My Presidency’ll Address Bakassi Issue, Says Jonathan

Posted by admin Presidency Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

President Goodluck Jonathan has vowed to address the lingering issue of oil-rich disputed Bakassi peninsula even as he attributed the appointment of the Director General of the State Security Service (SSS), Ita Ekpeyong, to his strength and knowledge on the job.

Addressing a rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Calabar, Monday, Jonathan said he was aware of the challenges posed by the ceding of Bakassi Peninsula, promising that he would ensure that the National Boundary development agencies would be properly funded to tackle the challenges.

He also said the Federal Government would work with the Cross River State Government to ensure that Tinapa Business Resort succeeds. According to Jonathan, “We are aware of the situation in Tinapa. We would continue to work in that direction. I want to say that what we have in Tinapa is a major investment that federal and state governments should not allow to waste.

“We also know the challenges caused by the Bakassi incident and the national boundary development agencies would be properly funded so that most of the challenges we have especially the Bakassi local government; we would address them to the benefit of our people. One thing we would continue to promise Nigerians is that nobody should be worried.”

He also promised to mechanise the agriculture sector and add value to agricultural produce to encourage export. “We are also intervening seriously in agriculture. We must mechanise our agriculture and we must look into ways we can go into export of our produce. Very few things are being exported from Nigeria. We must improve our GDP.

Let us get more money and even improve on our foreign reserve”, he said.

According to Jonathan, “The petroleum sector is also another area. The new petroleum industry law should create a lot of jobs for our people. The local content component is designed to give Nigerians the opportunity. We are going to add value to the petroleum that we export.”

We are going to petrochemicals so that more jobs would be created and we would also earn more money from our petroleum sector.

“We are also making funds available for the industrial sector. You are already aware that some of our ailing industries have taken soft loans from government to make sure that these industries come up so that jobs and wealth would be created”.

Earlier while addressing the Cross River State Council of Chiefs led by the Chairman, His Royal Highness, Eval Lawrence Idaka Egbe, the Paramount Ruler of Abi, Local Government Area, Jonathan said Ekpeyong’s performance on the job so far as justified the confidence he had on him before making the appointment.
While thanking the Council of Chiefs for the support given to him and Vice President Namadi Sambo to emerge winners at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he assured that their focus will be on wealth creation via engaging the youths.
President Jonathan commended the people of Cross River for remaining the most peaceful state in the Niger Delta, he assured both he and Sambo will not play politics of division, reiterating that tribe, tongue, religion will play no part in the distribution of developmental projects.
“I’m not here to campaign but to reassure you that we stand on the fact that we must unite in this country to bring about development, it doesn’t matter whether you are the Atlantic ocean or by the dessert,
we must remain indivisible because disunity breeds corruption”, he said.
Jonathan said security issue was of his administration’s top priority even as he said economic issues will remain in the front burner because “we are committed to wealth creation and we will not disappoint you”.

-Punchwp_posts