The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide has described the approval of $1.5bn for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery as a signal that the Federal Government has woken up from its slumber.
The IYC in a statement signed by its President, Peter Timothy Igbifa, said though reviving and optimising the refinery was long overdue, it was better late than never.
Igbifa, who described the move as a welcome development said it would create employment for the teeming jobless youths in the Niger Delta region and increase the country’s refining capacity.
The IYC supervisor likewise communicated idealism that the task when finished would decrease youth anxiety and culpability in the locale.
He advised the Federal Government not to play politics with the project.
Igbifa called on the government to swing into action immediately by releasing money immediately to back up its approval.
Igbifa said: "This ought not to end in reserves endorsement, cash ought to be delivered as and when due. We would prefer not to hear the typical pardon that the task is being postponed for the absence of assets. We listened cautiously as the Priest of State for Petrol, Boss Timipre Sylva, reeled out the course of events for the task and we are anticipating that the rehabilitation should follow the timetable.
“As a council, which fights for the interest of Ijaw youths and other youths in the Niger Delta, we will be constituting an action committee to work closely with the ministry of petroleum and the contractors that will be in charge of the rehabilitation project. We will monitor the execution of this project from the beginning to the end and if we notice any foul play, we will surely raise the alarm”.
Igbifa said it smacked of unseriousness and irresponsibility for an oil-producing country like Nigeria to be selling crude oil and importing refined products, adding that the move to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt refinery would gradually bring an end to the economic disaster.