NIGERIA MASTERWEB DAILY NEWS

By Ifeatu Agbu For very good reasons, the problems of the Niger Delta have remained on the front burner for some time now. The issues at stake, which revolve around oil exploration and exploitation with the attendant injustice on the people, are fairly well known. The solutions have also been properly articulated and documented, beginning from the Henry Willink’s commission report of 1958 to Ledum Mitee’s recommendations of 2008. In all, there is a consensus that Nigeria’s delta region needs urgent and massive development to save the people of the area from the decades of environmental despoliation that has destroyed their main sources of livelihood. President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, like his predecessors agrees that the situation requires drastic measures, hence the inclusion of the perennial problem of the delta in his Seven-Point Agenda. Sadly though, it is taking a long time to translate the intentions of the government to concrete actions that would change the face of the region that oils the wheels of the nation’s economy. Like most things in Yar’Adua’s administration, the bail-out plans for the Niger Delta are caught up in the infamous “go slow” that has characterised the implementation of development programmes. In the case of the Niger Delta, a Regional Development Master Plan is already in place. It is waiting to be fully funded and implemented. The widely acclaimed roadmap can only begin to make the desired impact when the necessary financial muscle is given to it. Unfortunately, the process of activating the plan has in the last couple of years been hampered by delays associated with budgeting and the release of funds, which negatively affects all spheres of the nation’s development. Is it not surprising that the budgets of the Niger Delta Development Commission [NDDC] and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs are still being scrutinised by the National Assembly five months to the end of the 2009 financial year? What this means in essence is that most of the projects slated for execution this year may not materialise until next year. Yet, we are talking about the rapid development of a region that has suffered neglect and deprivation for so long. This disturbing trend is gradually becoming a rule rather than an exception. This is the picture that emerges from the budget proposal presented to the National Assembly by the then Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Pastor P.Z Aginighan. He told the Senate Committee on the Niger Delta that the 2009 budget was tagged ‘Budget of Continuity” because projects in the 2008 budget were rolled-over to 2009 to allow for full implementation of the previously agreed projects and programmes. The lawmakers were also told that the late approval of the 2008 budget seriously affected the implementation of the planned projects and programmes as agreed upon by the various stakeholders. Consequently, Aginighan said that new projects in the 2009 budget accounted for only 10 per cent as the emphasis would be on the completion of all on-going projects. This is commendable because there is no sense abandoning old projects. The cumulative effect of these delays is the continued deprivation of the people of the oil-bearing communities of the amenities that would have helped to ameliorate their plight. This has added to the frustration and anger in the delta region. It has also made the people not to trust the government, thus making the task of developing the region doubly difficult. To make matters worse, the long journey to project implementation does not end with the passage of the budget bill into an Act of Parliament. Even after the President has signed the bill, releasing the approved funds appears to be a tougher hurdle to scale, a situation that recently raised a lot of dust in the National Assembly. The lawmakers having watched the snail-pace of implementation of the 2009 budget are worried that nothing much would be achieved as the budget year has gone beyond the half way mark. They were ostensibly infuriated by the fact that what is happening is a repeat of the fate suffered by the 2008 budget, which was hardly implemented. The House said that there was no justifiable reason for the President not implementing the budget as signed into law. They were unanimous that the report of its Appropriation and Finance Committees put a lie to the claims by the Federal Executive Council that the 2009 Appropriation Act cannot be fully implemented on account of dwindling revenue. The House of Representatives literally boiled over with members from across party lines condemning the partial implementation of the budget, noting that it has stalled infrastructural development, thus crippling the economy. They were unhappy because they have nothing to show their constituents back home as the evidence of the existence of government. The report showed that “even with shortfall in revenue due to militant activities in the Niger Delta region, leading to reduction in daily output from targeted 2.292 mbd to about 2.05 mbd and reduction in OPEC quota, government was able to surpass the projection to the tune of N27.98 billion.” The House of Representatives had earlier expressed concern over the slow pace of work by the Ufot Ekaette-led Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, stating that the purpose for which the ministry was created by the present administration may be defeated. Hon. Olaka Nwogu, Chairman of the House of R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s ' Committee on Niger Delta Affairs said "the house is on fire and every approach should be with precision. So I think this ministry should immediately begin something otherwise we fear you may not be able to utilize your budget this year and the year is almost coming to an end.” The Senate is not left out in the efforts to ensure that actions begin to speak louder than guns in the Niger Delta. To demonstrate their concern, the Senators raised the budget of the NDDC from N87 billion proposed by the executive to N96.6 billion and after further adjustments finally arrived at an enhanced budget of N128.4 billion. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, Mr. James Manager, said the increase in the NDDC's revenue profile was possible because of the expected better funding from the oil and gas companies as well as a proper capture of the Federal Government's contribution to the commission. The Senate also agreed to pursue a revenue allocation formula that clearly defines the status of the ecological fund to enhance the revenue of the interventionist agency. Perhaps, the Senators are making good their promise to initiate actions that would reflect their appreciation of the scandalous neglect and deprivation that confronted them when they visited the creeks in 2007. Ashamed by what they saw, they resolved to contribute their quota in seeing that more money was voted in the budget to address the intimidating challenges in the Niger Delta. Based on their findings, they promised to give serious consideration to the review of the constitution to give more weight to the derivation principle in the revenue allocation formula. In addition, the Senators said they would take their oversight function more seriously, especially as it affects the disbursement of the ecological funds to the states. It is a shame that eight years after its establishment, the NDDC is yet to benefit from the fund in spite of the provisions of the law. Section 14 of the Act establishing the commission provides that 50 per cent of the ecological funds due to the member states of the NDDC should be paid to the commission. Similarly, the Federal Government is yet to comply with the law which provides that it should contribute 15 per cent of what goes to the Niger Delta states to the NDDC budget. This has left a deficit of N326 billion that should rightly be paid to the interventionist agency. If the Federal Government cannot pay this debt in one fell swoop because of the economic meltdown, it should do so install mentally. That would reassure Niger Deltans that Yar’Adua’s inclusion of the region in his seven-point agenda is no fluke after all. A government that is genuinely committed to the rapid transformation of the Niger Delta would not continue to short-change the agencies it has set up as vehicles for translating its intensions into projects and programmes on the ground. The amnesty granted to militants and the cease fire that followed have provided a window of opportunity for the Federal Government to demonstrate its sincerity in developing the region by adequately and promptly funding the NDDC and the new ministry of Niger Delta.