The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Niger-Delta

  • ‘Oil firms must clean up spills in Niger Delta’

    ‘Oil firms must clean up spills in Niger Delta’

    Environmental degradation arising from crude oil exploration in the Niger Delta region has remained an issue. An environmentalist, Valentine Opone examines these issues, reports JOSEPH ESHANOKPE.

    Erosion is a major challenge confronting the Southeastern part of the country.

    An Environmental Specialist Valentine Ottis Opone said the problem could be solved through proper understanding.

    He said: “We must first understand the problem. Erosion is the geological process in which the earth’s surface is worn by natural forces such as water, wind and waves. It breaks down rocks, mountains and land surfaces, which are carried away by wind, rain or rivers. Even the smaller particles add to the erosion as they move along and pound against exposed earth.”

    Opone, who is also a member of the National Registry of Environmental Professionals, United States (US), said in agriculture, erosion destroys topsoil, which is high in organic matter and fertility.

    Topsoil is relocated. Thus, soil erosion reduces crop land productivity and contributes to pollution of adjacent water courses, he added.

    He said it also causes soil compaction, low organic matter, soil structure, poor internaldrainage, salinisation and soil acidity.

    “Indeed, soil erosion is not peculiar to the southeast or other parts of the country. It is a common global environmental problem and undermines sustainable development in various economies and societies,” he said.

    Why is it predominant in the Southeast?

    He said when sheet erosion is neglected, fluvial erosion and mass wasting, acting singly or in combination, washes away the top soil and once a sandstone is exposed, it disaggregates easily leading to gullying. At a stage, the erosion becomes intractable and so rapid that control measures become too expensive and most times overwhelming and erosion sites abandoned.

    Opone explained that the formation of gullies has become one of the greatest environmental disasters facing many towns and villages in the south. This region is fast becoming hazardous for human habitation. Hundreds of people are affected yearly in towns and villages and thus have to be relocated. Yet, the rate of increase in gully erosion has continued unabated without a permanent solution.

    The economic cost of gully erosion in the South is devastating. It leads to great losses of land every year. In addition, highways are ruined due to gullies, leading to numerous vehicle accidents and deaths.

    Although gullies are initiated by natural cracks in the earth, most of them in the Southeast are not natural and can be averted. Most of the causes are traceable to bad management practices, such as roads without proper drainage or catchments pits, unguided cultivation that cause flooding, indiscriminate channelling of flood water and others.

    The government should invest in funding huge engineering projects to curb the erosion menace. The government has done little to curb this menace. It should ensure that soil degradation should be of major concern to it. Experts once predicted that the southeast stands the risk of losing most of its arable soil to erosion, if urgent attention is not given to mitigate it.

    What are the solutions? The most effective known method for erosion prevention is to increase vegetative cover on the land, which prevent both wind and water erosion. Terracing is an extremely effective means of erosion control, which has been practiced for thousands of years. Windbreaks (also called shelterbelts) are rows of trees and shrubs that are planted along the edges of agricultural fields, to shield the fields against winds. Traditional planting methods, such as mixed-cropping (instead of mono cropping) and crop rotation, have also been shown to significantly reduce erosion rates.

    Over the years, the people of the area most affected by this menace devised means of controlling it by applying, such anti-erosion measures such as digging of catchments pits, contour-waling, tree planting etc. These efforts proved to be of little effect and the problem continued unabated. Reasons for failure were, among others, inadequacy and unsuitability of methods used and, most importantly, the intractability of the problem. Afforestation in the areas is more susceptible to gully formation; and planting of local cover crops, such as leguminous plants.

    However, small scale activities that require low technology input can be undertaken. Immediate control measures should be encouraged and practised. Reduction of surface runoff from impervious surfaces; drainage of surface runoff- this include the establishment of interception, division and primary (trunk) drains and the construction of interception ponds; planting of grasses on available favourable surface to reduce the amount of bare soils exposed to the erosive force of the rains and to control erosion.

    On oil spill management, he said oil spillage is a common occurrence in the Niger Delta and that it occurs due to some reasons. They include corrosion of pipelines and tankers, sabotage and oil production operations. There is inadequate or non-functional production equipment. But the largest contributor to the oil spill is the rupturing of production infrastructure or the leaking of production infrastructure as a result of ‘very old and lack of regular inspection and maintenance.

    ‘’One reason corrosion accounts for a high percentage of oil spills is that as a result of the oil fields in the Niger Delta, there is an extensive network of pipelines between the fields, as well as numerous small networks of flowlines – the narrow diameter pipes that carry oil from wellheads to flow stations-allowing many opportunities for leaks.

    ‘’Sabotage is done by what is popularly called bunkering. It is a situation where saboteurs attempt to tap the pipeline. In the process, sometimes the pipeline is damaged or destroyed. Sabotage and theft through oil siphoning has become a major issue in the Niger Delta, contributing to further environmental degradation.’’

    He speaks on the oil spillage impact on the ecosystem. He said: “Spills destroy crops and aquaculture through the contamination of the groundwater and soils. The consumption of dissolved oxygen by bacteria feeding on the spilled hydrocarbons also contributes to the death of fish.

