Presentation at Ronald H. Brown Leadership Roundtable on Energy
PRESENTATION BY MR TIMI ALAIBE AT THE LEADERSHIP ROUNDTABLE ON US–AFRICA ENERGY PARTNERSHIP, BEING PART OF THE ANNUAL RONALD H BROWN AFRICAN AFFAIRS SERIES, 2006, ORGANIZED BY CONSTITUENCY FOR AFRICA, ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2006 IN WASHINGTON, U S A.
PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA
PROTOCOLS
For sometime now the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has engaged the attention of the international community. With the possible exception of situations such as the Darfur crisis in Sudan, developments in the oil and gas rich Niger Delta region constitute arguably the most internationally topical issue currently coming out of Africa. Its placement on the key agenda of the Ronald H Brown Annual African Affairs Series for this year is I believe a mark of the priority it has assumed not just for the general international community, but especially, and appropriately so, for the United States of America, and in particular the African-American leadership in this great nation.
Before proceeding any further, I have to salute the spirit of excellence, patriotism, uncommon vision, determination, commitment to service, and moral compassion embodied by and so eloquently demonstrated by the life of him in whose honour and memory this important and impressive gathering is most deservedly taking place: Ronald H Brown. His life continues to inspire both Americans and Africans alike, for he was a great African-American who personified the quintessential American dream, and that is likely to be so for all time. As should be expected, I feel highly honoured to have been invited to make this brief contribution on such a crucial issue as the imperative of peace and development in the Niger Delta region, before such a distinguished assembly, and in remembrance of such a defining symbol of human character and hope as Ronald Brown.
THE NIGER DELTA: A PORTRAIT
The Niger Delta region comprises an area of 112,110 square metres, 12% of Nigeria’s surface area, and consists mostly of delicate but picturesque coastal vegetation, mangrove, freshwater swamp and lowland rain forests. It is the third largest wetland in the world, after Mississippi and Pantanal in North and South America respectively, and abuts the Gulf of Guinea.
The region covers nine contiguous oil-producing states (namely Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers States), out of the present 36 states in Nigeria, and has a population of about 28 million people. There are about 40 ethnic groups in the region, and the traditional occupations of the people are fishing, farming and, to a lesser extent, lumbering.
About 90% of Nigeria’s national export earnings come from hydrocarbon (oil and gas) resources in the Niger Delta region, which by the same token contributes some 65% of federally distributed revenue. It boasts oil reserves estimated at over 30 billion barrels, but is even richer in gas, prompting some analysts to describe it as ‘a gas province with some oil’. Gas reserves in the region are estimated at over 3 trillion cubic metres, but over 70% of associated gas arising in the oil production process is flared. These are all in addition to an assortment of other mineral and non-mineral natural resources embedded in the region. The table below shows the concentration of oil and gas production related activities in the region:
Table 1.3: Oil and Gas Production Related Activities
| % Contribution of crude oil export to national forex earnings | Over 80% |
However, in spite of its rich natural resource endowments, mineral and non-mineral alike, and its admittedly advantageous geographical location, the Niger Delta region remains one of the most graphic illustrations of the well acknowledged syndrome of the resource paradox that obtains in many developing and underdeveloped countries of the world: poverty in the midst of plenty. It is the least developed part of Nigeria, with 70% of the population hanging below the poverty line. Posting a per capita income in the range of $300, the region shares the depressing national averages in infant and maternal mortality rates, which stand at 105 per 1000 live births, 178 per 1000 children under 5 years, and 704 - 1000 per 100,000 new mothers. These rates, shown in the baseline studies which form part of the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan (facilitated by the Niger Delta Development Commission) are 30 times and 10 times, respectively, higher than the infant and maternal mortality rates of industrialized countries.
General life expectancy in the region is 46.8 years, but worse in communities in the extreme wetland areas where social neglect is most acute. 80% of reported illnesses are water-related, with malaria, dysentery, typhoid, cholera and yellow fever being the most common ailments. The housing situation is equally bad, as 70% of households have an average of 8 occupants. 30% live in two rooms and 40% live in a single room. Only about 31% of households have access to electricity and water, but both supplies are irregular.
