Former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyesigha has advocated for the legalisation of bunkering in the Niger Delta.
He urged stakeholders to prevail on President Goodluck Jonathan to issue licences for the legalisation of bunkering.
The former governor spoke at a ceremony in honour of the late Ijaw hero, Isaac Boro, in Yenagoa.
He said: “There is one thing happening in our area now. I read in the papers about oil theft. About 17 per cent of our production is taken away.
“Our people are not sophisticated enough to go into high-level bunkering. The bunkerers are not here. In the whole oil industry, how many Ijaw people are lifting oil?
“To address the poverty that is so endemic among our people, there should be licences for bunkering.
“The Ijaw man is not yet emancipated economically. The fight is not over, we must be economically liberated.
“There is a thin line between economy and power. They complement each other. My brothers and sisters, let us unite. We should obtain licences for bunkering.
“We have a president of our own, we have a minister of petroleum, who will stop us from obtaining bunkering licences?
“Ask, it shall be given, knock it shall be open. No need to go behind the door. Let us confront our brother and get what we want for our people.”
Alamieyeseigha extolled the legacies of the late Boro, whom he described as the architect of the survival of the Ijaw nation.
“People must look at those areas that we have been impoverished and fight for it. We know that nobody will give you power on a platter of gold; you demand for it, you fight for it. It is our own,” he noted.
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