Delta charges oil areas on peace, Asaba indigenes want federal varsity

The Delta State government at the weekend charged oil-bearing communities to create an enabling environment for foreign investors by ensuring that peace prevails in their domains.

Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Mofe Pirah, made the plea following alleged disruption of exploration activities by some host oil communities in the state.

He said in the absence of peace and a friendly atmosphere in the communities, multinational companies and other investors could not sustain their activities and development of the areas.

He, therefore, called on the communities to ensure a peaceful coexistence with themselves and the international oil companies (IOCs) for the development of the communities and the state.

Noting that the unfriendly attitude of some host communities had led to unemployment among the youths in the state, Pirah however, thanked the management of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) for providing an edifice in Ogunu Community as a result of the cordial relationship between it and the community.

He disclosed that the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa administration has embarked on job creation, empowerment and other skills acquisition programmes across the state.

He assured that the state government would create additional jobs between January and February next year to reduce unemployment in the state.

Meanwhile, aggrieved Asaba indigenes staged a peaceful protest on the streets of Asaba, the Delta State capital at the weekend to seek President Muhammadu Buhari’s urgent intervention for the establishment of a university in the capital city.

Leader of the protesters, Emeka Okonta, who spoke to journalists, described the absence of a university in Asaba apart from a campus of the state university, as pathetic, adding that Federal Government’s failure to establish a university in the city was an aberration considering that other state capitals have federal universities.

The protesters, carried placards with inscriptions: Federal Government Give Us A University, We Need A University In Asaba and It Is A State Capital, among others.

“Residents of Asaba have been clamouring to have a university established in the town and we appeal to President Buhari, to as a matter of urgency, do something about it,” they said.