A’Ibom oil communities, IYC extol Late Buhari for approving PIA in N’Delta

Iniobong Emmanuel

As the world continues to pay glowing tributes to former President Muhammadu Buhari, who passed away about a week ago, the coastal oil-bearing Ibeno ethnic nationality in Akwa Ibom State and the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, worldwide, have joined in mourning the man they described as “a friend of the Niger Delta.”

Condoling with President Bola Tinubu, the late Buhari’s family, the government, and people of Katsina State and Nigeria at large, elders, youths, and stakeholders of Ibeno lamented the demise of the ex-Nigerian President, saying his patriotic and detribalized disposition to national issues would be sorely missed.

The leaders, who spoke under the aegis of their socio-cultural association, Mpono Nnito Ibono Progressives Association, MNIPA, recalled that the former President’s interventionist regime, by approving the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, has contributed largely to dousing tension in the region.

Spokesman for the group, Chief Eshiet Okpo, extolled the sterling qualities of the deceased former president, describing him as a man who was hated for standing up for the truth.

Chief Okpo, who read the communique arising from their extraordinary meeting in Upenekang, headquarters of Ibeno local government area, at the weekend, pointed out that “the late President Buhari was a detribalised leader who hated injustice with zero tolerance for marginalisation.”

They noted that “his quest to address years of injustice against the people of the Niger Delta motivated him to push for the then PIA Bill through all the legislative processes and then gave his assent to become a law in 2021.”

“The PIA has brought fresh breath into the oil and gas industry and most importantly, the host communities through the Host Communities Development Trust Fund, HCDTF.

“As one of the LGAs benefiting from the PIA, lots of life-touching projects and social empowerment schemes have come to the Niger-Delta, including Ibeno LGA

“The administration under Buhari was serious in making the host communities of oil and gas companies to have a stake in the wealth from their domain, devoid of any political sentiments or ethnic discrimination.

“Buhari was a friend of the Niger Delta, who believed the Goose, that lays the Golden Eggs, must be rewarded without any bias to language, culture, and locations.

“Late President Buhari was a true Nigerian leader and a patriot who understood the pains of Nigerians across the six geo-political zones. Despite his shortcomings as a human, he was committed to addressing the challenges of poverty, unemployment, and equity in resource distribution.

“Now, that he has passed unto eternal glory, the people of Ibeno, Niger Delta and the entire Nigeria will remember him for those legacies,” the communique read in part.

The group however commended President Tinubu for renaming the University of Maiduguri after the late Buhari, to immortalise the him, and praised the humane dispositions of some past Northern Nigerian leaders, who had variously touched the lives of marginalised Nigerians in the Delta region, recalling how these leaders have contributed to the transformation of the region and Ibeno in particular.

One of such moment they recalled, was the creation of Ibeno LGA by the late General Sanni Abacha, thereby giving them an identity as a people, praying that, such feelings of nationalism should also touch President Tinubu, in their agitation for the creation of Obolo State to douse the long years tension borne out of of neglect, marginalisation.

In the same vein, the IYC worldwide expressed their condolences to the former first family and expressed solidarity with the Obolo people in their demand for a separate state, stating the need for more equitable distribution of resources and greater representation.

They prayed for God to continue to grant President Tinubu the courage to continue to right the wrongs in the country.