Dialogue With Niger-Delta Avengers…Kalu Urges Government

                                                                                                                                                                       Eminent player in the oil and gas industry and former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu has appealed to the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to ceasefire.

He said bombing of oil installations will not solve the challenges facing the region.

Kalu also said constructive criticism, dialogue, and sheathing of swords and, if necessary, compromise, are the best approaches and strategies in fighting for a good cause.

Kalu, who is the chairman of Slok Nigeria Limited, a leading indigenous company operating in the upstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry, said the nation’s economy is faced with enormous challenges including the fall in international price of crude oil and, as such, should not be subjected to these preventable internal security issues.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, yesterday, Kalu said: “The Nigerian oil and gas sector is undergoing multifaceted difficulties.

“At the moment, vessel owners are finding it difficult to survive due to the fall in oil production necessitated by the slide in crude oil price and high production cost.

“Our company has, in the past few months, adopted strategies aimed at cutting cost in order to sustain our labour force. As a person, I derive pleasure in providing employment opportunities and wealth to the teeming population.

“I am sad that despite the difficulties in the oil and gas industry, the NDA are blowing up oil installations and vandalising pipelines in their region.

“These unfortunate actions will only set the Niger Delta region backward as government may have no other choice than to fight back with force.

“In as much as the Niger Deltans have their grievances, the best approach is to convey their misery in a credible manner to the authorities and seek dialogue.

“Government must, on its part, extend the olive branch to the aggrieved Niger Delta people by calling stakeholders in the region to a roundtable to identify the way forward, including investing in critical infrastructure in the region and also, compelling oil companies to give back to their host communities in form of employment, wealth creation and environmental protection.”‎

Kalu further tasked government to consider giving Niger Deltans the right of first refusal in the award of contracts for the protection of oil pipelines and installations in the region as they are more familiar with the terrain in the creeks. He added that through such empowerment, the relative peace the region enjoyed in the past will be restored.

“I must confess that the uneasy calm is negatively affecting not only Chevron, Shell and other IOCs but also indigenous companies who service the multinationals.

The former governor pleaded with leaders of thought in the Niger Delta to further sensitise their people to the need to embrace peace and dialogue and added that government must live up to expectation by ensuring the sustainable development of the Niger Delta.

The business mogul seized the opportunity to extend his “heartfelt condolences to the families of the civilians and soldiers who died in the attack on the military houseboat stationed at Ijere community in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, last week.”