    “In agricultural communities, often a year’s supply of food can be destroyed immediately. Because of the careless nature of oil operations in the region, the environment is becoming inhabitable. People affected by it complain of health issues, including breathing and skin diseases. Many of them have lost such rights as access to food, clean water and good jobs.

    “The Niger Delta is one of the world’s most important wetland and coastal marine ecosystems and has a population of 31 million. Oil was discovered in the area in 1958. Since then, there have been many oil spills. with communities located around oil installations mostly affected. The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) estimated that 1.89million barrels of crude oil were lost between 1976 and 1996, out of 2.4million barrels spilled in 4,835 incidents.

    “The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in a report states that there were 6,817 oil spills between 1976 and 2001, accounting for a loss of three million barrels of oil. Out of these, 70 per cent was not recovered.

    How do we manage oil spill? He said: “There may never be a solution until the people who are found are sanctioned. The first objective in finding a permanent solution should be to clean up every inch of the land and every drop of oil that has been spilled in the last 50 years. A thorough and planned clean up will provide immediate employment for thousands of affected youths that are taking up arms, kidnapping and disrupting the lives of the people of the Niger Delta. The government must embark on immediate massive public works for road construction, among others.

    “The cause of the unrest in the Niger Delta is poverty and exploitation. Nigeria must formulate a policy that changes its oil and gas industry from extractive to domestication and local processing.

    “As total clean up is planned, the process of massive engagement of youthful and teachable hands should top the agenda of the government. For example, the Local Content Act and the PIB. These laudable ideas

    “From the government, if implemented, as intended will ensure that the locals who own properties or infrastructure around oil exploration zones shall be adequately compensated and relocated while the youth are also engaged. Similarly, with the evolvement of sophisticated human capital development in the Niger Delta, more support companies will be formed and encouraged, ultimately, to reduce further the state of idle mindedness which has also been largely traced to oil theft and sabotage.

    The administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has done so well for the oil rich zone, the onus is on the industry captains to follow the same procedure in tandem with environmental methodologies in ensuring that the total environment is safe and free of menace.

    Urbanisation problem

    Urban development or urbanisation means the increasing number of people living in the urban areas. It leads to growth. The UN said half of the world’s population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008. By 2050, it said 64.1 per cent and 85.9 per cent of the developing and developed world will be urbanised.

    Urbanisation is linked to modernisation and industrialisation. It is not merely a modern phenomenon, but a transformation of human social roots on a global scale. It has some effects. As cities develop, there fewer or no jobs, and as a result, many cannot afford housing in cities and have to dwell in slums. That is why urbanisation is often seen as a negative trend. But it also has many advantages. There are opportunities of proximity and diversity. For example, cities have more markets than the rural areas.

    Impact on shelter

    There is an upsurge of people in city centres. The increase in housing deficit arises from unemployment. The growth of cities have been accompanied by urban sprawl, environmental expansion pollution, deterioration in infrastructure and urban decay.

    What the government can do to address the situation

    Urban development is an important issue for the government. The federal and state governments should invest more resources in urban areas through, for instance, transport. They should engage in building capacity, knowledge, and skills in the urban areas.

  • Niger Delta to demand resource control, true federalism at confab

    Niger Delta to demand resource control, true federalism at confab

    What are the issues the people of the Niger Delta will clamour for at the National Conference? Resource control and true federalism, The Nation learnt, will top the agenda of the region at the conference, which is billed to start soon. The region will also not subscribe to “No Go Areas” and manipulations by agents of the government, it was also learnt.

    The stage was set for the conference at the Pan Niger Delta Conference, organised by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Social Action. Feelers after the conference show that the powers-that-be in the region are being rallied to pursue this line of thought.

    The conference has initiated collaboration with other regions to build confidence and consensus to avoid potential conflicts.

    The conference with the theme: “Niger Delta and the National Conference,” was held at the Atlantic Hall, Presidential Hotel Port Harcourt. It attracted representation from the states of the region, human rights activists, community leaders, women groups and youth organisations.

    A communiqué issued as a result of the January 28 conference leaves no one in doubt as to the direction of the region at the conference.

    The communiqué reads: “As Nigeria begins its second century, it faces the challenge of organising a new generation of citizens that would live under conditions of dismantled structural contradictions without the constraints on peoples’ capacity to fulfil their potentials. The PNDC is part of the attempts to deal with that challenge.

    “Specifically, the objectives of this Conference are: To identify the strategic interests of the Niger Delta at this historic moment, and to create a peoples’ platform for their pursuit; to map out plans for the achievement of the strategic interests of the Niger Delta during the National Conference and beyond; to draw up strategies that would help to prevent the difficulties that imperilled previous national conferences and dialogues with regard to attainment of the aspirations of the Niger Delta and other minority peoples.”

    The conference observed that the Niger Delta has been at the forefront of the struggle for the restructuring of the Nigeria based on the people’s conviction that a multi-ethnic nation-state like Nigeria can only exist peacefully on the basis of a truly federal structure that gives importance, equity and justice to all the components; it also observed that the peoples of the Niger Delta believe that the diverse nationalities that make up the country can only coexist successfully and peacefully on the foundation of clear restructuring of the federation anchored on principles of free association and the right of nationalities and communities to have spaces for political and economic actualisation.