Since the first commercial discovery of oil in Nigeria, in the Oloibiri Community of present day Bayelsa State, within the Niger Delta, the region has suffered unrelenting ecological devastation, untold social neglect and wracking poverty. Recurrent oil pollution, seismic vibrations and continual gas flares have on the one hand debilitated the environment (land, rivers, forests, human settlements, etc.), caused endemic and chronic health problems for the people, especially rural dwellers, and led to a substantial erosion of their predominant traditional livelihoods of fishing and farming. This has in turn resulted in alarming unemployment, rural-urban migration and allied social ills.
On the other hand, a 30-year long spell of grossly disproportionate distribution of oil revenues and virtual neglect of the region by previous administrations in the location of infrastructure and social amenities, have created a strong feeling of injustice and accumulated frustration amongst the people. Add the poor, if tokenistic, social responsibility/community development record of the multi-billion petro-dollar companies, characterized by a chain of protracted and broken promises, combined with bad governance even at the state/local government levels (with a few exceptions, more under the General Yakubu Gowon central regime, 1967-75), and the recipe for a Molotov cocktail in the Niger Delta region was complete! A multi-ethnic setting and its attendant age-old inter and intra-communal rivalries and boundary disputes could only provide fertile grounds for external corrosion of the social fabric, breakdown of community life and values, and the creeping in of antagonistic, militant, and often socially destructive tendencies.
The foregoing, in principle, summarizes the background to the social discontent and the militant agitation that gradually started to take root in the region. To be sure, the region’s political history parades an impressive record of peaceful movements and advocates for equity and social development, but the responses of military regimes before the current democratic dispensation were oftentimes either palliative in nature or, in some cases, perceived as repressive. The late poet and environmental rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Jnr, is perhaps the best known, but by no means the only, example of that still subsisting and indeed more prevalent tendency.
But a growing number of youths seem to have embraced militant agitation, entailing various forms of force and coercion, such as hostage taking (mostly of expatriate oil workers, but not limited to them), seizure and/or damaging of oil production facilities, threats, ultimatums, and ‘orders’ to vacate such facilities or to suspend production. Several syndicates involved in oil bunkering activities have also emerged in the region, siphoning crude oil and selling on the black market. Obviously, part of the huge proceeds would go to the procurement of arms and logistics, in turn feeding the appetite for more militancy or violence.
There has recently been a resurgence of these violent activities. Beginning from last January, there have been a number of hostage takings and platform seizures. While some of the groups behind these activities claim to be undertaking them as a means of pressing for more development attention, and seem to enjoy some hidden sympathy from considerable segments of the region’s indigenous population, however misplaced that might be, there also appear to be mutant groups that have simply cashed in on the situation as an alibi for brazen criminality, including bank robberies and hostages-for-ransom rackets. This resurgent crisis has understandably heightened the anxiety of all stakeholders in both what is often referred to as the Niger Delta Question and the oil industry, as well as all true lovers of peace and development in Nigeria and the global community.
I shall come presently to offer a brief profile of the determined and ongoing efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria, under the current administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, to address the challenges thrown up by the situation in the Niger Delta region. Before doing that, let me quickly hazard the general basis for the special significance of the Niger Delta region to the United States of America.
THE NIGER DELTA & THE GULF OF GUINEA IN THE AMERICAN/GLOBAL ENERGY EQUATION
It is now almost conventional wisdom in strategic policy and commentary circles that the intractable volatility of the Middle East and China’s potential (let alone that of similar countries in the industrial horizon) to voraciously guzzle up oil supplies wherever ‘findable’, in order to energize the unfolding exponential expansion of its industrial capacity, implies an urgent need to secure and maximize production and supplies from available crisis-free or comparatively convenient fields. I will not pretend to be a pundit on this issue, but the long run of high oil prices is a pointer visible to all eyes. What is also clear is that, at any rate at all, Nigeria, and by extension the Niger Delta region, has traditionally been a major supplier of crude oil to the United States, and the US would logically want to maintain and probably expand the quantum of its energy imports from the region.
