Crude Oil Discovery: Northern Nigeria no longer parasites, says Nasarawa Governor
With the completion of the drilling of the Ebenyi-A oil in Obi, Nasarawa State, as well as other oil wells in Keana, also in Nasarawa, the derogatory tag of “parasites” attached to the North may cease, according to Governor Abdullahi Sule.
“We are no longer being looked upon as parasites,” the Governor said on Thursday when he hosted the North Central People’s Forum, led by its Chairman Board of Trustees, Lt-Gen (rtd), Jeremiah T. Useni, at the Government House, Lafia.
Sule who is also Chairman, North Central Governors’ Forum noted that, “it’s time for the zone to assert its relevance politically and economically in the country.”
He commended efforts of the North Central People’s Forum in its effort to liberate the region economically and politically.
Sule said, “I think, we should do it together because the governors of today share the same views with you.
“We believe in Nigeria but we also want to grow the economy of North Central.
“We want to make the North Central relevant. We have the tools, we have the people, and we have Secretary to the Government of the Federation now.”
He said that the zone was planning to host its economic summit immediately after the scheduled security summit in Jos, Plateau State.
“When Nigeria was saying that we were subsidizing gasoline, we are taking out 65 million litres a day and it will shock you to know that over 70 percent of that number was committed only to Lagos.
“You are subsidizing Lagos as a state instead of the whole country, the whole country is taking care of Lagos.
“The financial institutions that we have today, their headquarters, are all concentrated in Lagos.
“If you look at the IGR today, what Lagos is deriving as IGR is twice what the country as a whole is generating. This is the situation we find ourselves.”
Earlier in his opening remarks, Useni said the forum was a child of necessity of the zone, saddled with the responsibility of ensuring both political and economic liberation of the people of the zone.
He urged the Chairman of the North Central Governors’ Forum to consider his organization a veritable tool for the development of the zone and urged him to mobilize his colleagues from Benue, Plateau, Kogi, Kwara, and Niger, in order to strategize for the development of the region, economically and politically.
“You have become a rallying point to the forum and we look forward to your continued support so as to achieve the desired aims and objectives,” Useni said.