Federal Government has set up a 5-man inter-agency Committee, headed by the Minister of Education, to coordinate the re-opening of the Maritime University in the Niger Delta region.
This is coming on the heels of the several follow-up actions to the recent Presidential level interactive engagements with the Niger Delta oil producing communities.
A statement by the senior special assistant to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on media and publicity, Laolu Akande said that the committee has been set up also in clear comformity with the directive by the presidency for the resumption of activities towards the eventual opening of the Nigerian Maritime University before the end of the year, in line with the demands championed by major stakeholders in the region.
The committee has as its members, from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, National Universities Commission (NUC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Office of the Deputy Governor of Delta State
The statement said that the Committee is charged with finalizing the ongoing processes towards the opening of the Nigeria Maritime University in the 2017/2018 Academic Session.
The Committee will also work collaboratively with the current Principal Officers and the Governing Council of the institution.
“Besides this, and in further demonstrating its unalloyed commitment to a new vision for the Niger Delta, the Buhari Presidency has been working assiduously to evolve a number of robust strategies for key multi-sectoral outcomes and deliverables for the people of the oil-producing communities.
“Some of those include:
a) General guidelines issued by the Federal Government, reaffirming its commitment and outlining its objectives towards the establishment of Modular Refineries in the Niger Delta.
*This includes, the development of the technical criteria for issuing operating licenses that is now in final stages of drafting and would be released soon.
b) A roadmap for addressing regional development challenges is being developed by an inter-agency working group comprising of Ministry of Niger Delta, Niger Delta Development Commission, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. This group is working in partnership with experts seconded by Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and key resource persons financed by a bi-lateral international development partner.”
The statement said that the roadmap will be based on the framework of the 16-point agenda developed by PANDEF and that a strategy for community-based participation in pipeline protection and policing is underway and will be validated with series of engagement processes, collaboratively with PANDEF, oil communities and other communities in the region that play host to the vast network of oil pipelines in the Niger Delta. [myad]
