President Muhammadu Buhari has pleaded with leaders from the Niger Delta to help him pacify the people of their community. He also restated his commitment to rebuilding the region. The Nigerian President wants peace to return to the restive oil region, so that crude extracting operations can resume in the area.

On Thursday, Buhari told some leaders from the oil region that they should work with other leaders, to plead with the people of their community to give him more time. The President also promised that the resources of the country will be prudently utilised to rebuild it.

“We intend to rebuild this country; so that our children and grand-children will have a good place they can call their own. A lot of damage has been done, so I want you to tell the people to be patient,” said President Buhari. “When you get together with other leaders, please pacify the people. We will utilise the resources of Nigeria with integrity and rebuild the country.”

Nigeria has been surviving on proceeds from the sales of crude gotten from the Niger Delta area. Ever since operations began in the oil region, the community dwellers have complained of neglect by the government. This has led to the violent activities of several militant groups in the area. Among these militant groups are the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) and the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). While the former settled for a Presidential Amnesty Programme in 2009, the later recently agreed to dialogue with the Nigerian government, following a series of attacks on oil facilities in the region.

On June 2, the Nigerian Vice President, Yemi Osibanjo, flagged off the Ogoni Land Clean Up, an exercise which is aimed at reversing the damage created by oil spills in the very polluted area. Also, for about two weeks now, no oil installation in the area has suffered an attack and as a result of this, Nigeria’s crude production has reportedly risen to 1.9 million barrels per day. In May, crude production had fallen to a record low of about 1.4 million barrels per day from the former production rate of 2.2 million barrels per day.

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