The aggressive deep/ultra-deep sea exploration and production campaign in the continental shelf off the Nigerian (largely Niger Delta) coastline and in the greater Gulf of Guinea by the countries concerned, in some instances via joint development initiatives such as the Nigeria-Sao Tome & Principe Joint Development Authority, has thrown up such bright prospects of a substantial increase in supplies that can only magnify the appeal of that zone as a convenient corridor for energy supply. In fact only last week, the Gulf of Guinea Energy Security Strategy, a continental forum initiated by Nigeria’s President Obasanjo in pursuit of the peaceful exploitation and management of the mineral and other resources in the Gulf of Guinea, met in Abuja to deliberate on the way forward. The strategic importance of the Niger Delta to America’s energy calculations can hardly be better expressed than as done by Paul Simmons, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy, Sanctions and Commodity Policy; Economic and Business Affairs Bureau, while testifying before a US Senate sub-committee in July, 2004, as quoted by a leading newspaper in Nigeria (Thisday of August 30, 2006, on page 21), portions of which I have taken the liberty to reproduce here:
“The (US) Administration recognizes Nigeria’s role as a major energy supplier and the anchor of West Africa. Nigeria has been the fifth largest supplier of crude oil to the U.S., contributing more than one million barrels per day so far this year, some 10 per cent of the U.S. crude oil imports. Approximately 65 per cent of Nigerian crude oil is light and sweet, making it particularly suited for U.S. refineries, since it yields high volumes of gasoline. Nigeria has the potential to increase its crude oil production significantly in the next few years as recent deep-water discoveries come on stream.
“Nigeria is an increasingly important supplier in the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market, with an estimated 124 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven natural gas reserves (9th largest in the world).
“Nigeria’s oil producing Niger Delta remains politically volatile, with intermittent communal violence and labour disputes disrupting production in some areas. Ethnic violence involving well-armed militants, and the Nigerian military, forced oil companies to shut-in some 800,000 barrels daily during parts of March and April of 2003. Although overall production has returned to previous levels, we remain in close contact with the Nigerian Government, the local communities, and the firms operating in the Niger Delta region, as they work to address recurring problems.
“’Bunkering,’ or stealing of crude oil from pipelines in the Niger Delta remains a critical concern. While it is difficult to accurately determine the extent of bunkering, estimates are that between 75,000 and 150,000 barrels of crude oil are stolen daily. This oil makes its way through illicit channels to markets with the substantial earnings funding various illicit activities in the Delta, including the introduction by local militias of increasingly sophisticated weapons into the region. The Nigerian government recognizes the critical nature of this problem, especially the effect it has had on the level of violence. The government is working to reduce bunkering.
“Our mission in Nigeria remains committed to supporting democracy, economic reform, and poverty alleviation.”
There is therefore a compelling need to address the issues concerning oil-producing communities in a manner as would secure peace. This would be sustainable peace, based on equity, good governance, broad-based consensus on social priorities, and solid bottom-up participatory development, in line with the vision of the Obasanjo Administration, RATHER THAN PACIFICATION, APPEASEMENT OR CONTAINMENT STRATEGIES.
THE NIGER DELTA CHALLENGE
I do not intend to delve into the dialectics of the demand of communities and political leaders in the Niger Delta region for what is commonly referred to as ‘resource control’, in effect ownership of natural/mineral resources, as I believe that is an issue that will be mutually resolved through dialogue in the long run. It is only pertinent for purposes of this immediate discussion to note that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999), like previous constitutions, vests the ownership of all mineral resources in Nigeria in the Federal Government of Nigeria. I shall however very briefly outline some of the challenges (some of which I have earlier on touched on), accumulated over several decades, the resolution of which are generally considered to be crucial to long term peace, stability and sustainable development in the Niger Delta region and by extension Nigeria. These challenges can be categorized under four main interconnected themes:
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
- High unemployment
- Pervasive poverty
- Mono-cultural economy – real sector absent in most states
- Unintegrated oil sector
INFRASTRUCTURE
- Epileptic/non-existent utilities: poor power supply, poor water supply, poor social infrastructure (education, health, etc). Bayelsa State, for example, was only connected to the national electricity grid this year
- Detached coastal belt: hundreds of communities, many of them major oil producing communities, in the Niger Delta coastal belt are physically detached and disconnected from the rest of the country, as there are very few road connections
- High cost of project execution in the region, due to the terrain. A typical kilometre of road in the region costs as much as three times the cost in other parts of the country.
ENVIRONMENTAL
- Coastal erosion and rising sea level.
- Oil & Gas Pollution.
- Poor impact assessment procedures.
- Deforestation and biodiversity loss.
- Sewage and municipal solid wastes.
- Weak environmental regulation and enforcement of regulations.
- Unfair and arbitrary compensation rates for communal land and environmental pollution.
