The European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms Samuela Isopi, disclosed on Friday that the EU had spent not less than €250m on various development projects in the Niger Delta.
Isopi, represented by the Head of Political Affairs Office, EU delegation to Nigeria, Thomas Kieler, said this in Abuja during a meeting with the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Col. Milland Dikio (retd.).
Kieler said though all of the EU projects in the Niger-Delta were coming to an end, the EU would focus its next development agenda on addressing the climatic and environmental impact of oil exploration in the region.
“The EU is a long-standing partner in the Niger-Delta. In the region, we have been active since 2008.
“We have been there with a big development and programme called the Niger-Delta Support Programme. We have been using about €250m in the region.
“There have been a number of other projects, essentially those projects are coming to an end, but we would like to keep our focus on the Niger-Delta and to address the current situation and assist the local area and the population towards prosperity and development,” Kieler said.
In his remarks, Dikio said the Federal Government was concerned about how to ensure food security and developing the blue economy of the Niger-Delta region.
He said the Nigerian government would continue to work closely with stakeholders to achieve sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and job creation in the region.
According to him, militancy is a thing of the past in many oil-producing communities in the South-South region.
Dikio said, “We, in the Amnesty Programme, are concerned with food security and the whole gamut of the blue economy.
“The framework for achieving that is to focus on the young people between ages 12-18 years, because we believe that giving them a new outlook on life will stem the tide that leads to deviant behaviours.
“Therefore, we want to collaborate with the EU to address the root causes of instability in the Niger-Delta region.”
Dikio added that the amnesty office was also exploring the ‘heart and mind’ approach to conflict resolution in the Niger-Delta.
He said, “We don’t believe that every problem with the nail needs a hammer, because we are at peace with our people. We listen to them and proffer solution.
“We are not able to meet all their demands, but we are pointing them to other ways of expressing grievances. That’s why you have relative peace in the Niger-Delta.”
