THE THREAT FROM NIGER DELTA

The authorities should take the threat seriously

Apparently to douse the rising tension in the South-south states, the presidency last week expressed surprise at the threat issued by the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to bomb critical oil and gas installations in the oil-bearing region. Most of their demands had been assented to after President Muhammadu Buhari met with some leaders of the region, according to the federal government. But if the threats were issued despite presidential assurances, it is perhaps an expression of doubts about the sincerity of the administration.

The NDA, a militant group, is demanding, among other things, the development of the Niger Delta, the inauguration of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board in addition to what has become a national item: Restructuring of the federation for effectiveness and efficiency. Failure to accede to their current demands, according to the militants, they would bring “down target oil installations capable of humbling the economy into permanent recession.” Against the background that in 2016 the group unleashed searing attacks on oil installations which almost crippled the economy, the threat should be taken seriously.

While we do not subscribe to threats of violence as a way of demanding a fair deal for any cause, the Niger Delta remains one of the most neglected regions in the country. It produces the wealth of the nation, but ironically most of the people live in penury. Years of oil exploitation and spillages have ruined and polluted most of the lands and poisoned their rivers, making farming and fishing difficult. Infrastructural facilities are scarce and far between. As Vice President Yemi Osinbajo observed not too long ago, the region is inundated with many signboards advertising the construction of one facility or the other, but they are hardly completed.

Nothing seems to have changed. The Niger Delta is still an area replete with abandoned projects. The East/West road in the heart of the region, for instance, has been in the works since 2006. While new roads are sprouting out in every other corner in the country and completed with missionary zeal, the East/West road has become a monument to waste, a death trap where vehicles of all shape spend days and nights on the same spot.

Unfortunately, the Ministry of Niger Delta and the NDDC, special vehicles established to help quicken the pace of development in the area have also become part of the problem. The NDDC has become a sink hole synonymous with large-scale corruption. After the billions poured into the parastatal, there is little to crow about. Indeed, worried by the overwhelming complaints of the people and the governors of the oil producing states, President Buhari asked for a forensic audit of the watering hole. But the minister of the Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, has been using that exercise to prevent the inauguration of the legitimate board screened and confirmed by the Senate while the commission is run by handpicked cronies under a nebulous interim management board since 2019. At present, the commission is managed by a sole administrator who merely runs errands for the minister.

Last month, Akpabio had meetings with stakeholders of the Niger Delta and promised that the NDDC Board would be inaugurated in June. We are now in July without any sign of efforts to constitute the board. The audit was expected to last for only few months. Last week, the presidency said the result of the forensic audit was expected by the end of July. In the face of the rising tension, something urgently needs to be done to address the problem. An economy that is already very much troubled cannot stand further shocks. It should not take forever to constitute the NDDC board.