land and the properties on it went through due process and he sees no reason why the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was hunting him.

He said, “What is happening to this young man is purely vindictive. That the Federal Government or NIMASA bought his property for 13 Billion Naira should not be an issue. He is a business man and every business man is after profit. If they negotiated for 13 Billion Naira and the money was paid after due process, why don’t you go to the authorities that bought the property from him instead of going to him?”