Niger-Delta problem as a recurring decimal in the nation deserves urgent attention. Two issues constantly come up when the region is mentioned - insecurity and underdevelopment.
Attempt at resolving these problems have led to the creation of agencies like former Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC and now Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, saddled with the responsibility of bringing about development in those areas.
Inspite of efforts of these agencies, underdevelopment and insecurity loom large in the region.
President Umaru Yar’Adua disclosed before the National Assembly that N444.6 billion had been earmarked for security in Niger-Delta in next year’s budget. The outcry that followed led to official clarifications that the money was meant for development and not security.
The situation up till now is not clear as the most authentic information remains what the President read out before the joint sitting of the national assembly. The desire of government to better equip the military to face challenges posed by insecurity in the Niger-Delta is a good initiative. The involvement of the military in the high scale insecurity in that region helped in bringing brigandage and violence to a manageable level. Sustaining this commendable tempo must have informed government’s decision to jack-up budget meant for security in the region next year.
The improvement of the military is sine qua non to restoration of peace but this should not be done at the expense of real development which Niger-Delta region as a whole greatly needs as a result of decades of official neglect. The budget of N444.6 billion for security alone is out- rageous and unacceptable to us.
Absence of infrastructure, environmental degradation, squalor and abject poverty are negative indices that inhabilitants of Niger-Delta live with everyday. These are enough indicators to breed insurgence among the aggrieved people of this region which can only be discouraged with the adoption of the right panacea.
The government should focus attention on upgrading the living standard of people of this region. In outgoing year 2007, the budget of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, was N24 billion.N69.9 billion is being allocated to it in 2008 but compared to the N444.6 billion for security, it pales into insignificance.
We call on the government to give priority attention to development in the Niger-Delta region without underestimating security of the region. Serious efforts must be made not to militarise the region so that prospective investors will not be scared off.
Actual development of Niger-Delta should not be compromised on the altar of security attention. Governors of states in the region have a role to play as they must dutifully and diligently utilise monies allocated to them for developmental projects that would impact on lives of the people and not on frivolities. With more than one third of entire distributive revenue of one trillion naira disbursed in the country given to the region between 1999-2005, the development on ground is quite disdainful-a far cry from the reality of value of the alloted sum.
There should be a change of attitude through genuine spending of budgets of the region on purposeful projects that would change lives of the people for good.
