Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has declared that his administration would not allow the-oil rich Tongeji Island, an island that shares boundary with the Republic of Benin, to be taken away by Nigeria’s neighbouring country.
Abiodun said his administration is determined to do all in its power to make life meaningful for the citizens of the state living within the Island located in Ipokia Local Government area of the state.
The governor who made this known at the weekend when he received the Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, Ambassador Emmanuel Kayode Oguntuase, and the Flag Officer Commanding Western Region(FOC), Rear Admiral Oladele Daji, noted that the Island had been on his administration’s radar because of its huge deposit of petroleum resources.
According to him, the Island is of huge interest to his administration.
Abiodun said the visit of the ambassador would only make his administration to act even quicker and ensure that the Republic of Benin that shares boundary with the state does not take advantage of the Island.
He added that the state government would set up a team to visit the Island soon on a fact-finding mission and to find out what could be done to assure the people of the area that they have not been forgotten.
The governor further disclosed that his administration had informed the Federal Ministry of Petroleum that the Island was of huge interest to the state government, adding that his government had also begun discussions with investors on the way forward.
In his remark, Oguntuase disclosed that his visit to the state governor was to brief him on happenings in the area as the closest to the Island, adding that it was important to let the over one thousand inhabitants of the Island feel government’s presence, as the Republic of Benin was presently trying hard to lure the people and take over the Island because of the huge petroleum resources embedded beneath the ground.
The Baale of Tongeji, Okiki Obaboolorunkosi has asked for government’s presence in order to ward off the gendermes from neighbouring Benin Republic. He said because there was no signboard to demarcate the Island’s borders, the security operatives from Benin enter their community at will.
He also urged government to provide employment for sons of the Island who are graduates in order to reduce the tension and incidences of violence occasioned by unemployment.