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Why Niger-Delta Leaders Don't Want Another Summit (Page 2 of 4) Also Chief Gordon Bozimo,Chief Zebulon Abule ,Sen. Ibok Essien , Gen. Anthony Ukpo ,Patterson Ogon ,Nengi James,Hilda Dokubo ,Dr. Ime Udom, Prof. B.I.C. Ijomah ,Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah, Hon. Justice Adolphus Karibi Whyte, Charles Ambaowei, Chief Lionel Jonathan-Omo , Izi Faafa, Prof. Ebere Onwudiwe, Hon. Oronto Douglas, Dr. Ekpedeme Udom, Udom Inoyo ,Mallam Shehu Sani,Sokipre Graham-Douglas,Dr. Inyang Akpan, Prof. B.A. Okwakpam,Chief Emma E. Ambakederemo,Dr. Judith Asuni , Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II, Prof Alfred Awaritefa ,Etubom Bassey Ekpo Bassey, Chris Chinaka, Rev. (Dr.) Iyabi Egbe, Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah, Rev. (Mrs.) Grace Ekanem, Mr. Von Kennedy, Mr. Kaiser Ogriba, Dr. Ekpien Appah, Sir Fred Essien, Chief Geroge Fente, Princess F. Henshaw Etim, Hon. Chibudum Nwuche and Achelonu Shedrack.
It recommended among other things the upward review of the minimum 13% derivation to not less than 50%; Training of Niger Delta indigenes for employment in oil companies; Provision of infrastructures such as electricity, water, roads; Repeal of the Land Use Act, Petroleum Act, Gas Re-injection Act and other laws which dispossesses oil producing areas of their land; and the full industrialization of the Niger Delta region. Up till date, the report is gathering dust in government shelf instead of being implemented. Before the 2005 Ogomudia report, there was the General Oladayo Popoola report of 1999, which was provoked by the protests and repression that followed the Kaiama Declaration. General Abubakar on March 3, 1999 appointed a 22- member committee, headed by Maj. Gen. Oladayo Popoola to examine existing development initiatives and "to make appropriate recommendations on what can be done before the end of the current administration." The members of the committee were the military administrators of the South-South zone, several ministers (military and civilian), and representatives of the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund, the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), and other government figures. No civil society representatives were included. This is understandable in a military regime in transition. The committee submitted its report on March 16 recommended a 20-year development plan for the region, starting with an immediate expenditure of N15.3 billion (U.S. $170 million) on infrastructure projects in addition to normal budgetary allocations, as well as the establishment of a Niger Delta Consultative Council, made up of government figures and representatives of the oil companies, and chaired by the Chief of General Staff or Vice-President, to oversee development projects. On April 10, 1999, General Abubakar met more than 200 delegates from the oil producing regions to discuss the report. On April 12, 1999, the then military administrator of Bayelsa State, Lt. Col. Paul Obi, met with selected Ijaw leaders at state house in Yenagoa, stating, according to press reports, that the "Federal Government is favorably disposed towards tackling the critical problem of underdevelopment facing the state" while urging the people of Bayelsa State to "embrace the path of peace and dialogue at all times.". Chief Clark told Vanguard that the N15 billion that was voted for the development of the region was not heard off again. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo also appointed a Presidential Policy Advisory Committee, which reportedly recommended greater development spending in the oil producing regions. Besides, there is the James Ibori Presidential Standing Committee on the Niger Delta, which made recommendations to the Federal Government; the NNPC-Niger Delta Youths Standing Committee, the Major Gen. Mohammed Presidential Committee on Peace and Reconciliation in the Niger Delta; and the Niger Delta Peace and Security Strategy (PASS). All the committees made bold suggestions on how to tackle the Niger-Delta crisis, but, government appears not to have the political will to implement the recommendations. This is perhaps, what was in the mind of Chief Clark and other Niger-Delta leaders when they insisted, few days back, that the issue for now was not holding a summit on the Niger-Delta because countless summits had been held in the past and reports produced. The issue, they submitted, is implementing the various reports. His words, "Yar'Adua's government is saying that they are going to develop the Niger Delta physically after the summit. We do not even know what type of summit they want to hold. Is it a summit of Nigeria or the people of the Niger Delta with Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari as its chairman? So, what are they looking for? Obasanjo started this type of jamboree, two years ago and I said no, we are not going to attend this type of jamboree, which has been taking place all over".
What we want is Marshall- Type development after the Second World War when the Americans and the Europeans decided to develop Germany and other destroyed countries; it is not a question of talking, talking, holding press conferences. How many summits were held before Abuja was developed? The Federal Government is not showing enough interest in the development of the Niger Delta. As far as we are concerned, Federal Government cannot bring peace to the Niger Delta unless they check the excesses of the oil companies. We are asking the President to visit the area to see things for himself, how the people sit on water and they have no water to drink; no electricity; no school, our children are still sitting on the ground, he asserted. |
Key points of previous reports
Marshal type development