By Festus Ahon
Memory lane
Crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region has over the years caused a massive decline in crude oil production in Nigeria, with the country struggling to meet up with both its production quota as allocated by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and production benchmark set out in the annual budgets. Delta State is the highest producer of crude oil in the country with major oil terminals across the State land and water assets. With President Bola Tinubu’s mandate to the nation’s security chiefs to curb the activities of the vandals, there has been marginal improvement in the nation’s daily oil production estimated at 1.46 million barrels per day as at November 2023.
Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State in appreciation of the efforts of the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies towards the fight against oil theft, on Tuesday, presented Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) for 3,747 hectares of land to the Nigerian Navy for its forward operations base in Escravos, Warri South West Local Government Area of the State.
Motive
Governor Oborevwori made the presentation to the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, and his delegation at Government House, Asaba. Speaking during the visit, Governor Oborevwori commended the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies for their support and cooperation to the Government and people of the State. He noted that the State has been experiencing peace, especially in the waterways, because of the efforts of the security agencies, assuring that his administration would continue to partner with them for the development of the State. He expressed hope that the land provided for the Nigerian Navy would lead to improvement in their operations and the security of the State.
Oborevwori said: “The Navy is very key to us in Delta State, especially in our water ways. Since I came in about seven months ago, it has been wonderful in terms of waterway security. We have a very good Naval team in Delta State. “A lot has been going on, and we are very happy with the operations of the Navy here in Delta State, unlike other States. You have improved a lot, but we still ask for more because security can never be hundred percent.
Delta, Navy partners
“The State Government will continue to do her best as we hope that the Navy will continue to do its best. I know that this visit is a good one for all of us. “One good news you will take home today is that I am handing to you now the Certificate of Occupancy to a 3,747 hectares of land already secured for the Nigerian Navy “Like I said, we will continue to partner with the Nigerian Navy in order to continue to improve our security. “I have assured my people in my MORE Agenda that we are going to enhance peace and security, and that is exactly what we are doing, and we are happy that there is peace in Delta State”.
In his remark, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, said the efforts of the Navy and other security agencies had boosted oil production to 1.7m barrels per day. Ogalla thanked Governor Oborevwori, the Government and people of Delta State, for their support to the Navy, assuring that it would continue to ensure security of the nation’s oil assets for optimum production.
Appreciates
He said the Navy was saddled with the defence of the nation’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, particularly in the maritime domain, for the economic well-being of the country. He pledged to sustain the war against the economic saboteurs of the nation’s oil resources. Ogalla said the Navy report and collaboration of coastal States, with Delta being a major coastal State. He said there has been a gradual increase in oil production in the country and commended the Governor for the construction of a jetty at the Naval Base in Warri.
He said: “It is our determination to ensure that we remove all the hurdles and make sure that the oil companies produce without any hindrance. “We will look inward to also rid out any bad egg within our system because the environment we operate in is a very complex environment.
Commitment
“It is complex because you have a lot of people who use propaganda and other forms of misinformation to cast aspersions on the Nigerian Navy but that will not deter us in the performance of our tasks,” the Naval boss stated.
In a related development, Governor Oborevwori on Wednesday joined the National Executive Council (NEC) Committee on Crude Oil Theft and Management for its first meeting in Abuja, with a promise to restore Nigeria’s oil production profile and improve on it. The meeting, held at Imo Government Lodge, also developed an action plan and roadmap that would be used to confront crude oil theft head on, and resolved to identify the areas of leakages, likely causes and way forward.
– Ahon is the Chief Press Secretary to Delta State Governor.