RE: No need for NEDC

 I read with utter shock and surprise the Daily Trust editorial of Friday May 20, 2016, expressing opposition to the establishment of the proposed North East Development Commission (NEDC). Had it not been for the fact that the article represents the opinion of the most revered Daily Trust, its editors and publishers, a reply would […]

 I read with utter shock and surprise the Daily Trust editorial of Friday May 20, 2016, expressing opposition to the establishment of the proposed North East Development Commission (NEDC). Had it not been for the fact that the article represents the opinion of the most revered Daily Trust, its editors and publishers, a reply would not have been deemed necessary.

However, it has become imperative that a response is given, not to join issues with Daily Trust or to stifle contrary opinion, but to put the record straight and correct some misconceptions and perceived misunderstandings as painted in the editorial in question.

Daily Trust cited the example of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) which is said to have failed to deliver on its mandate as “… the region’s elite have turned NDDC into a goldmine which awards bogus contracts for which money is collected only for the work to be abandoned.”

It is rather unfortunate that the NDDC will be used to justify their opposition to NEDC as doing so amounts to insinuating that  North East elites will do what their counterparts in the Niger Delta are accused of doing thereby pronouncing them guilty.

Because NDDC failed is not and can never be a reason not to establish NEDC. After all, failure of the NDDC cannot be completely extricated from the general failure of governance in Nigeria which characterized the 16 years of the People’s Democratic Party-led government in Nigeria.

There was no single government institution that did not fail or was not compromised under the old order and in an atmosphere and culture of impunity and corruption which characterized the past government, there was no way the NDDC could have been exempted.

We may as well argue that because Jonathan and other Presidents failed, President Buhari too must necessarily fail and we don’t need President Buhari because other Presidents before him have failed. No wonder that, the editorial did not point to any other MDA that was an example of success within the period. The very definition of myopism must be the conclusion that the failure of NDDC just like all other MDAs to deliver on their mandate was something else other than a systemic failure.

Today, the story is not same in the country and there is a general consensus among the elite and masses that Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari is no longer the same and that is why we should never fall to the temptation of using former things to judge the present.

At the moment, there is a plethora of agencies and bodies or committees set up to handle interventions in the North East albeit in an uncoordinated and unwieldy manner. We have the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE), the Victims Support Fund (VSF), National Emergency Management Agency and other non-governmental organizations which are duplicating responsibilities.

Official figures of devastation, displacement and destruction are a far cry from the realities on ground in the region. For instance, while officially, it is reported that there are over 2.2 million people who were displaced either as Internally Displaced Persons or refugees in neighbouring countries of Cameroun, Niger and Chad, the actual figure is well over 5 million; more than half of whom are living with families and relations in Maiduguri, Yola, Gombe, Bauchi, Potiskum, Abuja, Jos, Kano, Kaduna and other towns and villages. While it is officially estimated that about 20,000 people were killed, we, who are affected know that we lost over 100,000 of our brothers and sisters to Boko Haram.

Again, 90 percent of all public schools, hospitals, markets, and institutions in the affected areas have been totally destroyed with bridges, roads, banks, and other businesses razed down.

The level of devastation was worsened by the fact that even before the insurgency in 2009, the region has been rated as the least developed not only in Nigeria but in the world, with high rates of poverty, illiteracy, high rates of infant and maternal mortality, and with only three federal universities then one each in Maiduguri, Yola and Bauchi. Indeed, the destruction and backwardness caused the people of the region by Boko Haram can only be imagined.

Former Nigerian leader Abdusalami Abubakar, it was he, who said that Boko Haram insurgency has taken the region 20 years back. Therefore, how can an adhoc body or a plethora of adhoc committees handle such a herculean task? Definitely, there is no way committees of such nature can deliver; if they could, by now they would have done more than what they are doing.

In Nigeria, our propensity for impunity is unparalleled, and as such, there is the urgent need to have a body that is legally backed by law to implement the marshal plan for the recovery, rehabilitation and resettlement of the region.

If this government is sincere and honest with the President who has shown greater commitment to end the insurgency and rebuild the region, how sure are we that those who will come after Buhari will do same? Such important projects should not be left to the whims and caprices of leaders who may not be patriotic enough to execute. However, when we have a commission legally established by an Act of the National Assembly in place, it will be near-impossible for any government to abandon the project.

It is instructive to note that there are many foreign donor agencies who are ready and willing to bring in resources to help rebuild the region but are hesitant and skeptical to come in because of lack of an established structure and an official institution.

The Federal Government’s initial assessment of the amount of money needed to rebuild the North East is $9 billion, according to the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. On his part, Speaker Yakubu Dogara has been advocating for the convocation of an international donor conference to rebuild the region as was done for Western Europe, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and very recently, Syria. Which of the three or four adhoc bodies or committees do we expect to handle such huge resources?

Presently, there are many NGOs that are busy raising funds in the name of our people and supposedly to assist the people but they can hardly account for hundreds of millions of such funds.

Daily Trust itself organized fund raisers for the IDPs and each member of the House of Representatives from the North East contributed N500,000  while our governors donated N10 million each. A similar fundraiser was held by Thisday Newspaper.

Now, if there is any newspaper that should champion the cause of the North East and push for the creation of the NEDC, it should be Daily Trust because of its strategic location and importance to the people. Indeed, it is both disappointing and unfortunate that a medium that is so dear to the people and which our people hold in high esteem and see as “our own” will let us down at the hour of our need.

What we expect Daily Trust to do is to mobilize and canvass for the creation of the NEDC, because if southern based newspapers could have published editorials endorsing the proposed commission, then what might have informed Daily Trust’s position?

We are comforted by the fact that Daily Trust’s editorial represents the position and opinion of a minute minority and cannot in any way stop the NEDC.

Barrister Garba wrote in from Potiskum, Yobe State and can be reached at [email protected]