    It added that having a President of Nigeria from the Niger Delta was neither a core demand nor is it a solution to the problems of the region, much as every individual in the country, including members of minority nationalities, can aspire to and hold the highest political office.

    ased on observations, the communiqué noted: “That we welcome the initiative of the executive arm of the central government with respect to the National Conference, and resolve to mobilise our peoples to participate fully;

    “That the primary mandate of the National Conference is to restructure Nigeria into a truly federal state where the components have political autonomy;

    “That representation at the National Conference should be based primarily on ethnic nationalities, and may include equitable participation from national interest groups;

    “That the resolutions of the National Conference should be ratified by a referendum organised in line with the principle of “peoples’ suffrage” as opposed to universal suffrage. By “peoples suffrage” the conference means the votes of the various nationalities that make up the country;

    “That the National Conference should culminate in a new Constitution for Nigeria, which should be the basis for the conduct of the next General Elections;

    “That the historic demands of the Niger Delta peoples and other minorities in Nigeria for identity, resource ownership and control, and environmental justice must not be reduced to development and infrastructure politics. What the Niger Delta peoples need now is freedom to actualise themselves to their full potentials, and self-determination within a Nigeria founded on equity and justice;

    “That conference endorses the setting up of a platform for engagement on the National Conference process, including development of mechanism for assembling the positions of the peoples of the Niger Delta.”

    Rights activist Ms Annkio Briggs, who was one of the speakers at the event, said the national conference must be based on ethnic representation instead of regional representation.

    She said: “Despite our enormous resources the Niger Delta, problems have remained unattended; the region is lacking access to basic necessities; that is why we must represent the aspiration of the people of Niger Delta. The Niger Delta must defend their right by ensuring that we have the right to serve for second term like other region and nobody should intimidate us for that. We have problem as people but the national conference offers us that opportunity to address those problems.”

    A former President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Kimse Okoko, said some persons were exploiting Nigerians on the pretence of representing the people. He said the time had come when the people should make input on the issues that concern them.

    “The issue of national conference should not politicise the people should be represented through various ethnic group to have a people constitution and not geo-political group. We need structures to facilitate the attainment of the best possible quality of life for the peoples of Nigeria. We seek a Nigerian state to be a community where individuals and groups would achieve their best potentials,” he said.

    Leader of Social Action, Dr. Isaac Osuoka, said he resisted politicians’ sponsorship and participation at the conference. He said the conference was sponsored by Social Action and other non-governmental organisations who share the same belief because they did not want politicians to hijack the conference.

    Osuoka said: “Some of the participants of today’s conference, including some of our eminent leaders know that the idea of the Pan Niger Delta Conference dates back to the 1990s, especially during the late Abacha military junta. Following the genocide in Umuechem (Etche), Ogoniland and parts of Ijawland, organisations like the Chikoko Movement, Southern Minorities Movement (SMM), Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Rivers Coalition, Environmental Rights Action (ERA) Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) started discussing the framework for a process of joint analysis and collaborative intervention in mobilising our peoples to promote the demands of self-determination within the Nigerian State, as guarantee for environmental and economic justice.”

    He lamented that the efforts and sacrifices of Niger Deltans to end military have mostly been unappreciated.

    “In the 19902 s, our people, through their representative organisations, were unanimous in demanding for a restructuring of the Nigerian federation as a precondition for a democracy in Nigeria. Rather than merely conducting elections with frameworks set up by the military dictators, we all asked for a sovereign National Conference (SNC) and a representative Government of national Unity (GNU) to supervise participatory constitution making before elections.

    “Within this idea, the National Conference would serve as platform on which the different nationalities and social groups in Nigeria would democratically decide on such crucial issues as power-sharing between the various equitable structures for the Nigerian Federation, the control of resources, including land and minerals, the religious question, alternative economic recovery package, a fair electoral system and other such decisions which border on the destiny of the Nigerian state and its peoples.”

    Speakers at the event include, Prof. Ebiegberi Alagoa, Prof. Ben Naanen, Rev. Nnimmo Bassey, Ledum Mitee, Prof. Andrew Efemini, and Dr. M. Akobo.

     

  • Those 546 million gallons of crude oil spilled in the Niger Delta

    The figure is startling, in two regards. One, in terms of the foreign exchange the country could have made from them; and two, the damage they must have wreaked on the health of the people and the environment. A whole 546 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Niger Delta over the last 50 years. The quantity amounts to 11 million gallons a year. Waoh!

    The revelation was made in a letter written by 13 local and five international Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) Bill before the Senate.

    Among those who endorsed the letter were Thelma Diwari, representing CBNHRSD; Head of Centre for Environment Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), Zabbey Nenibarini; Nick Hildyard of Cornerhouse; and the Executive Director of Foundation For Environmental Rights, Advocacy and Development (FENRAD), Nelson Nnanna Nwafor.

    The letter called for the passage of the NOSRDA Amendment Bill 2012 into law and remediation and protection of the environment in the Niger Delta.

