President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has noted with regret the very<\/p>\n
unnecessary controversy and acrimony that has arisen over the postponement<\/p>\n
of the ground-breaking ceremony for the Gas Revolution Industrial Park at<\/p>\n
Ogidigben in the Warri South West Local Government Area.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
President Jonathan is deeply saddened by the very unjust, uncharitable and<\/p>\n
unwarranted accusations of nepotism and partisanship that have been made<\/p>\n
against him in the wake of the postponement.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The President is particularly dismayed by the unseemly resort to the<\/p>\n
abusive denigration of his personal integrity and the whipping up of<\/p>\n
divisive ethnic sentiments by parties to the totally needless communal<\/p>\n
disagreement that resulted in the decision to reschedule the<\/p>\n
ground-breaking event.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It should be apparent to all Nigerians by now that while President<\/p>\n
Jonathan may be affiliated to the Ijaw ethnic group by birth, he knows<\/p>\n
fully well that he was elected President of all Nigerians and has always<\/p>\n
shown by word and deed that he will always uphold the oath he swore on<\/p>\n
assumption of office to protect and promote the interests of all citizens<\/p>\n
with justice, equity and fairness to all as his guiding principles.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The elders, community leaders and parties to the dispute over the location<\/p>\n
and ground-breaking event for the Gas Industrial Revolution Park who have<\/p>\n
resorted to threats and accusations of partisanship against the President<\/p>\n
in press conferences and paid adverts in newspapers are therefore being<\/p>\n
most unfair to him and doing a great disservice to continuing efforts to<\/p>\n
forge greater national unity and peaceful coexistence of all Nigerians.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We assure all concerned persons that as the leader of the nation,<\/p>\n
President Jonathan is not, and cannot be on the side of any party to the<\/p>\n
avoidable dispute over the location and ownership of the site of the Gas<\/p>\n
Revolution Industrial Park.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The project itself was conceived for the benefit of all Nigerians, not<\/p>\n
just Itsekiris, Ijaws, Urhobos or other ethnic groups in its immediate<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In terms of employment opportunities, it is projected that the Gas<\/p>\n
Industrial Revolution Park will ultimately create up to three million jobs<\/p>\n
for Nigerians in its catchment area and other parts of the country.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
All the people of Delta State and Nigerians living in other parts of the<\/p>\n
country will also benefit greatly from the project by way of improved<\/p>\n
power supply and other ancillary products such as fertilizers,<\/p>\n
petrochemicals and more raw materials to boost local industrial<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
President Jonathan therefore urges all parties to the communal dispute<\/p>\n
over the location and ownership of the site of the Gas Industrial<\/p>\n
Revolution Park to cooperate fully with ongoing efforts by the Federal<\/p>\n
Government and the Delta State government to peacefully resolve all<\/p>\n
outstanding issues so that the project can proceed apace for the benefit<\/p>\n
of local communities, all Nigerians and investors.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, the postponement of the<\/p>\n
ground-breaking ceremony for the project earlier scheduled for last Friday<\/p>\n
was not in furtherance of any anti-Itsekiri agenda.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rather, it was borne out of the clear need to give all concerned parties<\/p>\n
more time to achieve the communal peace, understanding and harmony that<\/p>\n
will greatly facilitate the project\u2019s speedy actualization for the benefit<\/p>\n
of Itsekiris, Ijaws, Urhobos, Ibos, Isokos and all other Nigerians.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the greater interest of the nation, President Jonathan expects the<\/p>\n
respected elders and leaders of the concerned communities to heed the<\/p>\n
pleas of Federal and state government mediators and expeditiously resolve<\/p>\n
their differences for the good of all and the progress of the country.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He looks forward to coming to perform the ground-breaking ceremony for the<\/p>\n
Gas Industrial Revolution Park very soon in conditions of communal peace,<\/p>\n
unity and harmony.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has noted with regret the very unnecessary controversy and acrimony that has arisen over the postponement of the ground-breaking ceremony for the Gas Revolution Industrial Park…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n