Banner Online News

By Fred Edoreh

Naturally, there is nothing wrong with the opposition criticising a ruling government. They do have a right in the media space to continue to pursue political capital.

What is wrong with the opposition in Delta State, however, is that their bands of critics are pitiably uneducated, terribly uninformed and despicably ignorant of developments in their state, so they descend to the low of deliberate mischief with misinformation, disinformation and blatant falsehood to hoodwink the public.

Their tragedy is that, in their delusion of grandeur, they are unaware that their propaganda counts for nothing, as the people clearly can see through their life of deception and do not take them seriously.

That has become the identity of a certain Zik Gbemre who has arrogated to himself the task of daily abusing Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, even on issues he obviously lacks knowledge.

The latest in his usual invectives was titled: “Gov Makinde, A Practical Lesson For Governor Oborevwori,” as published in a few online newspapers which, in my estimation, should even have bothered to have examined his claims and possibly re-educated him.

The prognosis of his article is that Gov Seyi Makinde of Oyo State recently signed a $100 million Gas Plant and Supply Agreement with Shell Nigeria Group and he believes that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and the Delta State Government have never thought along that line with the abundance of gas in the state.

While we can understand his uncouth manners and abuse of the Governor to bellyful as borne out of the pains of their woeful rejection by the electorate in the last election, his ignorance about oil and gas investments in Delta State is an awful display of emptiness.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with peer comparison in governance, but it is not to compare apple with groundnut.

It is okay and we rejoice with the Oyo State Government for recently signing a $100 million gas processing agreement, but Gbemre should see that that can never be compared to a $2.1 billion agreement which the Delta State Government has entered with NNPC Limited and UTM Offshore Limited, as far back as December 2023, for the construction of the first Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Project in Nigeria, with a capacity of 1.8 billion metric tons per annum.

It is either Gbemre is not following or he is just being his usual mischievous self, because the signing ceremony was well publicised.

For his enlightenment, Governor Oborevwori did not only attract the investment which has UTM Offshore as the biggest investor with 72 per cent stake holding while NNPC Limited has 20, the Delta State Government also took an equity of eight percent.

The project is first of its kind to be developed by an indigenous private company in Nigeria and, as Oborevwori explained, Delta took equity in the project because of his conviction about the strategic importance of the project to the national and state economy.

“Of particular interest to the Delta State Government is the dividend that this UTM FLNG will generate, thus advancing the socio-economic development of our great State. It is expected that over 300,000 metric tonnes of LPG will be produced and dedicated to the domestic market,” Oborevwori pointed out at the signing ceremony.

“This project will also help to mitigate the environmental hazards in the Niger Delta by reducing gas flaring. Of course, our women folk will also benefit from the fuel switch from kerosene and firewood to cleaner energy, thus improving their health and general well-being.

“Another benefit we envisage with this project is that it will create job opportunities for our youths, which is one of the four pillars of our MORE agenda.”

The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, also commended the Delta State Governor for not just being a promoter of gas development in the country but also for investing in gas projects.

“We are happy to collaborate with the Delta State Government in this venture. His Excellency is here in two capacities, one is that he is a supporter of growing gas utilization in the country and he is also now an investor in the valuable industry for all of us,” Kyari said at the event.

The Honourable Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, (Gas), Hon. Ekprikpe Ekpo, also commended Governor Oborevwori for his vision and foresight on the project, just as did the Group Managing Director of UTM, Julius Rone, saying that “Delta State Government taking an equity on this laudable project will create other sources of revenue for the State to develop their infrastructure that is highly needed and create employment for the teeming youths.”

For clarity, the agreement was signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Kingsley Emu, and Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Omamuzo Erebe, for the Delta State Government, while the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, and Group Managing Director, Julius Rone, signed for NNPC Limited and UTM Offshore, respectively.

Even before this time, the Delta State Government, during the administration of Senator (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa had also attracted an investment of $20 million by Platform Petroleum on the Umutu Gas Plant for the compression and transportation of gas to industries in Delta State.

The project has been completed and the plant is already processing and feeding a lot of companies in Delta State at the lowest possible cost across the country.

Not just that, as the then Chairman of the Delta State Investment Development Agency, Paul Nmah, revealed, “over 600 Deltans have been employed there to work and earn a living, besides those who were engaged at different stages of the construction process.”

If Gbemre was not born, not matured nor sensible then, he sure must have been born before just this May, 2024, when Delta State had the honour of having President Bola Ahmed Tinubu commission three other critical multi-billion dollar gas infrastructure projects undertaken by SEEPCO, NNPC Limited and other partners in Kwale.

They are the AHL Gas Processing Plant 2 (GPP – 2) – 200mmscf/d, which is an expansion to the Kwale Gas Processing Plant (GPP – 1); the AHL Gas Plant which is being developed by AHL Limited, an incorporated Joint Venture owned by NNPC Limited and SEEPCO; and the ANOH-OB3 CTMS Gas Pipeline Project.

President Tinubu pointed out at the occasion that the projects would support the Federal Government’s effort at eliminating gas flaring, harnessing more value from the nation’s gas assets and deepening domestic gas supply as a critical enabler for sustainable economic prosperity.

While the President performed the ceremony virtually, Gov. Oborevwori was physically on ground to underscore the importance of the projects to the State as he pointed out that the GPP2 represents a significant leap in the State’s effort to harness the potentials of Nigeria’s natural gas resources, particularly for the energy sector.

“With its capacity to produce high quality gas, this facility stands as a beacon of hope and prosperity for our nation as the clean gas produced in this plant will be transported via the OB3 Gas pipeline, thereby maximising our distribution network towards ensuring efficient delivery of gas to various destinations,” he noted at the event, adding that it will “boost our energy security, stimulate economic growth, create employment opportunities and improve the standard of living for our people.”

Even at that, he revealed that the construction of the GPP3 is already underway.

It is for these milestones that Delta State was, in January, 2024, voted “the Safest State for Oil and Gas Investments” in the country at the Nigeria Oil and Gas Forum and Award Night, sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, with Governor Oborevwori represented by the Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Vincent Oyibode.

Obviously, Gbemre and his ragtag team of opposition critics are far behind information and clearly out of tune with developments in Delta State under Governor Oborevwori. They are still merely driven by the pain of the rejection of their party and their candidate in the Delta State Governorship elections, such that they have lost all sanity, sense of truth and good conscience, and have become pathologically melancholic.

The good thing is that Deltans are aware of their obsession for mischief and do not take them seriously, especially as the people can see the advancement of Delta in the projects, programmes and performance of Governor Oborevwori in the various communities of the State, as they daily transverse the three Senatorial Districts.