    “The reform of the NOSDRA Act 2006 will provide clearer regulations and a strong response mechanism to deal with oil spills which will save millions of lives and improve the livelihoods of all the communities living in the Niger Delta,” it said.

    They also called for an end to the spilling and destruction of the environment and the unacceptable devastation on the lives of local communities in the areas of oil exploration.

    “This can be achieved by strengthening the institutional and regulatory power of NOSDRA, and enshrining the ‘polluter pays’ principle in law, which the NOSDRA Amendment Bill 2012 will do,” it added.

    The Niger Delta has been through a lot. It was the frustration with the system that led to the declaration of an Independent Niger Delta Republic by the late Isaac Adaka Boro during late Aguiyi Ironsi’s administration, just before the Civil War.

    The quest for justice was later championed by the late Ken Saro-Wiwa. He was killed as a result of his agitation by the late Sani Abacha regime.

    The alarm raised by the NGOs over the spillage is another phase of the quest for justice and it must be taken serious.

    The bill must become law soonest to end the evil oil spills do to the people, the environment and the economy. No right thinking person should waste time in getting this bill to become law and when it becomes law, it must be implemented to the latter. And only then can we truly say never again to the burying of 546 million gallons of crude oil into the soils of the Niger Delta and only then can the people, the environment and the economy stop bleeding to death as a result of this negligence and sabotage.

    The spillages have robbed children of playground; robbed farmers of farmland; robbed fishermen of fishes; robbed the economy of cash; robbed the people of their health; and on and on. The time to pass the bill is now.

    The National Assembly must show that it cares by passing this bill and the president must follow through by assenting to it after it has been passed. Anything short of this will amount to compromise and at the end, all will suffer for it.

     

  • North and funding of Nigerian oil industry

    Oil Prospecting Funds

    In an interview published at pages 48 and 49 of The Punch of February 1, Professor Ango Abdullahi, a northern elder and power-must-return-to-the-North diehard, claimed that the Nigerian oil industry was developed with money from the North. According to him, “It is the North that developed the present day oil industry in this country. It is northern money; it is northern leadership that developed the oil industry.”

    Perhaps, by constantly repeating this delusional lie, the northern political and intellectual elite think it will stick in Nigeria’s collective consciousness as the truth. The truth is that the northern elite is addicted to the proceeds of Niger Delta oil and gas. They have completely abandoned any pretence at productivity and internally generated revenue. The North is now completely dependent on the monthly federal allocation, which is the same thing as Niger Delta oil proceeds. The blatant falsehood about northern funding of the initial stages of the industry, arises out of the psychological need to justify this total dependence on Niger Delta oil proceeds for survival and for virtually every need of daily existence. The reasoning goes like this. Oil exploration in the Niger Delta was financed by Northern groundnut proceeds and therefore the North is equally entitled to Niger Delta oil proceeds as the Niger Deltans themselves. But what is the truth?

    The first oil prospecting in Nigeria was by a German company known as the Nigerian Bitumen Company. It commenced operations in 1908 and wound up its activities in Nigeria at the commencement of the First World War in 1914.

    The second attempt at oil prospecting in Nigeria was in 1937 by a company known as Shell D’Arcy.

    Shell D’Arcy also stopped operations in 1940 because of the 2nd World War. In 1946 Shell Company was joined by British Petroleum (BP) to establish the Shell BP Company which finally discovered oil at Oloibiri in 1956. These companies were later joined by Elf, Texaco, Agip, Gulf Oil, Mobil Producing and other oil prospecting and producing companies.

    From these early beginnings in 1908 to the present moment, that is 2014, the Nigerian State, including Northern Nigeria, has never spent one kobo in oil prospecting and oil producing, with funds other than from proceeds of petroleum products. The Nigerian federal government has at all relevant times been a beneficiary of the petroleum proceeds from the investments and activities of the oil multinationals. The so-called NNPC investments in oil prospecting has only occurred in northern part of the Nigeria, namely, the Benue trough, the Chad Basin and in Bauchi State. The funds utilized by the NNPC in these northern areas were obtained from proceeds of the Niger Delta oil operations.

    Therefore rather than the federal government investing money in Niger Delta oil operations, it is the proceeds of the Niger Delta petroleum that is fueling state, power and activities in Nigeria and supplying all the funds for the NNPC’s prospecting of petroleum in northern states.

    By and large, all initial expenses for prospecting and producing are borne exclusively by the foreign multinationals. The federal government spends nothing of its own funds in the industry, except for cash calls which are paid for by proceeds of Niger Delta petroleum.

    Thus if the federal government itself spent nothing in the development of the oil industry, except to plough back Niger Delta oil proceeds earlier collected by it, how and in what circumstances did the North per se fund the operations of the oil industry?

    (ii) Pre-Petroleum Economy of Nigeria

    Another misinformation that needs to be exorcised is the assertion that the Nigerian state survived solely on groundnut and cotton from the North before oil was produced in commercial quantities. This is patently false. The West produced cocoa, the Mid-West produced rubber, palm oil, palm kernel and timber, and the East produced palm oil and timber. In each case, the producers of these natural resources sold their produce and pocketed their proceeds for their personal use. By contrast the oil and gas of Niger Delta is taken away 100 per cent by the federal government leaving the producing communities and the owners of that resource nothing but environmental degradation and pollution. In the pre-oil economy of Nigeria, it was only the export duty of the agricultural products that was shared on the basis of, 50 per cent derivation and 30 per cent distributable funds for all the regions. The federal government got 20 per cent.

