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Why Niger-Delta Leaders Don't Want Another Summit (Page 3 of 4) Motion without achievement The Vice President within the first two months of the administration visited the creek and the government set up different committees, promising to get cracking on the massive development of the Niger-Delta after synthesizing the views of the people. The Vice President said there was already an Integrated Master plan for the development of the region, prepared by the NDDC, which the government, the oil companies and other development agencies would key into, but, one year, after the talks are still on the drawing board. A lot of hopes have been raised by the Federal Government on the Niger Delta but there is nothing on ground to justify the television talks.
To some persons, the Federal Government is confused. However, Special Duties Minister, Elder Orubebe in an interview, about three months ago, with Vanguard explained that the Federal Government was not sluggish on the development of the region, but was taking its time to organize the planned summit so as not to fall into the mistake of the past governments. According to him, The Yar'Adua is not slow on the issue of the Niger-Delta. Yar'Adua as a person is very eager to ensure that the Niger-Delta crisis is resolved and the region given its due attention, I know for certain that all of all the comments I have come across by past Presidents, Yar'Adua is the first President to come out to say that the Niger-Delta is the area that gives more to the Federal Government, yet it has not gotten its fair share and so attention must be given so that we will do those things that will bring about peace, that will bring about employment, that will about economic transformation, that will about infrastructural development. And he went to say good enough, we have a Vice President who incidentally comes from the place and he said, Vice President, you are from the place, I have given you the powers to come up with a program and let us tackle the problem and you will find that the Vice President from that day started meeting with various tribal groups. And you are also aware that he was having meeting with the Ijaw tribal groups and because of certain activities, they withdrew from the dialogue and that took some time before even my appointment. I came on board, today I am assisting him and those people were brought back, we have held series of meetings and he said it cannot be business as usual, it cannot be the way other conferences have been done, let have an in-house pre-conference meeting and how we are going to do this conference so that it will be difficult from other conferences in the past. He said let us produce a blueprint that will say this is the problem, we want to solve it. What do they want, who will solve it and at what time frame. Ultimate agenda This format, this ideas would be given to communities, they will make their contributions, they will be given to local governments, they will be given to oil companies, they will be given to state governments and then, they will be a national conference where everybody from the idea being collated will come to say this is what we have agreed so that we will have a bible or document, which you would look at and say in 2009, this is what we are supposed to in Delta state, this is what we are supposed to in eh.., Edo state, who will do it and when is he supposed to do it and this issue of general statement, the area is not developed, we don't know who to hold responsible will not arise. The youths would have the part they would play, the communities would have their part and in the next two weeks, we will start the process and then, the final conference will take place in next few months and that is why we included that the President will go round and look at the places so that when we have the general conference, and before that conference, our team will also meet with the President. It is the general conference that will agree and say this is what we have found. And so the question will be whose duty to provide this service and when its to be provided is and so that if a particular body is the one to do this and they have not done it, we all know who is holding others back. So, this systematic way we want to come out with the blueprint is what has delayed in fact, if not the breakdown of the dialogue, today, we must have gone very far. He continued: The President is determined to ensure that there is employment for the teeming youths of the region. He is desirous to see that infrastructural development takes off and of course, you know that these things will involve designing and all those things but you are going to see activities in the Niger-Delta. I cannot tell you what the government is going to do now because I may tell you that we are going to this, but, community A while coming up with their projects, may not even come out with that project. So project location and build-up will involved the communities and the government. Communities will say this is what they want, government can advise, why not take this; it will be better for you to do this. And at least for a start, we are going to create reasonable jobs and there will be orientation programs. And while the jobs are there, there will be alternative programs where you will be told that yes, you are earning so and so amount of money but if you go through this program, you are going to earn more than this. There are lots of things in the Niger-Delta that will capture the attention of our people. |
We're
focused, says Orubebe