Pay Compensation to Niger Delta, Say Nigerians

A large percentage of the polled citizens want the government to pay adequate compensations to the people, as a way of arresting the perennial unrest in the area.

Also the nation-wide survey returned a 53 per cent rejection of official funding of political parties while 29 per cent was in favour. About 17 per cent of respondents abstained by giving a “no comment” answer.

While a cumulative 39 per cent of the respondents identified compensation (monetary or otherwise) as the panacea for peace, other suggestions for peace such as dialogue, employment opportunities, adequate security, state of emergency and construction of refineries in the area, received low response.

Fifty-eight per cent of respondents expressed satisfaction with government’s handling of the hostage crises in the Niger Delta while 42 per cent opted for a “no” answer.

However, majority of the citizens hail the recapitalisation exercise in the banks as returning confidence to the sector.

A sizeable 51 per cent of the respondents chorused “a great deal of confidence” to the poll question: ‘How much confidence in Nigerian Banks has the recapitalisation exercise created in you?’ Thirty-one per cent of the survey returned “a little confidence” response.

Considering the recent air mishaps in the country, Nigerians have urged the government to prioritise road transportation even as the aviation industry is being overhauled.

The GOP result on the subject is in tandem with universal standard, as one of the indices for assessing a developed country is the effectiveness of its mass transit organisation.

The deplorable living conditions of officers of the Nigeria Police also attracted attention of respondents, who thus called for improved welfare for the personnel, especially the rank and file.

Seventy-two per cent of the respondents said the Nigeria Police deserved better pay and welfare packages.

Eight per cent believed in proper training of the police to improve their performance while six per cent reasoned that the police should be properly equipped with modern tools and weapons to combat crime.