    It could thus be seen that every part of Nigeria contributed to the pre-petroleum economy of the country. Most importantly, individual producing farmers sold their products and pocketed the proceeds for the benefit of themselves and their families alone. This is not applicable to the people of the Niger-Delta whose oil and gas has been appropriated completely by the federal government without any consideration of the right and interest and future of the people on whose land the oil and gas are found.

    Indeed, under the revenue allocation formula of the 1st Republic, it was the North that benefitted financially from the contributions of the other three regions and not the other way round. It will be recalled that by Section 140 of the 1963 Constitution, 50% of oil proceeds went to the region from which they were extracted, 20 % went to the federal government, and 30% was paid into a distributable pool.

    In the allocation of the 30% from the Distributable Pool Account, the North received a disproportionate share which effectively meant contributions from the other regions. Thus, out of the 30% of the resources of all the four regions paid into that account, the percentage paid to each region was as follows:

    (a) Northern Nigeria – 40% (b)Eastern Nigeria – 31%

    (c) Western Nigeria – 18% (d) Mid-Western Nigeria – 6%

    (Section 141, 1963 Constitution)

    Thus, at all periods, since 1914, the North has been and continues to be the major beneficiary of the financial output of the whole country.

    We must not forget what motivated the British Colonial Power to bring about the amalgamation of 1914.

    The reason behind the decision of the British government to amalgamate the two territories (North and South) was purely financial or economic. The Northern Protectorate was not economically viable. It had become a great drain on the British tax payer. On the other hand, the Southern Protectorate was not just economically buoyant, it was producing surpluses every year. The British design was therefore to remove the northern financial burden from its own neck and hang it on the neck of the hapless Southern Protectorate.

    According to Lord Harcourt, the British Colonial Secretary, unification of Nigeria demanded both “method” and “a man”. The man was to be Lord Lugard and the method was to be the “marriage” of the two entities. According to Lord Harcourt:

    “We have released Northern Nigeria from the leading strings of the Treasury. The promising and well conducted youth is now on an allowance on his own and is about to effect an alliance with a Southern lady of means. I have issued the special license and Sir Frederick Lugard will perform the ceremony. May the union be fruitful and the couple constant”.

    The comparative economic situation of the two halves of Nigeria has not changed in the last 100 years. Rather the economic power of the South has continued to increase vis-à-vis the North. This explains the fierce opposition of the northern elites to true federalism, and a National Conference, which might bring this about.

    On the issue of funds and funding of the federal government, states and local governments, I think the northern political and intellectual elite should be grateful to the South, particularly the Niger Delta, the great provider.

     

  • Niger Delta not synonymous with Ijaw, say Itsekiri leaders

    The Itsekiri ethnic group in the Niger Delta region has advised their Ijaw counterparts to stop seeing President Goodluck Jonathan as an Ijaw man rather than President of Nigeria.

    The Itsekiri Leaders of Thought in a paper presented at the Pan Niger Delta Conference held recently in Port Harcourt, noted that the attitude of the Ijaws towards President Goodluck Jonathan’s government was alienating other Nigerians within and outside the South-South zone from the Jonathan administration.

    Mr Edward Ekpoko, who read the text of the address of the Pa JOS Ayomike-led group, noted that ascendency of President Goodluck Jonathan was a divine intervention, adding, “It must be seen largely as being for a purpose.

    “The President should not be seen and taken to be an Ijaw man, or for anyone to see the Niger Delta, as synonymous with the Ijaws. The situation where political appointments and patronages in the South-south zone have become the prerogative of the Ijaw is not in the interest of the unity of the region.

    “The handshake across the Niger Delta is gradually becoming a fisticuff. There is much hue and cry over the amnesty programme and also the Niger Delta Ministry,” the ILOT stalwart added.

    Ekpoko said for the president to success, he needs the support of every ethnic nationality in the region and indeed the country and urged the Ijaw to have attitudinal change.

    He particularly canvassed bridge- rather than fence-building, adding “we need one another for the sake of our brother President Jonathan. We also need other regions as we South-South alone (even if united) cannot make it.”

    Ekpoko said the issues of true federalism, resource or fiscal federalism being agitated for in the Niger Delta would be difficult to achieve and even become meaningless unless their iss unity borne out of peace and justice.

    He urged their Ijaw brothers to initiate the process of fence-mending among other ethnic groups of the region and to also extend hands of friendship to other regions.

    “We should be less arrogant and more humble,” he stated.

  • Niger Delta: US scholarship recipients to spend first year in Nigeria

    The Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, and Kaplan International Colleges, are collaborating with the Consortium of North American Universities to launch a lifeline tagged:’ ‘US University Pathway College in Lagos’.

    The scheme will afford Nigeria students, who wish to study in the United States to run their first academic session in Nigeria, including learning the American intonation and other challenges that usually confront them upon arrival in the US.

