Renewed vandalism of oil facilities is indefensible- Boroh

LAGOS (Sundiata Post) – While the Niger Delta region attracted national and international sympathy which led to the granting of a comprehensive Amnesty in 2009, the renewed vandalism of oil facilities is indefensible and must stop, Brigadier General Paul Boroh (rtd), special adviser to the President on Niger Delta, has said.
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Boroh, who is also Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, made this call on the remembrance of the late Niger Delta activist, Issac Boro on Monday and charged youths in the Niger delta to be strategic and proactive like the late Major Issac Jasper Adaka Boro who was known for the agitation towards a better Nigeria, according to a statement issued by Mr. Owei Lakemfa, media consultant to the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

According to Boroh “The region has for long suffered from environmental devastation caused by oil exploitation, so the further devastation caused by vandalism will only compound the situation. Rather, the youths should key into the planned clean-up exercise in Ogoni-Land including the mass job opportunities it offers and ensure extension of the Clean-up to other parts of the Region.”

With low oil prices, fracking, especially in the United States and the high probability of oil production in other parts of the country, less attention maybe paid to the Niger Delta.

“It makes sense for the people of the Region to maximize the opportunities they have now including the Niger Delta Development Commission, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, the Presidential Amnesty Programme and the Derivation formula that gives the region extra funds,” Boroh hinted.

He continued “There are mass job opportunities to be created from the construction of the Calabar-Lagos railways. Doubtlessly many of the region’s problems have not been solved, but the country has shown a marked interest in giving a listening ear, so if there are issues some people want addressed, they should table them instead of a resort to violence which will alienate the region from the rest of the country. There is nothing to avenge, the region is not in need of avengers, the region is in need of thinkers who can further its cause for sustainable development.

“We in the Presidential Amnesty Programme are happy that the Niger Delta ex-agitators, elders, leaders, governors and practically all the people of the Niger Delta have disassociated themselves from those who continue to live in the past in which violence was supposed to pay. I advise Niger Delta youths to think and focus on the future and learn from the example of Jasper Adaka Boro who after initially fighting for separatism, saw the wisdom in a greater country and sacrificed his life fighting for a united Nigeria.”

The late Adaka Boro, the legend of Niger Delta struggle, was known for agitating for the betterment of the Niger Delta people. He fought as a Major in the Army, and when death came, it met him at his duty post defending his country.