Niger Delta: Building a consensus II

Quality attendance with quality resolutions

The 2024 Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit organized by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) had prominent sons and daughters of the Niger Delta region in attendance. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was fully supportive of the idea of the summit and was represented.

Dr Goodluck Jonathan, former President was physically present. He participated fully on the main day and offered insights into the issues at stake.

Contemporary political leaders of the Niger Delta region led by the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, were physically in attendance. The imposing Obi Wali International Cultural Centre in Port Harcourt witnessed a cream of top leaders including nine State governors either in person or in adequate representation.

Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, the president’s wife, who was also fully represented, was mother of the day, while Chief Edwin Clark, the prominent Niger Delta voice and elder, was father of the day. Engineer Abubakar Momoh, Minister of Niger Delta Development, was co-host and took time to explain matters each time there was demand for true position of things. Mr Chiedu Ebie, NDDC Board chairman and the NDDC MD/CEO, Chief Samuel Ogbuku (Ph.D), gave adequate support as the hosts, though they were the real levers pulling the machine.

The real task at the pre-event rested on technocrats such as the professor of political science, Eghosa Osaghae, the Director-General, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, who gave the keynote address to illuminate the path of political integration of the oil region to enable investments flow faster. This was followed with an economic titillation from the lead presenter, Tony Elumelu, chairman of Heirs Holdings. He is an economist, banker, investor, and philanthropist.

Intricate economic and developmental issues were deeply examined at the pre-summit. The seven pillars of development were examined by Patrick Okigbo, who is a member of the presidential economic committee. Economic sub-topics such as solid minerals; information and communications technology (ICT); micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME), industrialization, and agriculture were fully treated.
There was adequate attention to the human capital and social development needs of the region and how to plan their strategic growth facilitated by Charles Achodo (Ph.D), senior Director at The Nextier as well Ndubuisi Nwokolo (Ph.D), the Managing Partner at Nextier who guided panel discussions on human capital and social development. The usual big elephant in the house, infrastructure development, received adequate attention by a panel led by Atei Beredugo, founder, Paintograph Mobile App. There were technical panels that looked into environmental development; security law and order; governance and institutions with implementations; and finance which looked at funding requirements, sources, technical collaborations and partnerships.

The summit themed, Renewed Hope for Sustainable Development of the Niger Delta, sought to develop strategies for economic growth and development of the Niger Delta region. The summit also sought to translate the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of President Tinubu action plan, and tried to articulate a roadmap for sustainable development of the Niger Delta region.

The NDDC CEO had at a world press conference explained the compelling reasons for dialogue and summit that would create consensus in the once volatile region.

From the pre-summit to the main summit days, it was clear that the Niger Delta had things in their minds and many things to say. The good thing was that there were enough of their prominent sons and daughters to provide answers and to take the ones without immediate answers back to the centre.

For instance, answers came to such issues as three trillion Naira believed to be owed the NDDC. It was explained that President Tinubu had since provided a soft loan of one trillion Naira to kill two birds with one arrow; cut down the debt and help reduce number of legacy (abandoned) projects that litter the region. The issue of East West Road was also tackled headlong with adequate answers both for the cause of the collapse of the road and the way forward. There were other issues such as demand for three per cent of Value Added Tax (VAT) as is said to be the case in the new regional development commissions coming up.

The summit generated substantial resolutions that would lay the pathway for development. Persons from different spheres of life made contributions. It produced what can be regarded as the people’s position’ in a bottom-up fashion.

Advisory Committee:
Niger Delta Stakeholders stressed the urgent need to re-activate the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Advisory Committee, as provided for in its Establishment Act, to advise and monitor the activities of the Commission.

This was part of the resolutions contained in a communique issued at the end of the Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit 2024, which took place at the Obi Wali International Conference Centre in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The stakeholders underscored the importance of increased synergy between the NDDC and the Advisory Committee to achieve a more efficiency and activate all organs provided for in the Act.

All funds due the NDDC should come in:

The summit agreed that all funds due and outstanding to the NDDC from statutory sources (including the Federal Government and ecological fund) be vigorously pursued and recovered. Stakeholders learnt that some funds meant for the Commission were trapped in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and demanded that such funds be transferred to the NDDC.

No to working at cross purposes:

The stakeholders addressed the issue of development agencies working at cross purposes and resolved that adequate measures must be taken “to avoid duplication of projects and efforts in the region by ensuring robust consultation between the NDDC and the nine member states in project implementation.”