    Speaking to reporters, Kuku said the idea was meant to save costs, and get students acclamatised to the American way of teaching before their final take-off.

    “When we first started sending students from the Niger- Delta abroad to study on scholarship; we discovered that we were losing money because the students needed time to get used to the environment, the intonation and many other challenges.

    “The students were dropping points. It was like the first year was a time to struggle. Now, they have the opportunity to hold their first full academic session here in Nigeria. They are taught by Americans, they use the American curriculum too so when they go in for the second year, they are already used to it. We have sent many students to many universities abroad before we met with Kaplan and they sold the idea to us, so we decided it was the best for the children,” he said.

    Represented by his Assistant on Special Duties, Mr Henry Ugbolue, Kuku said the money for the scholarships is derived from the budget in the Office of the Special Adviser. He said recipients of the scholarships, are engaged in a very rigorous competitive test, adding that this year alone, 180 students benefitted from the largesse.

    Kuku said both the ministry and Kaplan share the same vision, hence the collaboration, adding: “I will not hesitate from withdrawing the scholarship of any of you that misbehaves. You must be disciplined, show that you deserve it. Scholarship is not a right but a privilege, so use it well.”

    The Regional Director, Kaplan International, West Africa, Mrs Mary Agbu, explained that Pathway Colleges makes studying abroad a lot easier for students.

    “We make the student’s journey much easier. They do the foundation here and go on to do the remaining three years over there. We discovered that many Nigerian children now write the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Exams at age 16 and they are sent over there at that young age without any means of protection, making it difficult for them to cope. So we decided that if they can be made to do their first one year in Nigeria, they will learn a lot of things that would have been a challenge to them over there,” she said.

    She said an eligible student must have passed their WASSCE at credit level, and will undergo an individual interview to ensure the authenticity of their WASSCE result, and an additional test on calculus.

     

  • Pan Niger Delta Conference

    Pan Niger Delta Conference

    A Pan Niger Delta Conference wants representation at the planned National Conference from the Southsouth to be based on ethnic nationality.

    Rising from the conference in Port Harcourt yesterday,delegates said that picking representatives to the National Conference would not be in the best interest of the Southsouth and the minorities.

    In attendance at the conference with the theme: “Niger Delta and the National Conference” were delegates from Akwa Ibom,Bayelsa,Cross River,Delta,Edo and Rivers states.

    Speaking at the conference,Niger Delta right activist, Ankio Briggs,said that the problems facing the Southsouth have remained largely unattended “despite our enormous resources.”

  • Why JTF can’t stop oil theft

    Why JTF can’t stop oil theft

    The Joint Task Force (JTF) has the mandate to end oil theft in the Niger Delta. Can it realise this mandate? The odds seem to be against it, writes Mike Odiegwu, Yenagoa

    THE Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, is confronted with dearth of operational tools, decayed security hard wares and logistics deficiencies, Niger Delta Report has learnt.

    It was also gathered that the outfit whose new mandate is to eradicate economic sabotage in the Niger Delta, is fond of going cap in hand to oil multinationals and other wealthy stakeholders.

    “This outfit is seriously under-funded. We don’t have the requirements to fight endemic economic sabotage. We are simply scratching the surface,” a source, who craved anonymity for fear of victimisation, said.

    It was gathered that such deficiencies were the reason behind JTF’s inability to own houseboats and establish bases in areas notorious for oil theft in the region.

    It was also gathered that JTF is heavily indebted to some firms which loaned houseboats to the outfit in the past.

    The source disclosed that the handicap nature of the outfit compelled a Non-Governmental Organisations to come to its aide last year at Igbomotoro in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.

    “Igbomotoro is the hotbed of economic crime in the region. It has turned to a community business. I can tell you that almost everybody in the area is into the business of illegal bunkering and illicit refining of petroleum products. Because of the entrenched nature of this problem, JTF is supposed to establish a permanent base in the area.

    “But we don’t have a houseboat and the logistics to move to the area. That was why an NGO last year rented two houseboats for us. The NGO was sympathetic of our problems and gave us the two boats.

    “They also provided welfare for our troops who were deployed in the area. For over eight months, the NGO maintained the houseboats and our personnel”, he said.

    He, however, said trouble started when the NGO could no longer fund the operation.

    He said: “The NGO said it had no money to fund the operation any more. That was why the strategy collapsed. JTF could not take over the funding. The soldiers deployed in the houseboat became hungry for food and thirsty for water. The operation died and the soldiers were recalled. The NGO has also evacuated the houseboat.

    “During the operation, a lot of milestone was achieved. The area became calm. But immediately after the operation, the community folks returned to the illegal business in hundred folds”.

    The source who failed to name the NGO, explained that the intervention came during the reign of the immediate past JTF Commander, Major-General Bata Debiro adding that the operation contributed immensely to the success story of Debiro.

    It was learnt that the venomous return to illegal oil bunkering, illicit refineries and oil theft activities in Igbomotoro informed JTF to conduct special operations involving other security agencies in the area recently.

    The source decried the rot in the system and said most of the operational assets including gunboats were outdated and could no longer perform their roles.