SOCIO-POLITICAL
- Weak Governance, resulting in poor service delivery by successive governments, both at state and local government levels, and mistrust of government
- Lack of Cooperation & Partnership, leaving untapped potentials for synergy
- Collapsed Educational System which, due to its dysfunctionality, has become a factory for restive and militant youths
- Inter and intra-communal/ethnic conflicts, e.g. boundary disputes, contests for local administrative and electoral units advantage, political violence and supremacy contests for control of oil related payments and benefits.
PAST EFFORTS
The Willinks Commission set up by the British Colonial Government shortly before Nigeria gained independence recognised the Niger Delta as an area requiring special attention, even before the ascendancy of mineral oil as the dominant source of national revenue. Since then, various agencies have been set up at different times to address the special needs of the region, the last one before 2001 being the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), the statutory predecessor to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). These past experiments recorded limited success, for the following reasons:
i. The lack of a coherent and integrated Master Plan for the development of the Region
ii. Crisis management approach to project conception and delivery
iii. Discontinuity in government and policy/programme inconsistency
iv. Grossly inadequate funding
v. White elephant projects and duplications
vi. Official recklessness and corruption
vii. Lack of political commitment, and
viii. Weak coordination and therefore near zero synergy between tiers of government and development agencies.
PATH TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Immediately upon assumption of office in 1990, President Olusegun Obasanjo forwarded a bill to the National Assembly for the establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), as an intervention agency to facilitate the coordinated development of the region. That bill was passed into law in 2000, and the Commission commenced work in January, 2001. The Federal, state, and local governments still retain primary responsibility for development of the region, but other stakeholders contributing to regional development include :
ü Oil Companies
ü International Donor Agencies: UNDP, UNITAR, etc
ü The Communities
ü The Local NGO Community
The derivation fund accruing to mineral producing states has been increased from 3% to 13% from the advent of the present civilian administration, in line with the provisions of the Constitution. Accordingly, revenue allocations to the states have, beginning from 2000, been at their highest from since 1960. The following charts show the inflow and distribution of federal allocations into the region:
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<span style=’font-size:13.0pt;font-family: |
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11.86B |
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1542B |
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SUBTOTAL |
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17.1B |
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1.33B |
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3.8B |
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<span lang=EN-GB style=’color:black; |
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<span lang=EN-GB style=’color:black; |
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<span lang=EN-GB style=’color:black; |
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<span lang=EN-GB style=’color:black; |
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<span lang=EN-GB style=’color:black; |
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<span lang=EN-GB style=’color:black; |
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<span lang=EN-GB style=’color:black; |
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<span lang=EN-GB style=’color:black; |
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$ |
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116B |
| ONDO<span style=’color:black’> STATE<span style=’color:black’> |
|
8 |
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286B |
| RIVERS<span style=’color:black’> STATE<span style=’color:black’> |
|
9 |
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505B |
| <span style=’color:#CC3300′>LOCAL GOVT COUNCILS |
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<span lang=EN-GB style=’color:black; |
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173B |
| <span style=’color:blue’>NDDC |
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<span lang=EN-GB style=’color:black; |
| <span lang=EN-GB style=’color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB’> |
| <span lang=EN-GB style=’color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB’> |
| <span lang=EN-GB style=’color:black;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB’> |
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2,220B |
| <span style=’color:black’>TOTAL |
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|
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88B |
| IMO<span style=’color:black’> STATE<span style=’color:black’> |
|
7 |
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79B |
| EDO<span style=’color:black’> STATE<span style=’color:black’> |
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6 |
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321B |
| DELTA<span style=’color:black’> STATE<span style=’color:black’> |
|
5 |
|
75B |
| <span style=’color:black’>CROSS RIVER STATE |
|
4 |
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260B |
| BAYELSA<span style=’color:black’> STATE<span style=’color:black’> |
|
3 |
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238B |
| AKWA<span style=’color:black’> IBOM STATE<span style=’color:black’> |
|
2 |
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76B |
| ABIA<span style=’color:black’> STATE<span style=’color:black’> |
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1 |
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AMOUNT (NAIRA) |
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STATES/LGAs/NDDC |
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S/N |
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The current federal administration has pumped in more money to the Niger Delta than all other governments put together (from 1960), with NDDC receiving about 8% of the total federal revenue inflows into the region.
