When you finally get through Minister of Niger Delta of Affairs, Mr Usani Uguru Usani’s Facebook Live broadcast – not only the 6 minutes of neck craning but the whole 18 minutes of wondering why he speaks like he’s reading from a bad teleprompter – there’s a possibility you’ll leave without any takeaways.
That’s the only explanation we have for why these many people resigned to posting “Hail Biafra” comments on the video. They must have figured that he said something related to Biafra in all that inaudibility. In any case, we listened, hard as it was, and here are five things we learnt from his broadcast:
1. The FG has a new vision for the Niger Delta.
Using the example of Professor Osinbajo’s oil-producing States’ tour, the Minister explained that the administration’s new vision for the region is to give Niger Delta the attention it deserves in accordance with the region’s economic contributions to the nation.
2. Ogoni clean up.
Through entrepreneurial training, and distributing take-off grants in affected communities, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on the Ogoni clean-up is being taken seriously.
3. On illegal refineries
The intention of the FG is to create a viable and conducive environment for the operation and supervision of privately-driven modular refineries through partnerships with both State governments and the local communities in order to find a way of ensuring that people who currently operate illegitimately are able to get the kind of training required to operate legitimately and profitably for everyone.
[Read also: Osinbajo: “Buhari will fulfil his campaign promises”]
4. East-West Road.
The Minister said Section 1 of the road is virtually completed, and the remaining sections are already underway. At present, everything is being done to ensure that the project benefits from the China-Africa Infrastructure Facility Funding through the China EXIM Bank. In the meantime, the government-funded work is already ongoing.
5. Uncompleted projects
A memo has been prepared for presentation to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), seeking the implementation of the report. This memo will be presented in the next few weeks.
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