    He said the few gunboats available in the fleet of the command were fond of breaking down and endangering the lives of soldiers during operations.

    “The operational vessels are inadequate. Some are in state of disrepair while others are outdated. They are always disappointing soldiers during operation.

    “Besides, going on patrol is always difficult and rare because of lack of logistics. Most times, JTF depends on oil companies to fuel their patrol boats.

    “They are just deceiving us. The government can’t be said to be fighting economic sabotage without equipping JTF. How can they fight this menace without acquiring houseboats and modern speedboats? How can they cope without establishing bases in notorious areas?

    “It is not possible. As l am talking to you, oil theft is well-entrenched. It is going on minute by minute. It has turned to the business of many communities. There is also regular compromise of standards among some people in uniforms.

    “The truth is that we cannot operate on water without platforms. It is even unfortunate that JTF is owing millions of Naira for platforms it hired for operations in the past. The operatives are also inadequate and those working are operating under harsh condition”.

    Debiro has while rendering his stewardship before his retirement acknowledge that the outfit was faced with many challenges.

    He said: “In spite of the difficult environment it operates, the JTF has recorded modest successes, although still confronted with a handful of challenges and constraints.

    “These challenges include inadequate maritime platforms, insufficient operational vehicles, lack of some essential kits, and insufficient manpower, among others.

    “The Task Force is, however, optimistic that most of these challenges will soon be addressed through the efforts of the Chief of Defence Staff, Defence Headquarters and the National Economic Council (NEC) Intervention Plan initiated by the President.

    “While the Task Force remains highly committed to achieving its mandate, its ability to operate optimally will no doubt be enhanced if some of the challenges confronting it are addressed.”

     

  • Money, power, patronage stoke tensions in Niger Delta

    Money, power, patronage stoke tensions in Niger Delta

    Rivers State has been on the boil for some time now. In this report, AFP examines the forces at play and concludes that it is all about money, power and patronage.

    it is a classic Nigerian dispute, combining powerful politicians, patronage, personal rivalries, wider claims of corruption and bickering over lucrative oil revenue.

    But rising tensions in the southern state of Rivers in the Niger Delta region are setting it up to be a key battleground as general elections approach next year.

    Where once it was the feared, heavily armed vigilantes patrolling the creeks who dominated headlines, now a stand-off between the state governor and the country’s president is grabbing attention.

    At the heart of the spat between Rotimi Amaechi and Goodluck Jonathan are claims Rivers has lost out on revenue from a disputed oil well as well as federal development and infrastructure schemes.

    “There are some things that the federal government is doing that are not in the interest of the people of Rivers State,” said Amaechi’s spokesman, David Iyofor.

    “These include the federal government ceding the Soku oil well, belonging to Rivers State, to Bayelsa (Jonathan’s neighbouring home state),” he told AFP.

    “The lack of federal presence in the state and failure to refund the state the 105 billion naira ($658 million, 482 million euros) it spent on federal roads in the state is another major nagging issue.”

    Vocal criticism

    The plain-speaking Amaechi, who is vaunting his own progress on driving up living standards, health and education in the state, has claimed Rivers has “nothing to show” for Jonathan’s time in power.

    But he is also a key figure in a national-level dispute that has plunged Jonathan’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into crisis and seen it lose its parliamentary majority.

    Amaechi, 48, was one of five influential state governors to quit the PDP for the main opposition in November last year, prompting 37 lawmakers in the lower chamber National Assembly to follow suit.

    They accuse Jonathan of ignoring an unwritten party rule to rotate the presidency between the largely Muslim north and the mainly Christian south and reneging on a claim only to serve one term.

    But Amaechi’s gripe also centres around the Soku oil well and the re-allocation of its three-billion-naira monthly revenue to Jonathan’s home state.

    Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, pumped out about two million barrels of crude oil per day in 2013, according to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

    Revenue is shared between states, although Amaechi has been vocal in claiming that tens of billions of dollars have been siphoned off by the federal government.

    Claims of unfair redistribution fuelled violence that gripped the Delta region until an amnesty, seeing installations attacked and oil workers kidnapped.

    Mounting tensions

    Jonathan has said little if anything on the Rivers situation but his wife, Patience, who hails from the state, has been accused of publicly criticising Amaechi over a state programme she disliked.

    The National Assembly is currently overseeing the divided state legislature, where last May a brawl broke out after five local lawmakers tried to impeach the house’s pro-Amaechi speaker.

    Armoured personnel carriers and armed police using tear gas have disrupted rallies by Amaechi’s supporters and his All Progressives Congress (APC) party in the state capital, Port Harcourt.

    Last weekend, the police admitted firing teargas cannisters to disperse a crowd at a pro-Amaechi rally, during which a staunch ally of the governor was allegedly shot and injured.

    Police denied the claim and there were conflicting reports of the extent of the injuries sustained by the supporter, a senator.

    Fears for 2015

    “This irrationality in Rivers State has gone too far and it is not in tandem with the rule of law,” said human rights lawyer Jiti Ogunye.

