Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike (second left); the Managing Director, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, Tony Attah (second right); and the Chairman NLNG board, Dr Edmund M. Daukoru, during the commissioning of the NLNG head office by Gov Wike in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has accused international oil companies of being part to a conspiracy theory that the Niger Delta is unsafe in order not to relocate their corporate headquarters to the region.
The governor observed that so long as this kind of negative narrative geared at perpetuating injustice is not addressed, the country’s corporate existence and stability will continue to be threatened.
Governor Wike made these assertions at the official commissioning of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) corporate headquarters sitting on 126,060 square meters in Port Harcourt, the River State capital on Wednesday. He noted that for several years multinational oil companies and some vested interest groups have been promoting the negative narrative that Niger Delta is not safe to legitimise their sheer refusal to relocate their corporate head office to the region.
“If Rivers state is not safe, why will NLGN be operating in Rivers State and have its headquarters in Rivers State? So those proponents of insecurity, please try to have a second thought. This state is safe. If the state is not safe you cannot construct this edifice.”
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The governor said it is morally offensive for oil companies to continue to exploit oil and gas in the Niger Delta and locate their headquarters elsewhere in the country. According to him, the claim that the Niger Delta is unsafe is not tenable.
“Understand that this conspiracy theory against the Niger Delta is a temporary thing. I can assure you, one day everybody will come back to their operating base. Nobody can change it.”
Governor Wike challenged the multinational companies to prove if Lagos and Abuja don’t have security issues as the rest of the country today. He maintained that the idea of flying in oil workers from Lagos to work in the Niger Delta and then fly them back is detrimental to the nation’s economic well-being.
