₦airaland Forum

Interesting . . . .

President of Middle Belt Forum, Prof Jerry Gana, has said youths in the Middle Belt region will have no alternative than to defend themselves against constant attacks by Fulani herdsmen if the Federal Government cannot guarantee their safety.

Gana said this when a delegation of MBF paid a condolence visit to Governor Jonah Jang in Jos on Sunday, over the July 7 massacre in nine villages of Barakin Ladi and Riyom local governments of the state.

He said the youths in the region were considering mobilising for a reprisal but are waiting for Federal Government’s response to the recent incident where over 100 people were killed including two lawmakers from Plateau State.

He however told the youths not to take the law into their hands.

The MBF president led a delegation, among whom were retired generals Zamani Lekwot(Correct Man) and Joshua Dogonyaro, Vice President MBF, Dr. Bala Takaya; former Deputy Governors of Nasarawa and Kogi states, Michael Abdul and Phillip Salau respectively; and former member, House of Representatives, Mr. Jonathan Asake, amongst others.

Gana said, “Enough is Enough.”

He said though the Middle Belt believed in the corporate existence of Nigeria and had lost many leaders in their quest to keep Nigeria one, they could no longer fold their arms while leaders from the region die very cheaply.

Gana said, “It is also important for me to convey that we as the leaders have been asking our youths to be patient and to be law abiding and not to disturb by having in mind that authorities everywhere will do what is necessary to bring to book all those who are in the habit of taking lives.

“Life is no longer sacred and therefore we want to assure you that our youths right from Adamawa, Taraba, where ever they are, are moblilised and we want to say that if we cannot be defended, because the security of lives and property of the people is the primary purpose of government, and if people cannot be defended by the forces of the Federal Government, I want to say that we are ready to defend ourselves.

Almost 10 years after it was shut down due to pipeline vandalisation, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday disclosed that it was set to re-open its Aba depot for improved distribution of petroleum products in the South-east.


NNPC in a statement signed by its acting Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Fidel Pepple, stated that the scheduled re-opening of its Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) depot in Aba today will boost distribution and supply of petroleum products in the South-east geo-political zone.


Explaining that the depot was shut down for almost a decade owing to pipeline vandalism, Pepple noted that its re-opening is a major achievement by the corporation under the watch of its new Group Managing Director (GMD), Mr. Andrew Yakubu, who has pledged to retool the downstream sub-sector in line with the vision of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.


“One of the key objectives of the new management as espoused by the GMD during his maiden town hall meeting with staff recently was the revamping of critical downstream oil facilities and infrastructure.”


He mentioned the rehabilitation of strategic depots, jetties and pipeline segments from Port Harcourt to Yola; the re-opening of the Aba Depot is therefore a major step in that direction as it will help ease the hitches in petroleum products supply in the South-east and going forward, in the North-central and North-east.


Also commenting on the significance of the event, the Managing Director of the PPMC, Mr. Haruna Momoh described the re-opening of the Aba depot as a major milestone for the PPMC in its drive to ensure unimpeded flow of petroleum products in the South-eastern zone of the country.


He said in the statement: “The advantages of having Aba depot back to operation are quite a handful; first it will reduce pressure on the Port Harcourt Refinery/Depot, it will make Abia, Imo, Anambra and environs wet with petroleum products, and naturally the multiplier effect will lead to automatic jerk up of economic activities in Aba and the entire zone.”


Momoh also mentioned that the re-opening will totally eliminate the incidence of bridging of products from Port Harcourt to Aba, adding: “The nation will be saved the cost of bridging via the Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF) scheme as trucks which should have gone to Port Harcourt to bridge now have their own depot in Aba.’’


Accordingly, Momoh thanked the Alison-Madueke for providing the much needed impetus for the NNPC and the PPMC to embark on the phased rehabilitation of the nation’s 21 loading depots which had been lying fallow for so long.


“Since we came on board at PPMC in 2011, we have set in motion an aggressive plan to make all our depots active as directed by the minister. So far we have been able to re-commission Suleja after 15 years of inactivity, we re-commissioned Minna, Kano, Gusau, Jos and now we are in Aba and very soon we shall be in Benin, Gombe before moving to Makurdi, Enugu and Yola,” he said.


He also called on citizens and residents of Aba to remain vigilant to the activities of pipeline vandals and ensure that oil thieves do not grind the depot to a halt again.

No daddy, I didn't lie. I leave lying to low life ACN goons like yourself. "O" Yes, you're a lying scumbag! And all your rants and Iinsults do not get to me, why you may ask, Cos I know they are all coming from a hateful and vengeful heart without an iota of sincerity. Afterall it was you Daddy that paid such glowing tribute to me as below before I exposed your black scraggy bottom at the mkt place:

All this their shout that govt is up to something is to redirect our psyche and think it is business as usual. This time,their sins found them out and when some of them see no escape route,they will help us catch their partners in crime. Thieves and unpatriotic citizens! abeg Ngozi show them what women can do when challenges arise and help me tell Diezani that nothing do her.