Edo Modular Refinery: Lessons Niger Delta governors, FG must draw from Godwin Obaseki
By GbaramatuVoice Editorial Board
Gbaramatuvoice observes with pride some new developments in the Niger Delta region which indicates hopeful signs that the current leadership challenge bedeviling the region may not be total.
Latest example to this ray of hope is the news that the Edo Modular Refinery has commenced operation at its 6,000 barrels per day (bpd) plant in Ologbo, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of the state.
The modular refinery going by reports, is a fully funded project undertaken by AIPCC Energy Limited in a joint venture between AFCOM Oil & Gas and Peiyang Chemical Equipment Company of China, but was developed by Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited (ERPC) with support from the state government through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
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Indeed, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state may not be a saint or an angel, Yet, there are reasons why his latest action in Edo state derserves commendation from all Niger Deltans of good will.
First and very fundamental is the fact that the latest refinery which has the capacity to produce 50percent of diesel (500,000 litres), 25 percent of naphtha (300,000 litres) and 200,000 litres of Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO), is not the first, but one out of the two refineries attracted to the state by the administration of the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, to boost investment inflow and drive industrialization in the state.
Secondly, through Governor Obaseki’s latest efforts, thousands of direct and indirect jobs for the good people of Edo state have been created-men and women, young and old alike.
Again, apart from job creation, the coming of the refinery will definitely increase the state’s revenue base.
Also making it a development for true celebration is the awareness that plans are underway to complete the phase II of the project in March 2023, and after which, its production capacity will jump from 6,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 21,000bpd.
Also very remarkable is the fact that Obaseki’s people-oriented and development focused leadership in the state is coming at about the same time when other state governors in the region cannot not revive infrastructures in the state or bring new ones to the state.
Similarly, while the newspaper like every other Niger Deltan of good will appreciates Governor Godwin Obaseki’s led state government; there is equally an ingrained lesson that the Federal Government must draw from the unfolding development in Edo state. And that is the fact that if a state government like Edo, could in less than five years of its life span incubate, nature and attract two refineries in the state, GbaramatuVoice sees no reason why the Federal Government cannot in eight years build new refinery(ies) or at the very least, resuscitate the nation’s now moribund refineries in Warri, Delta state, Kaduna and Port Harcourt, Rivers state.
Thus, the newspaper insists that both Niger Delta state governors and of course the Federal Government must travel to Edo state to draw creative and public leadership lessons from Godwin Obaseki.
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