| <span style=’font-size:15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black’>States<span style=’font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt’> |
| <span style=’font-size:15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black’>69%<span style=’font-size: 10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt’> |
| <span style=’font-size:15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black’>LGAs<span style=’font-size: 10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt’> |
| <span style=’font-size:15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black’>23%<span style=’font-size: 10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt’> |
| <span style=’font-size:15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black’>NDDC<span style=’font-size: 10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt’> |
| <span style=’font-size:15.5pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black’>8%<span style=’font-size: 10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt’> |
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NDDC’S INTERVENTION
To realize its mission, NDDC developed a two-prong strategy:
i. Completing existing projects and/or new projects requiring urgent implementation, under an Interim Action Plan
ii. Facilitating the production of a regional development Master Plan.
Under the Interim Action Plan, NDDC has undertaken 2035 projects since 2001. Out of this, 625 have been completed while 1410 are ongoing. Other projects include Youth Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Schemes, Free Medical Missions, and building and equipment of schools and hospitals/health centres. Over 1000 transformers were also distributed to communities, to enhance electricity distribution in the region.
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Under the Youth Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Schemes, about 10,000 youths have received computer training across the region, and 6,070 have been trained in various other skills. NDDC is also helping to train youths for employment by oil companies. A Mass Transit Scheme is ongoing, entailing the provision of over 1000 buses and boats on hire purchase terms, to improve transportation within the region and provide jobs for youths.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S DIRECT INTERVENTION
A showcase of the current federal administration’s recent direct initiatives in the region includes the following:
- Award of contracts for seven (7) new Power Plants in the Region
- Composition of the Presidential Council on Social & Economic Development of the Coastal States to harmonize efforts of all development stakeholders in the region.
- Award of contract for dualization of the East-West Road, the major trans-regional highway into the region
- Special Employment Allocation: Proposed 1000 new jobs for Niger Delta indigenes in the national oil company (NNPC) and the Nigerian Armed Forces/Police.
THE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Beginning from 2005, the Interim Action Plan Phase of the NDDC has dovetailed into the unfolding implementation of the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan, the preparation of which was facilitated by NDDC. The Master Plan is an integrated roadmap towards achieving sustainable development in the Niger Delta Region, in tune with national and global aspirations, such as are envisioned in the Millenium Development Goals.
The Strategic Thrust of the Master Plan is to:
- Address prevailing poverty / community needs
- Through growing a robust economy, based on industrial transformation and agricultural productivity, and fostering prosperity
- By developing human capacity
- Alongside developing physical infrastructure
- Consistent with environmental standards for sustainability.
The Master Plan Deliverables are
- Diversification of the region’s economy, with emphasis on such critical sectors as agriculture, information communications technology, tourism, and manufacturing
- Improved living standards for the people
- Improved governance at the critical grassroots level, and at all tiers
- Improved infrastructure for economic stimulation: better business environment & accelerated growth
- Stronger collaboration between stakeholders, and
- Optimal utilization of available resources, entailing a new culture of reliable monitoring and evaluation.
Partners for Sustainable Development (PSD) Forum
In order to drive the collaborative implementation of the Master Plan, NDDC has facilitated the establishment of the Partners for Sustainable Development (PSD) Forum, membership of which is drawn from the 9 Niger Delta State Governments, Major Oil & Gas Companies, Representatives of the 185 Local Governments Councils, Civil Society Organizations, the Organized Private Sector, the National Planning Commission, UNDP, UNITAR, NEPAD and NDDC, with NDDC as the coordinating organ.
THE BIG CHALLENGE AHEAD
To achieve maximum results, by way of lasting peace, sustainable development and economic growth through productivity, all stakeholders need to:
i. Commit to development activities within the common vision and framework of the Master Plan (subject to periodic reviews);
ii. Exercise sufficient political will and mobilize adequate funding and technical support for the full and speedy implementation of the Master Plan, similar to the vigorous mobilization of funds by the United States for the post-World War II European Recovery Programme (the Marshall Plan);
iii. Develop greater capacity to collaborate and complement each other (including intensive institutional capacity building for social service delivery);
iv. Demonstrate transparency, accountability and resource optimization in governance;
v. Insist on good governance at all levels.
vi. Foster the building of viable, credible and independent structures for community governance and civil society development, to engender effective community self help and constructive civic engagement/censorship.
vii. Support the strengthening of the framework for justice delivery, law enforcement and alternative dispute resolution.
viii. Urgently address the need to connect the coastal communities with the rest of the country, as the following illustration demands.
