A university professor, Alfred Aggrey-Fynn, has urged the Nigerian government to dismantle the Kaduna petroleum refinery due to its distance from raw material.
Mr. Aggrey-Fynn stated this, Wednesday, at the Nigeria Humanitarian Summit organised by the Gani Adams Foundation in Lagos.
“The Kaduna oil-refinery must be dismantled and its place food processing and meat factories must be established,” said Mr. Aggrey-Fynn, a professor of Economic Development Programme at the North American University, Republic of Benin.
“The source of raw material to feed the refinery is too far from the factory site, away in Rivers State.”
Mr. Aggrey-Fynn also urged the government to consider encouraging indigenous entrepreneurs to apply local technology in crude oil refining, due to the fluctuating price of the product.
“Portable oil refineries must be established in all the nine oil producing states in Nigeria namely: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, and Rivers States, in order to take advantage of the proximity of raw material.
“The River Niger must be dredged to enable ocean-going ships to ply right from the south to the far north of the country which will provide employment and trigger off extensive economic activities.”
Mr. Aggrey-Fynn further called for the outlawing of gas flaring in the crude oil prospecting industry.
“Crude oil prospecting companies operating in Nigeria must be compelled to adopt the lateral horizontal method of drilling, in order to avoid oil spillage and to protect our environment.
“Keeping of foreign bank accounts by Nigerians and Nigerian companies must be regulated and made transparent, in order to curtail illicit financial flows and illegal capital flight from Nigeria.”
The summit, organised in commemoration of the 2015 United Nations World Humanitarian Day, was themed ‘Improving the Living Condition of the Poor, Less Privileged, and the Physically Challenged During Crisis in Nigeria.’
Earlier, Gani Adams, the organiser, said that the summit is a call to action by Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General who was represented at the event by Goodluck Obi, for concerted effort to be made at reducing human loss and suffering from crisis.
Mr. Adams urged the federal government to “act swiftly” on matters that borders on human rights abuses and social injustices.
“The government should also prevent the spread of small arms and light weapons,” said Mr. Adams, the factional leader of the O’odua People’s Congress.
“The government should never trivialise or treat with kid gloves matters that relates to environmental degradation.”
In his welcome address, Charles Alade said that response to emergencies is one aspect of humanitarian work.
“Humanitarian workers also support communities to rebuild their lives after disasters to become more resilient to future crises, to advocate for their voices to be heard, and to build lasting and sustainable peace in areas of conflict,” said Mr. Alade, a professor of History and International Studies.
“Today, the World Humanitarian Day, we honour the heroic aid workers who rush bravely at the expense of their lives to help people in need. We remember their sacrifices and we recognise the millions of people who count on humanitarian workers for their only survival.”
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