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                           "But while the land is ravaged
                      And our pure air poisoned
                      When streams choke with pollution
                      Silence would be treason
                      Punishable by a term in prison"
                        Ken Saro
Wiwa (1941-199

 

 

Niger Delta Ministry: One year later

AFTER the clamour for a bold initiative to address 50 years of neglect and despoliation in the Niger Delta, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was persuaded to set up a dedicated ministry for the Niger Delta. It was thought at the time that such a ministry would be powerful enough to remedy the crying needs of the neglected region for infrastructural development and economic empowerment of her people. There was even a suggestion that the ministry should be located within the Niger Delta region to give ready access to the people of the area. More than one year after its creation, for reasons not entirely under its control, the performance of the new ministry has been lacklustre.

On September 10, 2008, President Yar'Adua announced the creation of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. He said that the new ministry would have a Minister in charge of development of Niger Delta area, and a Minister of State in charge of youth empowerment. The existing Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was to become a parastatal under the ministry. Yar'Adua further explained that the ministry would coordinate efforts to tackle the challenges of infrastructural development, environment protection and youth empowerment in the Niger Delta. In December 2008, he appointed Obong Ufot Ekaette, a seasoned administrator and technocrat, as the substantive Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and Mr. Godswill Orubebe as the Minister of State.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) treated the announcement with caution, saying the new ministry could be yet another avenue for corruption and political favouritism. Other commentators expressed the fear that far from facilitating change, the new bureaucracy could well prove to be a buffer in addressing the real issues facing the Niger Delta people.

The ministry's early beginnings were inauspicious as the initial staffers were apparently not provided with office accommodation in Abuja where they insisted on staying. Eventually, some office accommodation was made available at the Abuja secretariat. Then the minister discovered that he had practically no staff to work with. He began head-hunting. A permanent secretary was assigned to his ministry in February 2009 whilst other key staff arrived later. The budget for the ministry was a puny N19.5 million - a sum, hardly enough to pay mobilisation fees for projects inherited by the new ministry.

Faced with this predicament, the minister decided to fill his time by embarking on a protracted meet-the-people tour covering all the nine states in the Niger Delta. During his visits, he met governors, religious leaders and youth organisations. In August 2009, the ministry held a job fair in Abuja. The ministry claimed afterwards that over 11,000 jobs and training offers were secured during the fair. We hope these are real jobs and not one of those bogus claims often made by Nigerian leaders in order to look good.

However for 2010 a more robust allocation of N61 billion has been approved for the ministry. It now remains to be seen to what use this money will be put. The minister seems to have in view some big projects such as the 700 kilometre Calabar-Ondo coastal road, the East West Railway and new towns development but all these projects are still at exploratory and feasibility study stages. The youth empowerment envisaged by Yar'Adua has also still not materialised in the Niger Delta. As a matter of fact, government appeared overwhelmed when 20,000 former militants emerged from the creeks seeking rehabilitation.

The minister has been more than one year in office, but it is arguable whether any change has occurred in the Niger Delta as a result of the creation of the ministry. Whatever the reason, the high hopes created at the inception of this dedicated ministry for the Niger Delta appear not to have been realised. The region is still in a state of gross neglect, gas is still being flared, there are few schools and even fewer hospitals. The cost of living is unacceptably high. Unemployment is rife and the youths are still restive. If nothing is done, the amnesty programme brokered by President Yar'Adua could be in danger of unravelling with resumed hostilities.

We call on the minister to justify the confidence reposed in him by transforming his ministry into a change agent in the Niger Delta. He can have all the best plans for the region but if nothing is happening on the ground, his plans become mere pipe dreams. With improved funding in 2010, the people of the Niger Delta and indeed all Nigerians expect him to deliver without any more excuses.

 

 

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