Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir has declared that the discovery of oil and gas in the state has never been an issue nor a cause of misunderstanding between Bauchi and the neighbouring state of Gombe.
The Governor instead said that the process is on course, emphasizing the need for teamwork in order to achieve the aim and make the discovery a reality and beneficial to the two states in particular and the country in general.
Bala Mohammed was speaking when he received in audience, the Gas Monitoring Committee of the National Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission (RMFC) on a courtesy visit at Council Chambers, Government House, Bauchi.
The Governor said, “We in Bauchi and Gombe, are grateful that Allah has blessed us with this endowment and I assure you as I discussed with you privately, as a point of leadership, we are not going to quarrel with our neighbours”.
According to him, “We know that by virtue of our exposure that oil or hydrocarbon deposits are ubiquitous, they can move anywhere. I come from the local government where this natural endowment is found and I know the whole desert is endowed”.
He further stressed that “Bauchi and Gombe are one and the whole Northern Nigeria is one harmonious, homogeneous entity. We believe this is not only for Northern Nigeria, Bauchi or Gombe, as you said, but it is also for Nigeria”.
Bala Mohammed added that “Ebonyi is going to benefit from it because we have been benefitting from the resources which were endowed to the Niger Delta and we know the exclusivity of it under the Federal Government law and order because oil and gas and other natural resources are under the exclusive reserve of the Federal Government”.
He said that “Today, our day is met, we just presented the 2023 budget proposal with a lot of deficit. And of course, we know our resources and our endowment, we are a federating entity and we are federalists because we believe in the supremacy of the Federal Government and we believe in the subsisting system under the federal laws and orders”
The Governor added that “And we are very happy that the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari is doing so much to ensure that the sub-nationals are brought within the confine of concrete collaboration. The way and manner you are doing it, I understand that you are just coming from somewhere to do a retreat on gas exploration and exploitation.
The Governor then reiterated the interest of his administration to sustain its partnership with the Commission for the economic development of Bauchi State.
He also commended the Commission for its competency in the management and distribution of resources and called for stakeholders’ engagement for better service delivery.
Speaking earlier, the leader of the delegation, Barrister Patrick Mgbebu Nworu, congratulated Bauchi State Government on the oil and gas discovery in the state, saying that the Commission will assist to harness all its natural resources.
According to him, “We are here on your invitation, an invitation on the fact that if we proposed this retreat and you said that you don’t want it, we will not come in the air. Since you invited us, I thank you”.
He added that “I thank you so much and congratulate you and the entire people of Bauchi State for the discovery of a mega hydrocarbon deposit in Bauchi State. You see, the first thing is always the first thing but the second thing comes better planned”.
“So, what is happening in Bauchi, you may be saying that it is being delayed but it is coming better planned, it won’t be haphazard and that’s why we are here. We are here to work with Bauchi State. We are here to work with all Nigerians to make sure that this God-given wealth that you have will be well exploited and utilized for the development of Bauchi State in particular even Ebonyi in general. Though it was found in Bauchi, I am part of it. That is why we are doing this”, he stressed.
According to him, “I was trying to tell His Excellency that the major challenge we have in natural resources wherever it is found in Nigeria, is that it is always driven by export, export wide when the owners of the clothes will go to the market naked”.
He stressed that “that is the major challenge in natural resources derivatives in Africa including Nigeria. I give an example that some areas in the Niger Delta that are bringing the fuel we are using are not selling it even at N250 per litre. They are selling it much more than that because the whole idea was based on Dollar. We didn’t look at the domestic utilization hence our retreat here, Gas utilization plan for Nigerians”.
Patrick Mgbebu Nworu added that “And this gas is abundant in Bauchi State, you are heavily endowed with natural gas and other petroleum products”.
“Your Excellency, on this ground, we came specifically to organize a retreat to let us have more knowledge on this endowment God has given us, how to tap it, how to utilize it for the benefit of all from the village where it is, nobody will be left out. It is capable of employing millions of people. It will be wrong for it to employ people in China without employing people in this place where it is found”, he explained.
Patrick Ngbebu also said that “The man in the village who is using firewood to parboil rice, will do it better if he is using gas. The man on the roadside who is using firewood to prepare suya, will do it better if using gas to do the suya. The suya will be neater, cleaner and better done. And by doing that, he will save the environment, trees will no longer be cut down for firewood”.
