The Niger Delta Stakeholders Forum and Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities have warned that unless President Bola Tinubu takes remedial steps to address certain government policy imbalances in the region, the region may soon descend into another conflict, especially over pipelines and oil and gas infrastructure surveillance contracts.

The two groups stated this in a communiqué they released after a strategic meeting in Port Harcourt yesterday, saying that the signs of conflicts which engulfed the region in the past were being noticed again, except that the government takes preemptive action to address the obvious concerns.

“We, the Niger Delta Stakeholders Forum and the Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities, after a strategic meeting comprising community leaders, youth representatives, former agitators, stakeholders, and critical opinion leaders from across the region, hereby issue this communiqué to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the general public.

“We speak not merely as stakeholders, but as individuals and leaders who have lived through the cycles of conflict, peace, accountability, betrayal, and reconstruction that continue to define the security architecture of the Niger Delta region.

“We also speak collectively for the broad spectrum of ethnic nationalities and host communities across the region whose peace, stability, and economic survival are directly tied to the decisions being taken at this critical moment.

“This communiqué is both a warning and a sincere appeal, one that must be listened to carefully,” they stated.
The groups, therefore, urged President Bola Tinubu “to learn from history; correct the current imbalance; protect institutions of peace from politicisation and misuse, and restore equity, fairness and confidence in the system.”

“The Niger Delta has seen crises before. We know the signs. If the current trajectory is not urgently corrected, the consequences may once again be severe, not just for the Niger Delta, but for Nigeria as a whole, “ they added.

While justifying their call for decentralisation of pipeline contracts, the groups pointed out that under President Goodluck Jonathan, oil production peaked when pipeline surveillance contracts were decentralised, thereby giving a sense of belonging and ownership to communities as against what obtains currently when the country, despite spending more on centralised surveillance,  is yet unable to meet its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota.