From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi

The Motion for Simply Utilisation of Assets within the South East (M-JURSE), a regional stress group, has known as on the federal authorities to grant oil pipeline safety contracts to youths of oil producing and pipeline host communities within the South East.

The group is of the opinion that it will stem the tide of vandalisation and oil theft within the area.

In a Communique issued in Awka on Wednesday, M-JURSE warned that the deteriorating state of the financial system required all arms on deck with a purpose to stabilise the state of affairs and enhance each native manufacturing and exports.

The group mentioned that the federal authorities ought to concentrate on the correct harnessing of sources within the South East of the nation with a purpose to enhance income accruing to the federation account.

The communique which was signed by the nationwide coordinator of the group, Stanley Okafor, Esq, who can also be a frontline activist additional famous that it had develop into crucial to voice the necessity for the federal authorities to look extra inward and into technique of integrating the South East in mainstream nationwide life by co-opting its youths as companions within the sourcing and safety of sources discovered within the area, together with infrastructure needed for oil exploration, manufacturing and conveyance.

The Communique famous that youths within the South East have been keen and able to defending oil infrastructure located within the area and that granting authority and license to those youths might be a workable option to verify youth restiveness within the area.

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“We’re additionally calling on the federal authorities to provoke steps to conduct environmental influence evaluation in Enugu and surrounding areas the place coal was exploited for about 100 years at a time when the commodity was a substitute to grease and served as one of many biggest exports of the nation.

“You can not at present drill water within the Enugu space, and your complete space is hole beneath as you possibly can go from the start of the outdated metropolis to the tip by means of coal tunnels under.

“We, subsequently, hope that in all equity the federal government would present honest curiosity in assessing the influence of those years of exploitation to its setting with a view to creating satisfactory compensation to the area,” it additional mentioned.

Talking to correspondents on the matter, Mr Harmless Nduanya, who can also be deputy president of the Nationwide Youths Council of Nigeria in addition to nationwide ex officio of the group, mentioned that gold deposits and different valuable stones within the South East must be exploited with larger coordination and objective.

He added that the group would attain out to needed organs of the federal authorities to press house their calls for in a accountable however agency method.

“There isn’t a doubt that we’ve considerable geological deposits in Ebonyi, Enugu, Anambra Imo and Abia States and we would like the federal authorities to take advantage of these sources with youths of the area as companions in progress within the course of,” he said.

“We want the youths to be that engaged in order that they’ll develop into nationwide vanguards, and that manner peace and nationwide identification can start to be restored. We want youths of our oil-producing communities to be a part of contracts for safeguarding oil pipelines within the area.”

In keeping with the group, it will be calling a wider convention quickly on the matter.