The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has renewed calls for equity and justice in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, urging the Federal Government to approve the establishment of at least 30 mini refineries and mini Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plants across the Niger Delta to address unemployment, marginalisation and regional imbalance.
Addressing Journalists in Ughelli on Wednesday, PANDEF’s spokesman, Chief Ominimini Obiuwevbi, said Nigeria remains a very rich nation whose wealth is sustained largely by oil and gas resources extracted from the Niger Delta.
Chief Obiuwevbi lamented that despite being the source of the nation’s oil and gas, the Niger Delta continues to suffer neglect, underdevelopment and systemic discrimination, particularly in the oil and gas industry.
According to him, Niger Delta indigenes are grossly underrepresented in strategic and decision-making positions within the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its more than 20 subsidiaries, including key departments such as human resources, a situation that often sidelines qualified youths from the region during recruitment exercises.
“Our children are educated, intelligent and well trained, yet they have no jobs. This injustice did not start today; it has been sustained over many years by successive governments,” he said.
The PANDEF spokesman also decried the neglect of federal ports located in the Niger Delta, including Sapele, Koko, Warri, Burutu, Port Harcourt, Onne and Calabar ports, noting that while these facilities remain largely moribund, ports in Lagos are overstretched and congested.
He described the continued neglect of Niger Delta ports as political, calling on the Federal Government to urgently revive them in the national interest to decongest Lagos and boost economic activities in the region.
Chief Obiuwevbi further questioned the location of proposed mini refineries and LNG plants, insisting that such facilities should be sited primarily in the Niger Delta where the resources originate.
He noted that each mini LNG plant could employ between 300 and 600 people, significantly reducing youth unemployment and restiveness if spread across oil-producing states such as Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Edo.
He also criticised the naming of the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Project, which conveys gas from the Niger Delta to the northern part of the country, describing the exclusion of the Niger Delta from the project’s name as deliberate and unacceptable.
Appealing to journalists, Chief Obiuwevbi urged the NUJ to ensure that PANDEF’s message reaches President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom he described as a listening leader capable of addressing the longstanding grievances of the region.
He further called for fairness in federal appointments, noting that Niger Delta indigenes are scarcely found in top positions such as Permanent Secretaries and Directors across ministries, departments and agencies.
“The Niger Delta is not asking for special treatment,” he stressed. “We are simply asking for justice, equity and inclusion for the sake of national unity and stability.”
