By EgbemaVoice
A leading professional media group, the Ijaw Publishers' Forum (IPF) has asked the federal government to stop nursing the ambition to drill more oil wells in Niger Delta,following the increase in demand for more crude supply in the country.
It would be recalled that, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in a special report on Thisday newspaper on 4th January 2025 said following the resumption of oil refining by Dangote, Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries, the country needs 123.48 million barrels for the nine Nigerian refineries in the first quarter (H1) 2025, with Dangote receiving the highest share, suggesting that the country needs to undergo drilling of more oil to meet both foreign and domestic demands.
The Ijaw apex media organization in a statement signed by its National President Comrade Ozobo Austin which was made available to media houses, said following the abject poverty and unspeakable underdevelopment meted for Niger Delta People, the region would no longer allow the Nigerian federal government to drilling more oil in the area. "We are saying it very unequivocally that Niger Delta will no longer wants the federal government to continue to drill more oil wells in the Niger Delta, except there should be a dialogue for the oil ownership in Niger Delta'',the group added.
IPF explained that the Ijaw riverine communities with countless oil wells being explored and exploited over five decades have nothing to show for it, rather there is sad reality of rejection, infrastructure decay, pollution, total darkness and untimely death of both infants and adults as a result of oil exploration/ exploitation activities by oil multinationals.
The IPF president added that should the federal government nurse the ambition to drill more oil wells to increase the daily oil production output in Niger Delta and the Ijaw areas, there should be a roundtable negotiation to review the extant laws of oil and gas ownership in the Niger Delta before such ideas could be considered.
He noted that if such roundtable negotiation is not done, the federal government should look for somewhere else to look for its oil to increase its daily output and not the Niger Delta territory.
The Ijaw media council argued that in the future when the entire oil and gas are exhausted without commensurate benefits, the Ijaw area will be left abandoned like a ghost city, citing Oloibiri town as a reference point.
The IPF expressed disappointment that up till now natural resources like gold and bitumen in Zamfara and other northern states are regarded as private resources for the indigenes despite its high economic values.
They argued that if gold, iron ore, lithium, coal, granite and other natural resources in Zamfara and other northern states belong to the indigenes, then Oil and Gas resources in Niger Delta belong to the aboriginal people of the Niger Delta.
IPF called on Niger Delta States governors, federal lawmakers, rights bodies, traditional rulers and other well meaning stakeholders in Niger Delta to educate the federal government to jettison the idea of drilling more oil wells in Niger Delta region for the overall interest of both parties.
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