Our Natural Endowment should be a Blessing – Oshiomhole

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has stressed the need to embrace national consciousness and convert the natural endowment in the country to a blessing in order to make the country a better place, saying that any further devastation of the oil region could cause impact on the nation.
Speaking while playing host to a delegation of senators led by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu at the Government House, Benin City, Friday, Governor Oshiomhole said, “I think that your visit in a way reminds us of the fact that regardless of the part that we occupy in the nation, we all can contribute to nation building and help to strengthen the bridge of national unity, particularly at this time. And even very significant is the fact that whereas people look at the negative side of our politics when we tend to over-dramatize or play up divisive sentiments, whenever the occasion arises, our political leadership has always shown that they also have the capacity to see across all the divides and remind us of our oneness, of our commonness, of the fact that we are one nation. One thing I have always believed is that the supra-party that everyone of us should belong to is Nigeria as a nation. The platform with which we seek to serve the interest of that nation will never be the same, but our commitment to nation building can remain the same.”
The Governor stressed the need to convert the natural endowment in the South-South to blessing. He said, “It is up to us really to convert our natural endowment to blessing. We can also choose as some seem to have opted for to convert it to a burden, and that will be a huge shame. I believe that pipeline vandalism is like inflicting wound on one’s own flesh, because my worry for our sub-region which I have canvassed time and time again is that the pollution of today, the kind of revenue we will need to restore the environment by the time the oil well dries up, like our brothers in Jos can testify to, the cost of restoring it might be beyond our means. So, on a good day, we all ought to ensure that those involved in oil exploration stick to international best practices by ensuring that the environment is clean. Nothing justifies the mindless destruction of public property, of pipelines, compounding pollution and making provocative statements.”
Oshiomhole sued for concerted efforts to stem the ugly tide and restore hope to the sub-region. According to him, “I hope that various leaders at various levels including traditional rulers and community leaders will try to prevail on ourselves that these assets are ours. No investor will come to a place that is not safe. It does not matter who is responsible for the insecurity. And if there one thing we badly need in the South South, it is to have the real direct foreign and local investment, not only to take crude and export to Europe but to refine it at home and establish petrochemical industry that will create opportunities because a lot of things that we are importing today, we can begin to produce them here and even export them. And that is the only way we are going to create jobs for our youths.”
Speaking earlier, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu who led a high power delegation of senators to Benin said,“I would like to use this opportunity on behalf of the senate and the national assembly to thank you for the role you played in resolving the last labour crisis. I want to thank you because most times, you have shown interest in what happens at the national level even though you are the Governor of Edo State. I want to thank you for your nationalistic outlook and your interest in labour issues in this country. I want to appreciate you for the role you have played in labour development in Nigeria. So, it’s always a pleasure meeting with you.”
He continued, “We are here to condole you and the people of Edo State over the loss of the loss of the Oba of Benin, Oba Erediauwa. From here, we are going to proceed to the palace to condole the Crown Prince and the royal family.  We use the opportunity to express our deep condolences over his loss. On the 17th May, 2016, the Senate was formally informed of the demise of the highly revered traditional ruler, the Oba of Benin, and in one of those rare occasions, we devoted a lot of time in discussing his life and times, and we believe that we should not stop at that.”
Senator Ekweremadu added, “We must come here to tell you that the entire nation mourn with you because the late Oba was indeed a global citizen. He was a citizen of Nigeria. He performed his duties beyond Benin Kingdom, and he is well known for his exploits. He was indeed a man of peace. I want to assure you that as you mourn, we mourn with you, and as you miss him, we are going to miss him too. Nigeria indeed is going to miss him, and we are particularly worried that he no more with us at this time when a lot of challenges facing the nation. We know the role he had played in the past,  and we believe that if we were with us today, he would have helped in resolving some of the national question that is confronting us today. We are worried about several conflicts now in the country. We have conflict in the North East. We have conflict in the South East and now we have conflict in the South-South. We are no more worried about the economic implications, but of course the lives that are being lost because the life of every Nigerian means a lot to us. We are worried about the social implications to us a nation. So, we want to appeal that the best we can do for the late Oba is for the leaders to come out to resolve these problems. Now that it is our time, the people of Nigeria expect us to find brilliant and workable solutions to our national problems. And we believe that with men like you and our colleagues here and those who are unable to come are to find a way to make progress as a nation.”