Niger Delta conundrum: Time for turn-around

As the administration of President Muhamadu Buhari enters its last half year, there are tendencies that dictate a new mindset towards theatres of national life that may be decisive in determining if it will leave on a weak or strong note.  One of these is the Niger Delta region, the consideration of which is not […]

As the administration of President Muhamadu Buhari enters its last half year, there are tendencies that dictate a new mindset towards theatres of national life that may be decisive in determining if it will leave on a weak or strong note.  One of these is the Niger Delta region, the consideration of which is not based only on its relevance to the country’s economic and political life, but also the sporadic incidence of turbulence that imposes a nationwide foreboding whenever such ensues.

Due to the country’s preponderant dependence on forex from oil and gas exports, the slightest turbulence in the region generates near panic in government circles. Hence it is of concern that presently, there is a smoldering turbulence over plans by the administration of President Muhamadu Buhari to review (not terminate), the operational template of the 13 year-old Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) towards rendering it more compatible for adoption by any incoming administration after May 29th 2023, when its tenure will  expire. 

Invariably, the protocol of reviewing the programme in its current state exposed incontinences whose resolution is attracting stiff resistance from hitherto beneficiaries of the amnesty dole, even in the face of their ineligibility. For instance the exercise exposed the ineligibility of those whose continuation with the programme was not consistent with its intent. These have been collecting a monthly dole of N65,000.00 since 2009, which amounts to a cumulative sum of N10,000,000.00 each. In any case while there may be questions over the status and the utility of the dole, the administrative process of exiting them from the schedule has resulted in protests which feature threats to storm in large numbers, the office of retired Major General Barry Ndiomu, the current Interim Administrator of PAP. 

Without doubt, while the government and the wider cross section of Niger Delta leaders and other stake holders may sympathise with them in their grievance, the truth is that they may be chasing the wrong target. For neither Ndiomu nor even PAP has the ultimate solution to their plight which is a crucial component of the Niger Delta conundrum. For Ndiomu’s mission in PAP is nothing more than giving a human face to an eventuality, which may not be now, but will be so someday and sometime, as the programme was not intended to last perpetually. And so far he has given the task a good shot.  

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In the present context what will sustain the Niger Delta region—especially the youth is the promotion of economic inclusion for them through the provision of jobs for the employable and sustainable start-ups for the entrepreneurially inclined as the dole will sooner than later be unsustainable. And in this respect, the challenge goes beyond the scope of the PAP and requires the collaboration of all stake holders in the Niger Delta project with at least two focal areas offering some green light.  

The first is the politics relating to the future of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). As at last count the agency is still grappling with the issue of leadership structure, and specifically the board of directors. After the last board was dissolved in 2019, President Muhamadu Buhari had sent a list of new board members, to the Senate who were cleared for formal appointment when he reversed himself and directed that a new board would be appointed only after a forensic audit was carried out on the agency. The outcome of the audit vindicated the President as evidence proved that over 13,000 projects were abandoned after the contractors and consultant as well as conniving staff of the agency, (many of whom were drawn from the region), had been mobilized with billions of naira. Although the President had threatened to rain down ‘fire and brimstone’ on the now unmasked culprits, that is yet to happen. Meanwhile these 13,000 abandoned projects were the complement of expected roads, bridges, public buildings and other infrastructure that would have transformed the region and provided much needed better life for the people thus obviating the ceaseless rounds of turbulence. 

Just as well, a new list of board nominees has recently been sent to the Senate for screening with a twist featuring one Lauretta Onochie—a controversial Presidential aide with suspect antecedents in the Niger Delta struggle, who was nominated to the Chairman’s seat. Little wonder that among opposition to her nomination is an ultimatum issued the government by militants to void her nomination. Her antecedents as a presidential aide are being cited as betraying her as coming with a hidden agenda that may not be compatible with the mainstream of the trending sentiments in the region. 

With the foregoing as a backdrop there is no way the future of the region will not be impacted by the Buhari era after its exit on May 29, 2023. That is why the stakeholders in the region need to demonstrate more assertiveness in deciding the future leadership of the NDDC which should   meaningfully address the burning issues of the region.  

The next factor is the advent of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which offers itself almost as a cure-all legislation for the country’s vital oil and gas sector. Its advent after almost two decades in the legislative mill has ushered in a new dispensation which offers significant threshold of opportunities for indigenes of host communities to venture into profitable high businesses as well as turnkey projects that were out of reach hitherto. A manifest feature of the PIA is that for the first time in the country’s history, it has come to offer more room for the host communities to own aspects of the oil and gas business than before. 

With these two dispensations among others not mentioned here, the fortunes of the Niger Delta region need to start enjoying a mark-up in stakeholder-driven change for the better for the region. All we are saying is that our highly valued Niger Delta youth need not picket public institutions – especially PAP, before they find bread to eat. A turn-around for the region is not possible but timely now.