Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, on Thursday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to do everything within his powers to fast-track the current crude oil surveys in the Northern part of the country.
Yahaya, who gave the charge while chatting with State House correspondents at the Villa, pointed out that discovery and exploration of crude oil in the region will no longer put it at a comparative disadvantage and ensure “balancing” between the North and the South.
As a means of achieving his dream, the governor asked President Buhari to pressurize the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to expedite action on its exploration activities in the region.
He said: “There is need to exploit oil and gas in the North, in doing so we will have balance. While oil and gas is discovered up North and there is oil and gas in the South, there will be balance.
“And everybody will now be his brother’s keepers trying to mingle and mix up. Everybody can enjoy the benefits of God’s endowed resources that we have in this country if we are ready to key in and do the correct thing,” Yahaya added.
On the NNPC’s role, Yahaya said “they should expedite action on the take off knowing fully well that oil and gas is under the exclusive preserve of the federal government.”
According to him, he also discussed the issue of the oil discovered in the Benue trough in Konami area around Bauchi and Gombe states with the president, noting that a lot has been achieved in exploration activities in the affected areas.
While commending the President for his commitment to the oil exploration and promoting the interest of investors in developing the oil and gas deposit in the region, Yahaya hinted that he stressed the need to fast-track its take-off of the exploration of the hydrocarbon resources so that people can benefit from the huge socio-economic opportunities.
Elaborating on the purpose of his visit to the Villa, the governor said: “We discussed the issue of Wawa-Zange grazing reserve. I think it is the largest grazing reserve that is gazetted in the whole of Nigeria totaling 144,000 hectares.
“I believe that Mr. President earlier in 2020 precisely in his 2020 January speech acknowledged and approved that the National Livestock Transformation Plan will take off with a model from Gombe, the Wawa-Zange reserve.
“But so far, nothing serious has been done on that, and with the recent outburst, with the position taken by governors of southern parts of this country, there is the need for us to fast-track the process of building that place so that in the event our people move in multitudes to come back to resettle, we will have space for them.
“We will avoid situations where there will be rancor and there will be no issues to do either with farmers/herders again or issues to do with the herders themselves having problems because they cannot have any space for them to stay”, the governor added.
Yahaya also hinted that the state government had requested for funds from the Federal Government to implement the grazing reserves project
He further clarified: “I believe that every other state will do so because you need the resources in order to implement and there is scarcity of financial resources in the state.
“We have requested but I will not tell you how much. But at least, we have submitted a proposal that is fully backed by a feasibility report that indicates what we require.
“But with size of Wasa-Zange, 144,000 hectares that is specifically meant for cattle and other livestock, really, there’s justification for government to put in money so that we can avoid this rancor and issues to do with farmers/herders that has already degenerated in some parts of the country to lead to banditry, cattle rustling and kidnapping for ransom,” the governor added.
