The Director,
Institute for Niger Delta Studies (INDS) of the Niger Delta University, Prof.
Ambily Etekpe, has said former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,
made grave mistake when he included Imo, Abia and Ondo States as member states
when he created the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Prof. Etekpe
explained further that it is an unarguable fact that Imo, Abia and Ondo States
are crude oil producing states but that they do not fall into the geographic
region referred to as Niger Delta, and therefore, should not be benefiting from
funds specifically earmarked for the development of the region.
Etekpe stated this
while presenting a paper entitled “Towards good governance: rethinking the Ijaw
Nation’s agenda in the past in Nigeria” during a one day Intra media workshop
organized by the Oloibiri Youngstars Foundation in partnership with the
Environmental Rights Action (ERA), in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State Capital.
He averred that if
the intention of the Obasanjo led administration was to create an Oil Producing
States Development Commission, Imo, Abia and Ondo States would have been
legitimate members but that since the commission was established with the aim
to provide extra funds for the development of the Niger Delta as a result of
its peculiar and difficult terrain, capturing the three states in the NDDC was
a misplaced priority.
He further urged the
umbrella bodies of the Ijaw ethnic nationality, Ijaw National Congress (INC)
and Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC) to look beyond the struggle for resource control
for wealth generation and seek political restructuring for the people of the
Niger Delta region in order to engender sustainable growth and development.
He said “There is a
generic term when you talk about a Delta region. And from my research, there
are about ten Deltas across the world, with three in Africa. They are the Nile
Delta in Egypt, Okavango Delta in Botswana and the Niger Delta in Nigeria. And
out of the ten Delta regions across the world, the Pearl Delta in China does
not produce oil but it has similar environmental features and challenges like
the Niger Delta.
“So, Obasanjo while
creating the NDDC, equated the Delta as an oil producing area and this is
wrong. I say so because Saudi Arabia for example produces oil but is not a
Delta. So if you are creating a commission to cater for the special needs of a
people in the Delta, why add states that do not have the features of a Delta?
We need to distinguish these facts when we are talking about how we sincerely
want to develop an area and the people that inhabit it.”
Speaking on behalf
of the organizers, Mr. Bright Igrubia, said the gathering was strategically
planned to Ijaw leaders of thought together to dialogue and highlight some of
the contemporary issues facing the people of the Niger Delta and engage the
media on how better to report them.
He said “we, as a
foundation, felt it is a matter of responsibility for us to retrospect the past
and prospect what the future holds for the Ijaw Nation and engage the media to
help us highlight some of the challenges bedeviling us as a people. We see this
as a lacuna that needs to be addressed, so that the struggle of the Ijaws can
be adequately promoted.
Also presenting a
paper entitled “The environmental perspective to the contemporary Ijaw
struggle”, the Project Officer of the ERA Niger Delta Resource Center, Comrade
Alagoa Morris, advocated for the establishment of a Niger Delta Environment
Forensic Investigation Center, saying it would aide in bringing perpetrators of
crude oil spills to justice.
He said “one of the
main reasons for the absence of genuine peace and development in the Niger
Delta is the absence of Environmental Justice. We lack system that could bring
oil companies and their partners that play double standards each time there is
a case crude oil spill in the Niger Delta region.
“Every day, our
people witness what prefer to call environmental terrorism perpetrated by oil
and gas companies with protection from our government. In many cases, oil
companies refuse to admit that the spill is caused by equipment failure even
when it is clear because we don’t have the technology to prove them wrong,
thereby leaving many Communities to suffer without proper cleanup and
compensation.”
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What is d difference between Niger delta state & oil producing state prof Etekpe don't get urself twisted.
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