In what is called a ‘Gas Revolution,’ and following the renewed interactive activities of the Federal Government with oil-producing communities in several states in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, a strategy to put in place a gas industrial park that is valued at around US $20billion through a Public-Private Partnership model is now ongoing.
Tagged the Gas Revolution Industrial Park, GRIP, Ogidigben, and predicted to be a regional hub for all gas-based industries, the project will cover 2700 hectares with fertilizer, methanol, petrochemicals, and aluminum plants situated in the park that has already been chosen as a Tax Free Zone by the federal government.
In a statement by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, the acting president, Yemi Osinbajo disclosed this development yesterday at the Presidential Villa while meeting with international developers and investors of the project.
Osinbajo declared that Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari government “is dedicated to the development of the Niger Delta, and the significance of this project is stressed by the presidential attention it is drawing. The presidency is very interested.”
Before he went on vacation, President Buhari had given the go-ahead the vice president to embark on visits to oil-producing communities to show the determination of his administration to the quest of a new vision for the Niger Delta.
The construction of an industrial gas hub in Ogidigben, Delta State was one of the feedbacks that was received during the trip to the state.
As a follow-up on the Niger Delta visits, Acting President Osinbajo, together with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources; Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Group Managing Director; Dr. Maikanti Baru and other top government and NNPC officials met last week with a group of global investors and developers put together under a conglomerate by Dubai-based firm, AGMC.