The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) on Monday drew the attention of the Federal Government to the deteriorating road network in the Niger Delta, saying the condition of roads in the region had reached the level of a national emergency.
The National Chairman of PANDEF, Ambassador Godknows Igali, made the call in a 66th anniversary message to Nigeria, in which he urged greater attention to infrastructure and environmental challenges in the Niger Delta.
Igali, while congratulating President Bola Tinubu and Nigerians on the nation’s 66th Independence Anniversary, also commended the governors and other leaders in the South-South for their contributions to peace, infrastructure development and social welfare.
PANDEF also acknowledged the efforts of intervention agencies, including the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority and the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), in advancing development in the region.
The forum, however, urged the Federal Government to give greater priority to infrastructure in the Niger Delta, particularly the road network, which it said had deteriorated to an emergency level.
Igali said, “We take the opportunity to remind the Federal Government to continue to pay greater attention to the state of infrastructure in the Niger Delta, especially the road network, which has reached a proportion of national emergency.
“Equally, the question of environmental remediation, which the area has had to bear for 70 years of oil pollution and gas flaring, needs to be placed on the front burner.”
The chairman noted that the infrastructure challenges were particularly significant given the environmental conditions in the region, with large parts of the six South-South states characterised by waterlogged terrain.
PANDEF also called for sustained action on environmental remediation, particularly the effects of decades of oil pollution and gas flaring in the Niger Delta.
The forum urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the peace and progress of the country, while congratulating citizens across the country on the Independence Anniversary.