|
BNW |
|
B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Delta Govt Wants Investors Back In Warri
DELTA State government at the weekend pleaded with local and foreign investors to return to Warri, assuring them of enduring peace in the town.
The state Commissioner for Inter Ethnic Relations and Conflict Resolution, Mr. Ovuozourie Macaulay, who made the plea, said that normalcy and socio-economic activities were gradually picking up in the area.
According to him, fighting among the warring parties had since stopped because those involved had realised that violence would not benefit both the state and the nation.
He stressed that the resolve to maintain peace by the people was manifested in the recent historic peace deal signed by the warring Ijaw and Itsekiri youths, as well as the emergence of the Warri-Itsekiri Peace Meeting where issues affecting them had been resolved amicably.
Macaulay said that the peaceful atmosphere pervading the Warri axis informed the decision of the British government to open a liaison office in Warri, which essentially is aimed at protecting and promoting the British business and other interests in the area.
"Today, the British government are back with us fully and are opening a liaison office in Warri. This is an indication that they now have some measure of confidence in the restored peace in particular," Macaulay told The Guardian.
"Today, the Warri Port is open, the refinery is firing at full blast, the waterways and creeks are open, while the sight of boats laden to the brim with fish, shrimps and crabs at the waterside, are signs of the return of the basic economic activities, on which the lives of the people depended," he added.
Furthermore, he said that Warri was regaining its once glorious name, emphasising that the time has come to build on the new-found peace for the benefit of all.
"The time has come to forge ahead, to bring back the city of optimum potential, a land of free enterprise where no man is hindered in the pursuit of legitimate business," he stated.
The commissioner explained that this informed the decision to put together a three-day seminar on Multinationals and Ethnic Conflicts in Niger Delta, holding at the PTI Conference Centre, Effurun this week.
He disclosed that the national seminar is designed to correct the misconception of perceived insecurity in Warri and environs.
Essentially, the seminar is designed to stem the planned relocation of the operational base of the multinational oil companies from the state due to the so-called insecurity, as well as to create a harmonious relationship between the host communities and the multinationals.
"We want to appeal to investors, particularly the foreign ones, not to run away while those outside are encouraged to come to Warri and do business, because the environment is now conducive," Macaulay stated.
|
|
||||||||||||
