.From Douglas Blessing, Port Harcourt
A non governmental organisation under the aegis of Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) has proffered solutions to the federal government on organised crimes in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea
In a letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, the group urged the government to set up a taskforce, coast guard, establish Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative, issuance of licences to 18 modular refineries approved by the previous administration and partner with other countries in the Gulf of Guinea.
Executive Director of YEAC, Mr Fyneface Dumnamene, said the solutions are contained in the 19 recommendations submitted to President Tinubu, adding that if implemented will mitigate organised crimes in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.
He said recommendations emanated from a National Conference on Organised Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (NACOCINAG) and the official launch of the Network on Organised Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (NOCINAG, recently convoked by YEAC-Nigeria in Port Harcourt, with supports from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime and Resilience Fund, Austria.
Fyneface said the group has been at the forefront of the campaign against pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refineries, and pollution, hence it was imperative to submit the communiqué to the President directly as recommendations would address the menace of organised crime in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, and the Gulf of Guinea.
Some of the recommendations are, “The establishment of a Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI) proposed by YEAC-Nigeria for the innovation, modernization, standardization, legalization, and integration of artisanal refineries into the national economy as a corresponding organised crime mitigation mechanism for artisanal crude oil refiners in the Niger Delta.
“Immediate issuance of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s approved 18 Modular Refineries licenses for artisanal refiners in the Niger Delta to mitigate organized crime and support sustainable youth empowerment.
“Partnership with other Presidents in the Gulf of Guinea for the establishment of an effective taskforce against organised crime to be known as ‘Taskforce Against Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (TAOCINAG)’.
“A Presidential Directive to the National Security Adviser, Chief of Defense Intelligence, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air Staff, Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Inspector General of Police, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Interior, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), etc. to collaborate with YEAC-Nigeria on the “Network on Organized Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea (NOCINAG)” as a multi-stakeholder, inter-ministerial, interagency and civil-security relations’ intelligence gathering and sharing platform that generates information, data, intelligence and share with security formations and operatives to strengthen the fight against organised crime in the Niger Delta, Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.
“Immediate establishment of a Coast-Guard Mechanism to be known as Nigeria Coast and Boarder Guards (NCBG) that collapses all government-private security arrangements into a standby supportive maritime and borderline security mechanism against organised crime especially crude oil theft and illegal bunkering while also working to mitigate the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, among others, to strengthen homeland security efforts.”
While commending President Tinubu for reviewing the proposal for possible integration of artisanal refineries operations into the national economy, Fyneface call for establishment of Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI), as the ideas required for its effective take-off were already set out by YEAC-Nigeria.
He further called on all other stakeholders, including local and international development partners, to support the work, projects, and programmes of YEAC as a think tank on organised crime mitigation mechanisms in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.
