हाउ कोम्मित्तेद इस यार"दुआ तो डेवेलोप नाइजर डेल्टा?

HOW COMMITTED IS YAR’DUA TO DEVELOP NIGER DELTA?

The Federal Government of Nigeria has not executed any project in Rivers State in the past 20 years. Chubike Amaechi, the state Governor made this disclosure recently at a public function in Port Harcourt. Rivers State in the past three years have been the highest contributor to the federal till; Rivers State host two refineries but there are no roads to these refineries; Rivers State play host to two sea ports as well as being the hub of the oil and gas industry in the sub-Saharan Africa. Yet these ports have abysmal activities more or less as a result of import/export politics.

The non execution of federal projects in the Niger Delta region is not limited to Rivers State alone virtually none of the nine oil producing states can point out to any completed federal project in the last two decades yet yearly federal government announces multi billion naira projects for the region and the communities that host the resources that fund these budgets which most of the time are unspent and ended up in the pockets of a few Nigerians have nothing to show for God’s blessings in their lands.

Simply put there is no motorable road to and in the South East and South -South parts of the country and yet they are supposed to be part of Nigeria. Traveling by road, (are there any other alternatives?) around the South East and South- South is a suicide mission but the people must travel and daily they embark on journeys for various purposes. There are no roads even to the locations of the abundant natural resources and where such roads exist they are constructed by the exploiting companies just to enhance their activities not as a community service. There is an instance of how an oil company in one community in Rivers State, during a rainy season used planks to enable its vehicles cross a muddy portion of a road leading to where the company was drilling oil and after the job was completed the company packed the planks away in consternation of the local people.

We have been told that the reason why the East West Road have not been completed is because of kidnapping and militancy but if I may ask why did government not construct this road long before 2000 when there was no militancy. If it is militancy and kidnapping why federal government has not reconstruct the Ikot Ekpene Calabar Itu road that was built more than 30 years ago and is begging for rehabilitation? Is militancy responsible for the non construction of the Calabar-Ikom-Ogoja road, or the Aba-Ikot Ekpene-Uyo-Oron Road or Ogoja-Abakaliki Road?

When President Umaru Yar’dua assumed office one of his seven point agenda was the development of the Niger Delta region but his administration would soon complete two year out of its four year tenure and the remaining two year would be used for campaigning for his second term which has subtly begun. All that Yar’dua has done for the Niger Delta is the creation of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and to show how unserious and uncommitted the government is to the development of the area a meager
N50 billion was allocated to the new ministry which has no office, no staff or equipment.

How can government allocate such an amount to the ministry while last year the same government allocated N50 billion for the construction of a boulevard in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory while a region of nine states would have to share N50 billion? Let us assume each of the nine states would have projects worth N5 billion executed in their land while the ministry would be left with the balance of N5billion to run its affairs. There is a saying that a sick child cannot compete with his mates, a new ministry that is under funded cannot make any impact, perform or compete with older and well funded ministries.

At a stakeholders meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State with the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Obong Ufot Ekaete and his colleague, Chief Goddey Orubebe, some elders expressed fear that the ministry was a ploy to blackmail the region. That the budgetary allocation to the new ministry is a setup by the powers in Abuja to destroy the reputation of Ekaete and Orubebe and portray them as non performers as well add their names to the list of Niger Delta leaders who were given resources and opportunities to develop their states but the frittered away the opportunities.

Speakers after speakers in emotion-landed voices expressed their fears on the ability of the new ministry to meet the aspirations and yearning of the people not because the ministers cannot do it but because hurdles would be set up on their tracks to frustrate them from delivering the goods to the region. There were fears that other federal ministries may refuse to execute projects or programmes in the region on the excuse that a whole ministry have been created for the people. Some of the leaders recalled that since the creation of NDDC, Niger Delta people have been denied employment and other benefits from some federal agencies on the excuse that NDDC is taking care of their needs.

It is agreed that peace and security are pivotal to business, growth and development but one cannot understand a government that voted N440 billion for security in the Niger Delta region allocating N50 billion to development of the same area. All the allocation may not even be released by the end of the financial year and like NDDC, the money would expire. The budgetary allocation to the new ministry shows how much the government cares for the people of the Niger Delta, a simple deduction is that the government values the resources of the area, non animate things, than the human beings residing there.

Government is more concern with maintaining law an order in the region so that the resources can be maximally exploited. The welfare of the people and their environment do not matter, what matters is how much government can take away from the area for the looters in government to share. The heavy presence of security personnel in the region is not because government cares for its people but to intimidate and suppress them so that the multinationals can have unfettered access to exploit the oil and gas resources in the area. And the so called militants and freedom fighters in the region have provided a ready excuse for government and the oil companies not to protect the environment or develop the area.

Niger Delta region can be liken to a carpenter who makes doors for other but his house has no door, we deserve ,at least, a replica, of Abuja in the region, tall dream you may say but I believe we deserve that best that Nigeria can offer or boast of. Whatever that is good in terms of infrastructures, facilities and human development should be found in the region by default. Whenever we remember Oloibiri, that cradle of oil exploration and exploitation, we are worried and wondered what and how the region would look like when oil and gas are no more. The fate and thought of Oloibiri make our youths restless, restive and violence. Enough of lip service and excuses, what want development, now! Give us 50 per cent derivation! Give us resource control. No more stories we are angry and our patience is running out.

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