Jonathan's kinsmen protests plan to relocate NCMDB project

Youths and kinsmen of former President Goodluck Jonathan in Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, have protested an alleged plan to relocate a project sited in one of their communities by the Nigeria Content Management Development Board. It was learnt that NCMDB acquired a parcel of land at Emeyal community during the administration of Jonathan to establish an Oil and Gas Park. But following the exit of the President, some forces were said to have mounted pressure on the board to move the project to another local government area in the state. While sources within the community claimed that some persons working for the state government were making moves to take the project to Toru-Orua, the community of Governor Seriake Dickson in Sagbama Local Government Area, others said the government had nothing to do with the issue. Checks have indicated that the suspected moves to relocate the project have unsettled Ogbia with different youth groups threatening mayhem. It was learnt that the Ijaw Youth Council, Ogbia clans, Niger Delta Youth Movement, the Ogbia Brotherhood and Emeyal Youth Group had held a series of meetings over the development. They were said to have written a protest letter to the Executive Secretary of the content board warning him against any plot to remove the Oil and Gas Park. The letter was signed by Chairman, IYC, Ogbia Clans, Osaanya B. Osaanya; President, Ogbia Brotherhood Youth Council, Daziba Apiri; Secretary-General, NDYM, Isaac Amakuro, President, Emeyal Youth Group, Victor Otobo and the National Union of Ogbia Students. In the letter, the stakeholders appreciated the decision of the content board to locate the oil and gas park in Ogbia, the council where oil was first struck in commercial quantity in Nigeria. They, however, expressed concerns over speculations that the board was under pressure to move the project to another area. They said, “The Ogbia youths want to inform the board that the project is welcomed in Ogbia and advise the board to remain resolute to the Act that established it and keep politics out of its operations. “Ogbia youths will stand to resist any attempts from any quarters, no matter how highly placed, the individual may be, to remove the oil gas park out of Ogbia because the project stands to develop Ogbia and its environs. “It is an established fact that the board has acquired a portion of land in Emeyal community in Ogbia and we pray for the board to continue the project in there. We will not accept any attempt to move it out of the place.”