Remove NDDC from TSA:

The stakeholders were united in their vehement rejection of roping the NDDC in the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of the Federal Government. The summit affirmed: “There is urgent need to remove the NDDC from the TSA Policy, as it limits the Commission from fully achieving its interventionist mandate.”

No to frequent dissolution of Governing Board:

The stakeholders also took a hard look at another nagging issue about the Commission, the issue of frequent dissolution and change at the NDDC. They urged the Federal Government to strictly adhere to the tenure provisions of the NDDC Act and avoid the incessant dissolution of Boards of the Commission and the aberrant issue of Interim Managements to run the affairs of the Commission. Also, they declared, the Commission should be insulated from political interference which puts undue pressure on the leadership of the Commission.

Additional sources of funding:

They also agreed that additional sources of funding for the NDDC such as at least three per cent of VAT revenue should be activated through legislation.

The stakeholders resolved that funding the implementation of the regional development strategy should be done through three sources: Traditional budget sources; Public Private Partnerships; Development Finance.

To support the funding plans, they agreed that the initiation of the Niger Delta Development Bank (NDDB) to drive the mobilisation of development finance from local and global sources should be given priority. “Loans should be given to SMEs within the region to drive economic and industrial growth.”

East-West Road:

The East-West Road had attracted the wildest remarks and agitations. Leaders of the region were furious in their complaints. The communique thus captured this mood, thus: “There is urgent need to complete the East-West Road which was awarded nearly twenty years ago, to ease transportation across the region.”

Amendment of the Act:

Most speakers at the summit attributed some of the drawbacks to the Act establishing the Commission, and the gaps that look apparent. Some pointed out that some of the recommendations made at the beginning were not captured and that such deficiencies have become glaring. The stakeholders thus called for a thorough consideration of the NDDC (Establishment) Act, with a view to initiating amendments where necessary.

New Master Plan:

On the issue of preparing a new roadmap for development, the stakeholders resolved that proper planning is crucial to any development and therefore the review of the Niger Delta Regional Development Masterplan and appropriate data gathering were essential to any realistic development plan. They called for quantitative and qualitative input from key stakeholders in preparing or reviewing the Masterplan.

Need for review of educational curriculum:

According to the communique, “The region’s educational curriculum should be reviewed and designed to meet 21st century needs. Technical and vocational training must be given priority by creating Technical/Vocational training hubs. There should be improved funding of the region’s educational system.

Healthcare review needed:

The communique said further: “On healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene, there should be sufficient funding of rural and community health centres and the training and retraining of the personnel to man them. The private sector should be engaged more in partnerships in these areas.”

Women and the youths:

The stakeholders made a case for women and youths, calling for more representation of women in all sectors of the region’s economy. It added that there should be programmes for Persons Living with Disability.

Sports, tourism, culture, and hospitality:

Sports is accepted the world over as the quickest tool to engage the youths and tap their energy and talents. The communique thus posited: “On sports, tourism, culture and hospitality, there is need for sustained investment and capacity building in the region’s entertainment and creative industries. Sports development in areas where the region has comparative advantage such as swimming and wrestling should be given serious attention. There is need to have a special gathering for the creative industry.”

Oil pollution:

On the issue of the degradation of the environment through oil pollution, the stakeholders recommended a holistic remediation across communities in the Niger Delta to avoid compromise on cleaned areas, adding: “Government should uphold the provisions of Environmental Guidelines and Standards for the Petroleum Industry in Nigeria (EGASPIN) and enforce proper de-commissioning of oil facilities.”

Other prescriptions:

The communique also gave the prescriptions of the stakeholders on varied issues: namely that modern technology should be deployed in project monitoring and evaluation; that there should be an integrated waste management plant which can convert wastes to wealth and that for erosion control and flood management, there should be canalization, shore protection, and land reclamation projects.

Other areas addressed, included community sensitisation and enlightenment campaigns on ecological issues; biodiversity conservation and reforestation to stimulate mangrove restoration; creation of technology hubs within the region to drive creativity, innovation and the rapid development of the region in areas of artificial intelligence and diversification from oil and gas to agro-based regional economy.

Emphasis was laid on the need to embark on massive food production and encourage the production of crops that were hitherto regarded to be alien to the oil region, but which have been found to be easily growable in the Niger Delta. Calls were also made for serious efforts in agro export and focus on the one-state-one-product policy of the Federal Government to help the states in the region discover their areas of strength and pursue them in the new non-oil export drive.

The communique also called for a regular convocation of stakeholder engagements, an indication that the forum was a welcome development cherished by the generality of the Niger Delta people.