Of late, concern has mounted from amongst Nigerians across ethnic divides as to why the Niger Delta region remains the same except in a few cases where some of the State governors have demonstrated tremendous commitment to the development of their respective states.
Thirteen years after the creation of a substantive Ministry of the Niger Delta Affairs by the Administration of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua on September 10, 2008, it is really disturbing that things don’t appear to be working. With the existence of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) after 21 years of its creation by the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo administration and a derivation formula of 13 percent of oil proceeds from the Federation Account awarded to the littoral states, many Nigerians still lament that nothing is happening in the region.
Yet, without any deference to insensate personality cult mongering, the good intention of the late President Yar ‘Adua cannot be faulted. The problem is the absence of a political will on the part of the present managers of the nation’s political economy to develop the Niger Delta.
It is unacceptable for those entrusted with the affairs of the region to always reflect on peace in the Niger Delta as the only means of achieving increased oil production. What with their erroneous culture of entitlements in which people who constitute themselves into armed gangs are sustained through huge unproductive contracts whereas the region remains without real development.
There is a very severe infrastructural deficit in the Niger Delta in spite of the NDDC and the ministry. Unfortunately, all those who dictate affairs in the region, who incidentally is from there live in Abuja. Is it therefore strange that nothing seems to be working there even after the successful amnesty programme?
It is curious that the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs is situated in Abuja, thousands of kilometers away from its area of jurisdiction. What a contradiction! We recall that during the Northern Island crisis that rocked the United Kingdom in the 1970s, the Ministry of Northern Island which resulted from the disturbances was not situated in London but in Belfast which was in the center of Northern Island.
There is nothing more symbolic than the fact that the former President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is from the Niger Delta. If during his administration the region still remained the same, under whose administration will the region be developed? Besides the East-West Road project which is still dogged by needless political quagmire, what are the plans of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs in the region?
The only solace is that the NDDC has its headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State in the heart of the Niger Delta region. Unfortunately, the new board which President Muhammadu Buhari had appointed more than two years ago and was screened by the Senate is yet to be inaugurated thus stalling genuine development in the region. This development has generated a lot of tension in the area.
The only reason given by the government as to why the inauguration is delayed was the submission of an authentic audit report of the Commission to the government. Now that the forensic audit report has been submitted and confirmed by the Hon. Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry Sen. Godswill Akpabio since last week, President Buhari should inaugurate the screened board without further delay in order to curb the unabated restiveness in the Niger Delta. We recall that while receiving the Ijaw National Congress at the State House in Abuja on June 24, 2021, President Buhari himself promised that the NDDC board would be inaugurated as soon as it is submitted and received.
It is against this backdrop that a coalition of youth associations from the nine constituent states that make up the Niger Delta has aligned with the collective demand of the Niger Delta Governors, ethnic nationalities, statesmen and civil society organizations.
That inalienable demand is for the Federal Government to inaugurate the Governing Board of the NDDC screened since 2019 in conjunction with the NDDC Act and to ensure full representation of the constituent littoral states. It is already in the public domain that the Niger Delta Avengers, a restive youth group, has started attacking the Navy killing security forces in the region.
We, therefore, caution that any further delay in inaugurating the NDDC board will unnecessarily aggravate the heightened tension in the entire Niger Delta region, which, unfortunately, is inimical to the peace so far being enjoyed in the region. The president must follow through on his promise to inaugurate the board that he appointed for the Commission. Since the inauguration was put on hold in November 2019, the NDDC has been run by an Interim Management Committee (IMC) and a sole Administrator, without anything to show for it.
During the inauguration ceremony of the Interim Management Committee of the Commission on November 5, 2019, Mr. President asked that the inauguration of the board be put on hold pending the completion of the forensic audit.
The Federal Government clearly stated that the Senate-screened board would be inaugurated after the presentation of the forensic audit report. Having been vetted by all relevant bodies of the Federal Government including the security forces before the screening by the Senate of the Federal Republic, members of the board are therefore as fit as fiddle for the inauguration.
The people of the Niger Delta can no longer endure a prolonged wait before the board takes over as the region has been yearning for the impact of the Commission these past two years. A proper inauguration of the board would ensure fair representation of the nine Niger Delta states, accountability in the utilization of NDDC funds, checks and balances, and due process in the operation of the Commission in compliance with the NDDC Act.
Again, the NDDC should begin now to invest in the region. The establishment of an oil and gas company or even petroleum refineries is long overdue for a region that accounts for Nigeria’s enviable ranking as the sixth-largest exporter of crude in the world.
The huge gas reserves in the region can be used as the feed-stock to drive power plants, petrochemical industries, and allied investments which will turn a desolate region into Nigeria’s nay, West Africa’s industrial powerhouse. Ancillary industries will spring up and cluster around such investments.
A further multiplier effect will see the emergence of a myriad of service industries to minister to the diverse needs of an economy undergoing a rapid social and economic transformation. A clear analogy for these endless possibilities exists, with the discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand. The transformative effect of that discovery and the construction of the “city of gold” – Johannesburg – still reverberate throughout the Southern African regional economy till today.
Unknown to many Nigerians, the same Presidency which supervises the ministry oversees the affairs of the NDDC. But both agencies are said to be starved of funds. Even when funds are finally released, the two agencies pay more money to their consultants and “contractors” than money channeled to project execution or implementation.
The soon-to-be inaugurated NDDC board to be managed by experts and first-rate men and women of integrity from the region will definitely not behave like their predecessors. There must be the sincerity of purpose on the part of the Presidency for things to work in the Niger Delta. This must be anchored on a proper plan for reconstruction and regeneration.
