February 18, (THEWILL) – The Movement for the Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND) has appealed to youths of the region to embrace dialogue, instead of confrontation to rebrand and market the region for sustainable development.
President of the group, Comrade Kennedy West, made the appeal in his remarks at a leadership retreat for executive members of the Movement organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in Uyo on Wednesday.
West appealed to youths of the region to stop oil bunkering, sea piracy and other forms of criminalities and work towards improving the lives of the people.
According to him, there is a need for the youths of the area to devise other peaceful avenues to agitate for the growth and development of the area.
He said the time has come for rebranding the Niger Delta region to make it attractive for investment and charged young people of the area to work to acquire knowledge and skills that would help them contribute to the prosperity of the region.
West stressed the need for leaders and other organisations operating in the region to invest in human capital development.
“Every day the economy is dropping because of illegal bunkering, multinational firms are leaving the region in droves and they don’t want to come back.
“We need to change this narrative in the Niger Delta, we need to market and rebrand the Niger Delta. Only trained managers and leaders can bring this to the fore. That’s why we appreciate this retreat and we don’t take it for granted.
“We appeal to our brothers in the creeks doing oil theft, it is old fashion. Yes, we want our demands to be met, we want the Federal Government to listen to us, but the approach is mundane, out of fashion and outdated.
“To jaw-jaw is better than war-war. We condemn illegal bunkering and appeal to youths of the Niger Delta to eschew thuggery and violence,” West said.
He, however, commended the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), for the role it has played in building local content for the oil and gas sector in the country.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Simbi Wabote, said the Board, through its programmes, had taken steps to reposition people of the region to take active participation in the oil and gas sector.
Wabote, who was represented by the General Manager, Corporate Communications, Dr. Ginah Ginah, assured that the board would continue to be at the forefront of encouraging young people of the Niger Delta.
He assured that the board would ensure an equitable distribution of benefits to the Niger Delta people as per what accrues to Nigerians in the oil and gas industry.
The training, he noted, was organised to equip the MOSIEND executives with what the board was doing to enhance the development of the region, stressing that development could only come when there is peace in the region.
“We have already achieved a lot. The incidences of blockage of oil company gates and disruptions of operations have reduced very drastically. In those days, it was a daily occurrence but today, it has reduced drastically, partly because of the work that the NCDMB has done.
“We have a department dedicated to receiving petitions from communities. We have organised youth sensitisation workshops across the Niger Delta. We just did one in Warri, Delta state, before then we had done in Port Harcourt and Bayelsa. After here, we are going to Benin, then Ondo and Akwa Ibom,” Wabote explained.
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