The amount of money which has flowed from the federation account to the Niger Delta States in form of allocation from 1999 till date has been put at N3.07 trillion out of which the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) got less than 10 percent.
This was disclosed yesterday by the Acting NNDC Managing Director, Mr. Timi Alaibe, who said the implementation of the Niger Delta Development plan aimed at developing the region and curbing restiveness will cost $50 billion (about N6.5 trillion).
Giving a breakdown of the funds inflow from the Federation Account to the region from 1999 to December 2006, he said the nine Niger Delta States got N2.16 trillion while the Local Government areas got N671 Billion followed by the NDDC which got N241.5 Billion.
The distribution, he said, shows clearly that between the States and the Local Government Areas, they share over 90 percent of the resources, making them major stakeholders in the development plan, hence his call for synergy in funding and implementation.
Alaibe who took members of the Association of Traditional Rulers of Oil Minerals Producing Communities of Nigeria (ATROMPCON) through the details of the plan and cost stressed the need for synergy among all stakeholders of the region without which he said it would be difficult to achieve.
He said the multi-sectoral approach they were adopting in the implementation of the plan would see the diversification of the economy of the region and ensure that it no longer relied solely on oil which was causing a lot of problems.
Alaibe said the plan included the restoration of agriculture in all ramifications, industrialisation, education health, interfacing agriculture with manufacturing sector and provision of utilities so that the quality of life of the people will improve significantly.
“Financial resources are a key consideration. Significant funding is needed to create the enabling condition for utilisation of all other resources and for mobilising private sector investment.
“A synergy of the resources of all Development Agencies in the region (FG, States, LGAs, NDDC, OPS, NGOs and International Development Agencies) will see the master plan through.
“Better planning of available resources is a prerequisite for the sucess of the Master Plan. The full implementation of the master plan would cost about $50 Billion for the 15 year plan period”, Alaibe said.
On the need for urgent actions to be taken in the implementation of the plans, Alaibe said in a mono economy like Nigeria, it was difficult to continue suffering the losses which restiveness has caused, pointing out that between February 2006 and now, Nigeria has lost over $10 billion (about N1.2 Trillion) to the crises, adding that the situation should not be allowed to continue.
Drawing the attention of the gathering to the festering problem, he said that between February 18, 2006 when the first hostages were taken by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and the period they declared Operation Black Mamba, the situation has deteriorated.
This year alone, he said just within three months, the number of hostages taken have risen to 55, nearly equaling the number in the entire 2006 which was a bad omen. He also pointed out that more militant camps were opening and as at the last count, over 56 were in operation.
Alaibe pleaded with the royal fathers to help ensure that peace reigned in their domains since the militant youths were getting the sympathy and support of the host communities.
Also speaking at the forum, NNDC Chairman, Chief Sam Edem, pleaded with the royal fathers to set a standard of behaviour for the boys who they should call to order before things get out of hand.
He asserted that they were only playing advisory roles in areas of disagreement among the traditional rulers adding that they were not even qualified to dictate for them. When the elections held, he commended them for their maturity.
At the end, former Military Administrator of Rivers State and the Amanyanabo of Twon Brass, Alfred Diette Spiff emerged the national Chairman of the Association while, J.U. Tukubo emerged National Secretary.
Spiff pleaded with his colleagues to raise the standard of service befitting them as royal fathers so that peace will prevail in the region.
The Association after electing their officers moved a motion for the suspension of Pere Charles Ayenigbe-Bot who took the NDDC to court asking that the election of new executives should stop.
They said his action fouled their constitution which forbids members taking actions inimical to the well being of their Association.
The election was peaceful as officers were elected from the three zones they divided themselves into. Later, Eze Ikegwuruka who was included as plaintiff in the suit seeking to stop the election said he was not part of the case as he neither gave his consent to be joined nor did he brief anybody to sue on his behalf.
Mar232007