There was a mild drama yesterday at the technical session of the ongoing Offshore West Africa (OWA) conference in Abuja as oil and gas industry operators queried the utilisation of $4 billion (N500 billion) said to have accrued to the Niger Delta states in the past eight years.
Despite spirited attempts by Amos Utuamah, a professor and deputy governor of Delta State, to explain the utilisation of the state�s own share of the revenue, the stakeholders were not satisfied.
Anthony Abolarin, manager in charge of sustainable development in Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited, had in a remark during his presentation on �Emergence of Community Development Foundations: Depth of Foundations and Degree of Sustainability,� disclosed that the oil-rich region received $4 billion from the Federal Government in the past eight years.
He wondered how the money was spent in view of the present high level of underdevelopment in the region.
�About $4 billion went into the Niger Delta in the past eight years. Oil companies contributed less than three percent. This is small because oil companies� budgets are small. But where is the $4 billion? If you rely only on the oil companies, they will be drained out,� he said.
He lamented that oil companies did not do much in the past to alleviate the sufferings of the people of the area as they concentrated on supporting masquerade festivals and coronations.
He also stated that the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMOU) between the communities and the companies failed to address the developmental challenges facing the region because the companies dictated the projects they would execute, instead of allowing the villages to choose their priority projects.
The Elf Petroleum manager, who is also in charge of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) matters, however stated that the emergence of community development foundations would address the problem of underdevelopment in the area.
He called on the oil producing communities to organise themselves in an orderly manner to enhance their bargaining power.
In their remarks, co-chairmen of the session, Blessyn Okpowo of Addax Petroleum and Gabriel Obando of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), drew the attention of the Delta State deputy governor to the issue of how the $4 billion was spent. In his response, Utuamah lamented that many people did not understand how government operates.
Citing the case of Delta State, he disclosed that the state�s workforce grew from 5,000 in 1999 to 43,000 in 2007.
According to him, this increased the wage bill from N500 million to N1.5 billion during the same period. He said that the principle of derivation was not implemented until 2002, and this, according to him, worsened the state�s financial situation.
The deputy governor further stated that with the derivation principle, the state received one billion naira monthly from the Federal Government, while the monthly internal revenue was N500 million.
He also stated that apart from the wage bill, the state also spent huge amount of money on security and other leakages.
He refuted claims that political leaders in the oil-rich region used the money to enrich themselves.
�I have travelled round the world. There is corruption everywhere. There is corruption even in the United States. But what we are saying is: Do not neglect your responsibility. From 2008 there is a systematic implementation of the Niger Delta Regional Master Plan. NDDC must embark on regional projects, not all these pockets of schools and hospitals. That is the only way we can move the region forward for our own good and the good of investors,� he said.
The deputy governor�s explanation did not satisfy most of the stakeholders as they narrated their experiences in the hands of some former Niger Delta governors in the course of executing their company�s projects and demanded more explanations.
However, midway into their questions, the deputy governor left to attend to �urgent�state matters.