Nigeria’s new vice president visited hotspots in the Niger Delta yesterday in a bid to build confidence ahead of expected talks with local militants who have disrupted oil output and abducted foreign workers.
Goodluck Jonathan was likely to visit impoverished fishing communities in the creeks of Delta state, including Escravos, where U.S. energy giant Chevron has its main oil export terminal.
President Umaru Yar’Adua used his inaugural speech last month to say he wanted to address long-standing grievances in the oil-producing delta, and has moved quickly to bring the region back from the brink of anarchy.
“The vice president was to interact with the people of the communities and the youth to have first hand knowledge of their plights and needs, and assure them of government’s commitment to alleviating their sufferings,” the News Agency of Nigeria said.
Only fifty years too late.