Cleric Wants $5bn For N’Delta Dev

The founder of the Abundant Life Evangel Mission(ALEM) in Port Harcourt, Apostle Eugene Ogu has urged the Federal Government to allocate the sum of $5billion to address some of the problems in the Niger Delta region.
Ogu who spoke to newsmen recently in his church faulted the Federal Government for allocating a huge sum of $1billion to fight insurgents in the North East, while various problems ranging from broken down refineries, pollution and sea piracy were yet to be addressed for easy oil production in the Niger Delta.
The cleric urged the Federal Government to be sincere with the people and ensure that the people and region that produces the wealth of the nation were given a fair deal.
He also urged the Federal Government to sit back and re-strategise on the fight against corruption, saying, corruption is not only recovery of public funds, but implementation of policies that give everybody a level playing ground.
According to him, such implementations should include award of contract, policy implementations and distribution of the wealth of the country.
“If the Federal Government could allocate $1billion to fight insurgency in the North East, it will be wrong to ignore Niger Delta region where all the major resources of the economy  of the country come from.
“To salvage the Niger Delta should be of great importance to the government more than fighting insurgency in the North East. We want to see $5billion allocated to the Niger Delta to address the problems of refineries, pollution and problems of waters, ways’’.
The federal government ought to know that the problems of Niger Delta affect the entire country, adding that to revamp the economy of the nation, the region that produces the wealth of the country should be given priority.
“The government should pay serious attention to the Niger Delta project. Billions of naira should be allocated to address some of the pressing issues in the area and to make peace in the area as well as ensure easy production of oil and make the economy grow’’.
He commended the federal government for allocating funds to states to pay workers and pensioners.