N’Delta Stakeholders Want Gas Flare Trust Fund

Some stakeholders in the Niger Delta region have called for a Gas Flare Trust Fund to manage the proposed gas flare penalty fund to be paid to oil and gas producing communities in the country.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved the payment of gas flare penalty fund to oil and gas producing communities in the country.
At a two-day National Conference organised by Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas (HOSTCON) in Port Harcourt, the stake holders also called on the Federal Government to expedite action on the proposed payments.
They decried the continued pollution of the Niger Delta region through gas flaring and called on the government to expedite action on the Ogoni cleanup projects.
The delegates also reaffirmed their support to the leadership of King Alfred Diette Spiff and Prince Mike Emuh.
Meanwhile HOSTCON is set to recruit 10,000 youths for pipeline surveillance in the Niger Delta.
National Chairman of the Organisation, Prince Mike Emuh, who disclosed this at the conference in Port Harcourt said all zonal chapters of HOSTCON have been directed to commence the recruitment of youths for pipeline surveillance.
He also commended youths of the Niger Delta for their resilience and peaceful disposition, adding that with the approval by President Buhari of the four-point demand of the organisation, communities in the region will in no distant time get what is due to them.
He however stressed the need for unity among the various ethnic groups in the region.
Chief Emuh said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will also commence the disbursement of credit facilities to farmers in the region through HOSTCON.
Earlier, declaring the conference opened an elder statesman in Rivers State, Chief Professor Jasper Jumbo, described President Buhari as a friend of the Niger Delta people.
Jumbo said the gas penalty fund will be used to build capacities in the region, adding that entrepreneurial activities through skills acquisition will be given a boost in the region.
He particularly said such neglected areas like agriculture and women empowerment will get due attention in the scheme of things.
He also said HOSTCON was not against the management of the 13 percent derivation fund by governors in the region, but interested only in the development of oil and gas producing communities.
Chief Prof. Jumbo also commended President Muhammadu Buhari, Deputy Senate President, Omo Agege and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Obong Godswill Akpabio for their support to the organisation.