Nigeria's Crude Oil output rises

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Nigeria's daily crude oil production has further increased with the acceptance by the Niger Delta militants of the Federal Government's amnesty , Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ojo Maduekwe, has said.

Reuters quoted Maduekwe as saying at a press briefing at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday night that: "The militants have accepted the amnesty and are surrendering."Now we need to fulfil our commitment that they are rehabilitated. "Nigeria is a country where we forgive quite easily.

"If we could forgive each other the brutalities of the civil war ... I do not see why we can not bring a closure to the unfortunate violent chapter that was basically a legitimate struggle on the part of the Niger Delta which got hijacked by criminality.

"Now there is an opportunity to reset the button so we pull away from criminality to using constitutional legal means to press your point, and get attention and get results.

"Once we move through this hurdle, and we're moving through that ... Nigeria is clearly on the path to achieving its manifest destiny as a powerful modern African state with an economy that will be one of the strongest in the world."

Asked if he was confident the ceasefire would hold, Maduekwe told the news agency:

"It is holding, it is holding."

Maduekwe also said that Nigeria's oil output currently stands at about 1.6 million bpd but is poised to increase."Because of the militancy, it dropped; It is coming back to about 2 million bpd but for now it's about 1.6 (million bpd)," he said.He disclosed that the country was keen on attracting foreign investment, including developing its vast natural gas reserves.However, Maduekwe's crude production of 1.6 million per day figure differs from that of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman.Following the relative peace ushered in by the cease-fire, Lukman said on August 26 that the country's oil output had risen to 1.7 million barrels a day from 1.2 million earlier owing to an improvement in security in the oil region.

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the main militant group in the region declared a unilateral cease-fire on July 15 after the government freed its leader, Mr. Henry Okah, who was on trial for treason.But MEND rejected a government amnesty programme, which requires the militants to turn in their weapons by October 4 and enjoy rehabilitation.MEND, which later extended the ceasefire by 30 days, had argued that the amnesty package failed to address key political demandsWhile hundreds of militants and their leaders have surrendered weapons and accepted President Umaru Yar'Adua's amnesty, several key militant leaders have so far failed to take the offer.