By Michael Jegede
When President Muhammadu Buhari took over the running of governmental affairs at the centre in 2015, not many believe he was going to show any serious commitment to the development of the Niger Delta region. The thinking was that the Niger Delta under Buhari would witness another round of total neglect that has made the region remain completely backward in terms of development, despite being the Nigeria’s oil hub where the country’s main revenue comes from.
Buhari, however, appears to be proving those with such pessimistic view wrong with the great concern he is currently showing about the plight of the Niger Deltans and the needed attention being given to the issues of the region. This is apparently the reason why many have continued to call on the people of Niger Delta, particularly those involved in militant activities, to allow peace to reign so that the good plans of the present administration for the area can be easily actualized.
The Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), for instance, at the board’s inaugural meeting, cited the increase in the budgets of the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry, the NDDC and the Amnesty Programme, the fresh urgency for the completion of the East-West Road, the East-West rail line and the Ogoni Clean-up as efforts showing Buhari’s determination towards the advancement of the Niger Delta.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Communication, Clara Braide, the ex-Senate Leader also noted that the ongoing tour of major communities of the Niger Delta by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, to have a direct interface with the people of the oil-producing states, was a further demonstration of the commitment of the Buhari-led Federal Government towards the development of the region. Pleading with the people of Niger Delta to wholeheartedly embrace the option of dialogue and consultation being carried out by the government, the NDDC chair, who had always remarked that Buhari’s administration meant well for Niger Deltans, said only the entrenchment of peace, can guarantee an overall development of the oil-rich region.
According to him, destruction of oil facilities, pipeline vandalization and damage done on other national assets within the Niger Delta would only help to further exacerbate the monumental infrastructural and environmental challenges confronting the region, rather than solving them for the benefit of the general public.
The NDDC board helmsman expressed optimism that the time for change and solution to the numerous problems facing the Niger Delta has come, stressing the need for the people of the Niger Delta area to give the present administration all the required support and encouragement for it to continue in its positive drive to transform the region.
The Managing Director governments of NDDC, Mr. Nsima Ekere had equally at a forum asked the people of Niger Delta to be calm and cooperate with the administration of Buhari towards the provision of infrastructure in the region. Regretting that the Niger Delta region had nothing much to show in the area of development for the five years a son of the soil ran the affairs of the country, Ekere said it was clear Buhari had the interest of Niger Delta at heart from the moves he has so far made to tackle the problems of the zone. The NDDC’s MD vowed that the interventionist agency will work vigorously and tirelessly in line with Buhari’s vision to bring sustainable development to the Niger Delta.
While hailing government’s commitment to Niger Delta development and the adoption of its 16-point demand as a working document for the development of the Niger Delta axis of the country, the Pan-Niger Delta Elders Forum (PANDEF) stated that “beyond rhetorics, the federal government has given definite approval for the opening of the Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko as well as the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) comprising the Gas City Project at Ogidigben and the Deep Seaport in Gbaramatu, Warri South-West LGA, Delta State. These projects, when fully operational, will definitely cause a turn-around of the socio-economic and security landscape of not just in Delta State, but the entire country.”
Appealing to the youths and all aggrieved stakeholders in the Niger Delta to continue to maintain peace, and shun any act of vandalism and destruction of key government-owned assets, PANDEF said: “Let us give the federal government a chance to carry out its plans for the development of the Niger Delta region. We believe, and will continue to uphold the ideals of a peaceful Niger Delta, hinged on equity and justice, a united and prosperous Nigeria.”
Also arguing that Buhari has shown enough commitment to improving the lives of the people of the oil-rich region, a former acting MD of NDDC, Pastor Power Ziakede Aginighan, urged the Ijaws, Urhobos and Itsekiris to bury their differences and support government’s renewed efforts to positively change the face of the Niger Delta region. According to him,
“There can be no stronger expression of Federal Government’s understanding of the situation in Niger Delta than the pronouncement by the vice president that the region should be treated as a special development zone.” Chief Mike Loyibo was part of PANDEF delegation led by Chief Edwin Clarke and His Royal Highness, Diete Spiff to visit Buhari on November 1, 2016 where the 16-point item of the group was presented to the President.
Loyibo, who later led another high-powered delegation of the Niger Delta Peoples Congress (NDPC), to meet with Osinbajo, in an interview published in a national daily, observed that “For us as leaders that are the true representatives of the people, there is no better time than now. The visit of the presidency to the heart of the problem, that’s the core Niger Delta area, is the best thing to be able to assess first hand; it is a fact-finding visit. What are the problems? How do we get out of it? For us as leaders, it shows that the presidency is actually committed and genuinely concerned in addressing in a very holistic manner the age-long neglect of the Niger Delta.”
He emphasized the reasons why the efforts of the Buhari-led government must be appreciated and supported by all well-meaning Niger Deltans, saying: “After all, the problem is not Osinbajo’s problem. It is not Buhari’s problems.
The problem was caused by we, Niger-Delta people because when you blame the centre every day for all these problems, we have not asked questions about our 13 percent derivation money; what do the governors at that level do with the money? So, every day we run to the centre, saying you have not done this and that, we have not been able to ask questions among ourselves. There is a leadership problem in our area. As far as I am concerned, the problem is not a Buhari problem. It was caused by we, the Niger Delta people.
Jegede writes from Abuja