South-South Must Go Beyond Oil Dependency, Says Presidential Aide

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (South-South), Hon. Gift Johnbull, has charged the South-South region to move beyond its dependence on oil and gas by embracing a diversified, innovation-driven economy that delivers tangible opportunities to its people.

Speaking at the opening of the second edition of the Road to South-South event on Wednesday at the presidential Villa, Abuja, Johnbull said the new phase, tagged Road to South-South 2.0, was designed to deepen impact, expand partnerships, and translate government policies into measurable results across communities in the six states of the region.

Johnbull described the platform as a flagship initiative of her office, created to strengthen dialogue, promote inclusion, and build stronger bonds between the government and the people.

She recalled that the previous year’s edition focused on listening to communities and aligning their needs with national priorities.

According to her, interventions such as Project Earn from the Soil have empowered thousands of local farmers with labour-saving machinery recognised by international partners and state governments.

Johnbull added that the impact has cut across women-led cooperatives, youth innovation, and global development collaborations.

“But for every milestone we reached, new questions emerged: How do we sustain and scale our efforts? How do we move the South-South beyond oil and gas, towards a smart, diversified, and inclusive economy? Road to South-South 2.0 is our answer,” she said.

She listed agribusiness, renewable energy, education, and technology transfer as priority areas for the next phase, adding that the focus was on converting global training opportunities into local action and transforming international investment into community wealth.

Johnbull praised President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for driving tangible progress in the region, citing the approval for the extension of the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway through Edo State and the rehabilitation of key federal roads, including the East-West Road, Benin–Sapele–Warri Highway and the Eleme–Onne axis.

“The Renewed Hope Agenda is not a slogan; it is a shared responsibility. Development can only succeed when communities take ownership of it,” she said.

She noted that the region is not just the oil belt of Nigeria but also “the innovation belt, the cultural heart, and the bridge to a prosperous and united nation.”

Johnbull reaffirmed that the government remained committed to ensuring that every community benefits from the opportunities being created under the initiative.

On his part, Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe (Cross River North) stated that the Niger Delta can no longer survive on episodic clean-ups and temporary relief measures, insisting that the region requires full ecological justice backed by enforceable federal policies and sustained institutional collaboration.

The Senator said the South-South, despite powering Nigeria’s economy for decades, has remained trapped in a cycle of environmental degradation, underdevelopment, and economic marginalisation.

“The South-South region is the circulatory system of the Nigerian economy. Yet, paradoxically, the arteries of the region itself have been clogged with the plaque of underdevelopment,” he said.

Jarigbe described the long-standing condition of the Niger Delta as a “tragic paradox of wealth creation alongside wealth depletion.”

“The transformation of the South-South is not an option; it is an overdue debt of justice and a prerequisite for sustainable national security and economic resilience,” he said.

The senator called for a comprehensive Niger Delta Environmental Restoration and Sustainability Act that would mandate complete remediation of polluted lands and waterways, ensure accountability for polluters, and establish a coordinated framework for environmental monitoring.

He urged the Federal Ministry of Works, the Niger Delta Development Commission, and state governments to align their budgets and implement a single regional infrastructure plan to expedite key projects, including the East-West Road, seaport expansions in Warri, Port Harcourt, and Calabar, as well as interstate bridges.

Jarigbe also called for a redesigned security architecture that links the protection of critical oil assets with the safety of communities and livelihoods. “Security for pipelines must also mean security for people,” he said.