NIGER DELTA AVENGERS: UDUAGHAN WANTS FG TO DEPLOY CARROT AND STICK STRATEGY

…Explains why Amnesty programme failed
Former Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has called on the
Niger Delta Avengers to cease forthwith their activities just as he urged
the Federal Government to deploy the Carrot and Stick strategy to curtail
the threat to the economy and the environment of the region.
Uduaghan who was speaking as special guest of honour at the 12th All
Nigeria Editors’ Conference in Port Harcourt, Thursday, also tasked the
Federal Government to involve the Governors of the Niger-Delta region in
the engagement process for lasting end to insurgency in the region.
He said the amnesty programme failed because governors of the region were
not part of the implementation process.
“The amnesty did not achieve what it was set out to achieve because the
governors were not involved. The states should be involved. The biggest
threat in the Niger Delta is that our land is seriously polluted
especially water,” he said.
He further called for special attention to be given to development of the
region.
Dr Uduaghan noted that pollution from oil exploration has impacted heavily
on the environment. He recalled that as a growing child in communities in
the region the rivers were clean to the extent that you could see
underneath the waters.
The former governor who said he was very excited with the focus of the
theme of the conference on agriculture, charged the media to help achieve
a mindset change that will promote the gains in investing in the
agricultural sector.
He recalled that as a governor, he introduced what he termed, Delta Beyond
Oil in his state, stressing that it was time Nigeria looked beyond oil.
He said it was the task before the media to get the young and old to see
the wealth in the agricultural sector
“I need to highlight the major problem we have today in the country, I
believe the media can help us set an agenda to deal with it . Our people
should accept that farming, agriculture is a means of economic success. We
need a major mind change,” he said.