The yearning of the Niger Delta people for the physical development of the area might not materialise as early as envisaged, as the provisions in the 2009 budget appear grossly inadequate for any serious intervention by government.
With peace gradually returning to the region in the wake of the recent amnesty granted militant groups by the government, the nation’s oil production capacity, according to the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Muhammed Barkindo, has risen above a three-year level.
Pressure to perform
Buoyed by these dividends, President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, whom Presidency sources said is coming increasingly under pressure to deliver on his promises, has already sought the approval of the National Assembly for a N350 billion supplementary budget to enable government fund some mega projects for the area.
The sources, who spoke with NEXT on condition of anonymity last Friday in Abuja, said the president’s new vision for the region is for the Niger Delta Ministry to serve as a vehicle for the execution of mega regional projects that will not only open up the region, but also add real value to the quality of life of the people.
“President Yar’adua wants the development of the region to depart from the practice by the former OMPADEC (Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission) and NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission), which he believes made it difficult for them to have real positive impact on the lives of the people,” another president official said. “Because he is willing to match his administration’s pledge to the people for real development of the region with concrete action, he is interested in the execution of mega regional projects that would quicken the physical transformation of the Niger Delta region and solve the problem of poverty, unemployment, environmental degradation and inaccessibility.”
Some of the projects the federal government wants to see executed as soon as possible, according to the source, include the proposed 700- kilometre Niger Delta coastal highway designed to run from Calabar in Cross River State, through Benin City in Edo State, to Ilaje in Ondo State; completion of the East-West Road; development of the East-West railway system, as well as the development of new towns and cities, based on the region’s development master plan.
Other projects include development of the inland waterways transportation system, land reclamation and shoreline protection projects in Effiat Mbo, in Akwa Ibom State; Amigbo in Abia State, Kurutie in Delta State and Ikuru Town in Rivers State – as well as remediation of the environment and building of multi-faceted youth training and skills acquisition centres in the region.
Debate over method
It, however, appears that the Presidency may be heading towards a confrontation with federal lawmakers from the region over the method to be adopted in executing projects approved for the region.
While the Presidency reportedly believes that the Niger Delta ministry would serve as a vehicle for the execution of the projects, the lawmakers are insisting on the holistic implementation of the approved appropriation in the 2009 budget for the ministry.
NEXT investigations show that the budget, which has provisions for a total of N48 billion for capital projects – made up of N28.422 billion for ongoing projects transferred to the new ministry from the Ministries of Works and Environment and N19.577 billion for new projects, as well as N3 billion for recurrent services – is considered largely at variance with the president’s thinking about the development of the region.
It was gathered that, in the absence of a substantive minister, recommendations for projects to be included in the budget made shortly after the creation of the ministry were made by National Assembly members from the region.
The lawmakers reportedly seized the opportunity to include either their constituency projects, for which about N60 billion was already allocated in the main national budget, or those already listed at various times for execution by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the various state governments in the region.
Before approving the budget, President Yar’adua reportedly raised objections about most of the captured projects, as they were considered not only at variance with the presidency’s thinking on the Niger Delta, but the president also felt that the financial allocations appeared inadequate for the expected job.
NEXT investigations reveal that the provisions in the budget appeared not to have taken into consideration the peculiar difficult terrain of the region, which makes the cost of executing an average project in the region higher than in other areas.
An engineer with construction companies in Abuja, Luis Lungwin, who spoke with NEXT on Friday, said he could not understand how N300 million provided in the budget would be enough to handle the construction of the over 700-kilometre Niger Delta Coastal Road, or N250 million sufficient to complete the 27-kilometre long Ikot Ekwere-Ndukpo Ise-Ikot Eyo-Ikot Ntung road (with bridge).
“What kind of road design would this kind of amount be enough to execute, when an average of N1.2 billion and N1.5 billion is spent by some state governments in the region to construct a kilometre of road, considering the swampy nature of the area?” Mr. Lungwin asked.
The National Coordinator of the Niger Delta Budget Monitoring Group (NDEBUMOG), George-Hill Anthony, said the insistence of the lawmakers on the implementation of the budget by the ministry, even when it is obvious that it is inadequate, is for “selfish reasons and not genuine desire to see the immediate development of the Niger Delta region. What the lawmakers did in the budget is clear; they are playing politics with the development of the region. They just decided to allocate the amounts to themselves, with the expectation that they would be allowed to handle the contract awards,” he said.
An assembly of obstacles
NEXT learnt that ,when officials of the ministry resumed work, based on consultations with stakeholders, they decided that at least one project should be executed in each state of the region based on the desires of the people.
However, when these projects were presented to the National Assembly for approval, the lawmakers flatly turned them down, insisting that the ministry must implement to the letter the list of the approved projects in the 2009 budget.
Soni Daniel, special adviser on media to the Niger Delta minister, Ufot Ekaette, told NEXT: “It is inconceivable that the budget could be successfully implemented when projects listed for execution not only received unrealistic allocations and costing, but also lacked the design. If the lawmakers, who inserted these projects in the budget, had done the design and proper costing, the ministry would not have wasted its time on engaging consultants to come up with designs for these projects. The ministry has not done anything unusual to have undertaken the design and production of bill of quantities for the projects.”
Lawmaker warn of ‘diplomatic deceit’
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Rules and Business and a lawmaker from the Niger Delta, Ita Enang, dismissed insinuations that Niger Delta lawmakers are pursuing a hidden agenda by their insistence that projects approved in the 2009 budget for the region be implemented to the letter.
Mr. Enang told NEXT in a telephone interview in Abuja that “the provisions in the budget for various projects are simply for mobilisation for the contracts awards, for which the law provides for between 15 and 25 percent.”
On reports that the projects were at variance with the presidency’s vision for the region, Mr. Enang said that, during the debate on the budget proposal last year, he had described the president’s plans to the Ministry of Niger Delta as ‘diplomatic deceit.’
He said: “Whatever is happening today should not prove me right, as the people of the region are still waiting for the fulfillment of the president’s promise. If the president is doing anything as post-amnesty projects, different from those contained in the budget, and does not amend the provisions of the 2009 budget for the region, which (one) should be implemented as it is? What the president is referring to as mega projects, which details have not been given, are related to how the militants would be settled, accommodated and given jobs, as part of the post-amnesty resettlement, rehabilitation and reintegration, which is different from the budget approved for the ministry for the year.
“Last year, they (government) told us (lawmakers) that N444 billion or so was provided for Niger Delta and security, only to change later to say it was for security. This year, they said they have created the Ministry of Niger Delta, which has not done a single thing up till today. The people of this area are very educated, and they know when these matters are becoming deceitful. The impression the people always have is that the lawmakers are not representing them well.”
Doing the right thing
“Projects were transferred from the Ministries of Works and Environment to the Ministry of Niger Delta. Even if they are constituency projects, as is being alleged, why did they allow them to be put there, instead of where they belonged originally, or to other ministries that are executing projects? The president should ensure that the budget of the Niger Delta Ministry is implemented as done.
“Because of the amnesty and peace in the Niger Delta, Nigeria is not only producing more oil today, but at less cost. With the price of oil rising from $45 per barrel, which was the budget benchmark, to about $80 today, a lot of money is coming into the nation’s coffers, and projects are being done in other areas. The president has sent in the first and second supplementary appropriation of over N350 billion, with all the projects to be done in several areas. So, nothing is wrong in implementing the budget of the Niger Delta as it is,” he said.