By Samuel Itsede
The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila has said that the 9th House would encourage initiatives that would help create jobs for Nigerians.
A statement by spokesman to the speaker, Lanre Lasisi, noted that the Speaker said this while playing host to a delegation of the Greek Consortium in his office on Monday led by Mr Patrick Osobase.
On the main focus of the consortium, which is to boost fishing in Nigeria, Gbajabiamila said it was a laudable initiative that the House would also support.
“I was wondering what the Greek Consortium means, but we now know what it is. You have a wonderful project, and it’s something that we’re delighted to partner with you on as a House.
“We have a deficit in terms of fish production in Nigeria, but it’s gladdening that you’re doing something about it. We would like to know how many people you trained so far, how many are working and all that. It will be good to have all that on paper so that when we’re making a case, we can have evidence.
“I’m glad about the issue of local content in the project. We’re interested in local content, and we’re happy that you’re looking at that. We should also know the financial implications of this. Let’s know what the government will commit to the project.
“For the National Assembly to come in, it has to know the implications. But beyond that, we must commend you for what you’re doing. This is what we should encourage you to do,” Gbajabiamila said.
Earlier, Mr Osobase, who thanked the Speaker for granting them audience, said the Greek Consortium was formed to intervene in some areas, including training some Nigerians in the area of modern fishing.
He said hundreds of thousands of Nigerians would be gainfully employed in the short-run, while over one million people would also be engaged in the long-run.
To achieve that, he said, a state-of-the-art processing plant will be built in Nigeria, noting that “This is the first of its kind in Nigeria. The processing and packaging will be based on EU standard because it can be exported to Europe.
“We’re talking with the ministry of labour on the production. We’re also talking with the North East Development Commission (NEDC). This is a national project.
“The project will have branches in other African countries, but Nigeria will be the main hub. About 20 billion dollars worth of fish is being stolen from the Gulf of Guinea every year. But the system we’ll come up with will ensure that everything is monitored,” he said.
Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Ita Enang, who was part of the delegation, said the project would be beneficial to Nigeria in different ways.