SOME SPECIFICS
- Greater Integration of Host Communities into the Oil and Gas Industry’s Sphere of Work:
We are currently facilitating an initiative between one of the major oil multinationals and some of her coastal host communities, whereby the surveillance of oil pipelines and platforms will be contracted to the communities’ youths under mutually negotiated and incentivised terms, to provide meaningful engagement and a sense of belonging to the youths, and better security for the oil company against pipeline vandalization and takeover of platforms. Also, it is proposed that all or most of the petroleum products requirements for the exploration and production operations be supplied by host community indigenes, as a further means of local empowerment. Resumption of about 150,000 barrels of daily oil production rests largely on the successful finalization of this initiative. Hopefully, it will thereafter be replicated with other host communities and possibly expanded.
Further, to ensure more integral participation of the people of the region in the petroleum industry, it is imperative to intensify the implementation and take full advantage of the Federal Government’s laudable local (Nigerian) content policy, and to earmark a specific Niger Delta component within that policy, with regards to employments, contracts, local contact vehicle (LCV)/oil bloc allocations, and other industry activities. This will enhance the people’s sense of inclusion and economic security. Effective implementation of this will of course require a quick but comprehensive gap analysis, especially in the oil and gas industry employment figures, and accelerated/collaborative capacity building, to fill the gaps.
- Devolution of 13% Derivation Fund:
For oil producing communities to feel the real impact of the oil minerals derivation funds allocated to oil producing states from the Federation Account, it is of utmost necessity to get the respective state governments to commit at least 50% of the said funds to verifiable infrastructural and human development programmes in the mineral bearing and other host communities. There are complaints at the moment that this is not being observed.
- Stakeholder Participation/Review of States’ and Oil Companies’ Community Development Budgets:
Prior to and beyond the requisite statutory approvals of the respective legislative houses and, in the case of oil companies, the national oil corporation (NNPC/NAPIMS), there is need to subject all community development budgets, whether of state governments in the region, oil companies, or indeed NDDC, to more robust public-stakeholder participation and review, to reflect as closely as possible the felt priorities of communities.
- Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs):
There is urgent need also to not only make the conduct of EIAs for fresh E&P projects and environmental audits for existing ones more regular, but to facilitate the free, effective and informed participation of host communities in these processes and in negotiating MOUs. Communities are generally unable to afford the cost of logistics and professional representation for proper participation in these exercises. On the occasions where they participate at all, they often have to depend on the oil companies for their transportation and other logistics, thereby easily compromising themselves and going home with a deal that they would only too soon start protesting.
- Disarmament (Arms-for-Livelihoods):
In the light of the prevailing social realities in the region, one sure way of promoting peace in practical terms is to articulate a well thought out arms-for-livelihoods programme, as opposed to the usual arms-for-cash schemes. It would be vital for such a programme to entail concrete and feasible livelihood schemes, backed by a collaborative funding mechanism that involves the oil companies, government (federal, state, and NDDC), and the international community.
- Foreign Direct Investment:
Finally, it would be highly rewarding for stakeholders and investors alike to work on attracting a critical mass of investment into the region, specifically in the agro-allied, ICT, tourism, manufacturing, utilities and infrastructure (an Infrastructure Concessioning Bill has just been passed by the National Assembly).
THE HARD TRUTH
Why we must put our best foot forward: THE GAME HAS CHANGED!
The militant youths (at least their leadership) are:
Educated
Armed
Self-funding from huge proceeds of oil bunkering
Getting sophisticated intelligence on activities in the region
Recruiting across the region
Enjoying substantial community sympathy (despite ‘public’ condemnations), and
Containing them has become more challenging.
Appeasing the communities will also not sell for too long, and can therefore only be a temporary palliative. The Niger Delta situation is serious indeed, but certainly far from being hopeless. Every single stakeholder need only put their sincerity, initiative, and cast-iron commitment on the table. This distinguished audience, with the various interests it represents, constitutes a vital stakeholder constituency and I am afraid we must ask for no less from you.
It remains for me to thank from the depths of my heart the organizers of this programme, Constituency for Africa, and all other facilitators and hosts, for providing this invaluable opportunity to put forward the case for peace and development in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
Thank you for your kind attention.