    “It appears that Jonathan has gone for broke. We are not going to have a peaceful transfer of power in 2015 the way we are going. They are endangering civil rule and it is dangerous and unfortunate.”

    State police boss Joseph Mbu has been caught up in the middle of the political infighting and faced calls to quit, with some suggesting he is loyal to the presidency.

    He denied that officers fired live bullets at Sunday’s crowd and maintained that teargas was used only because organisers did not have an official permit to demonstrate.

    “What’s happening… is an aberration, an abnormality founded on irrationality and the display of impunity on a large scale,” said Eze Onyekpere, director of the Centre for Social Justice in Abuja.

    “It is a negation of the rule of law and enthronement of impunity. This portends a very bad omen for 2015 elections. People are being shot, harassed and teargassed. This is frightening.”

    Economics of youth restiveness

    A new book, Economics of Youth Restiveness in the Niger Delta, has been released by DrM Christopher N. Ekong, Dr. Ettah B. Essien and Kenneth U. Onye. They were all born in the Niger Delta and gained part of their higher education in the region, and now teach at the University of Uyo there.

    A review of the book notes: “The text is certainly not boring! Youth Restiveness in the Niger Delta has led to kidnapping, hostage taking, and other crimes committed in the region that have resulted in terrible world press and a monumental loss of revenue for Nigeria.

    “The Niger Delta Region of Nigeria has been thrust into international prominence because of its rich natural resources, including oil and gas, which have played a large part in discussions about the region and its sustainable environment. The book explores the general background of Nigeria’s oil and gas resource infrastructure, as well as their effects on the Nigerian economy.

    “The book discusses in detail the resources of the region, including its renewable and non-renewable ones. The root causes of youth restiveness are also discussed, and the authors believe there are some benefits deriving from restiveness. These include closing the income inequality gap in the region and improvements in Nigeria’s socio-economics.”

     

     

  • ‘Niger Delta’s resources in a few pockets’

    ‘Niger Delta’s resources in a few pockets’

    Comrade Goddy Ewerode is the President of South/south Network for Change, a pressure group. He spoke with Niger Delta Report on a number of issues affecting the Niger Delta Region and President Goodluck Jonathan chances in 2015.

    On the debate generated by Jonathan’s ambition

    The polity is being overheated by the people we call our leaders. We have seen an unprecedented avalanche of open letters. One would write and the other would reply, but the truth is that nobody can dispute the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan has done some good things and a lot of people don’t seem to be seeing.

    The President has done very in terms of power sector. Since he came we have seen steady rise in power generation from barely 2,000MW to over 5,000MW. His predecessor spent $16bn without any improvement. That he has been able to achieve much is a plus to the present administration. He has also made some improvement in the area of railway. He offset the arrears of railway staff and paid them off.

    Look at the privatisation that was bedevilled by hiccups in the past; see what this government has done with it. He privatised PHCN; this was where we had reports of several shady deals in the process. President Olusegun Obasanjo sold Delta Steel Company, Itakpe Steel Rolling Mill, Volkswagen and in all these due process was not followed.

    You spoke about the privatisation of the DSC, what is the state of the company now?

    That is what I am saying. DSC was privatised by former President Obasanjo and sold to an Indian firm. When they came, they did not resuscitate the plant. They were merely stripping and selling the plant. Today, DSC as speak nothing is happening; it is in coma. But the present administration is doing everything possible to get such companies back on stream.

    Do you think the president stands a chance of in his re-election battle in view of the stiff opposition, even from the Niger Delta?

    The president has done well enough to deserve a second term. If you look at the challenges he has faced since 2011 and how he was able to manage the country in spite of these, I honestly feel that Nigerians should give him a second term.

    Yes, South/south people may not be happy about some issues, especially the way the East-West Road is going. We have information that the progress was being slowed down because of funds that were not released to the contractors handling the road. But now as we speak, money has been released and the work is going on very smoothly.

    Are you impressed with the performance of your governors and other politicians in the Niger Delta Region?

    We are not impressed that the region is not developed. The people we must hold responsible for the underdevelopment of the Niger Delta are our own people. They are the ones managing the boards, commission and what have you that are set up to develop the region.

    Look at NDDC, some group of people have hijacked it and the development that we are supposed to get don’t come. We also have the Niger Delta Ministry, but I do not see anything that they are doing in the region. I can tell you that our politicians have failed us.

    The issue of the East West Road is very confusing. We don’t know who is handling it. Somewhere you see SURE-P, you see Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs in other place. We do not know who is doing what. Initially it was NDDC, from there MNA. We were later told NDDC is under the ministry. SURE-P is not doing anything, they are using signboards to deceive the Niger Delta people.

    I am, particularly, not impressed with the management of the SURE-P fund. It was designed to eradicate poverty in the land, but these same groups of people have hijacked it in the name of PDP, the ruling party. They take jobs, collect money and don’t do them. That is why you see a lot of abandoned jobs everywhere.

    On our governors, only a few are working. Apart from Governor Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), who is doing a lot, we can talk to Akwa Ibom and Rivers states. The PDP government in particular has not been fair to the Niger Delta people. I know the PDP will never be fair to the people because when you look at the other states, you see some level of development on the ground.

    If you look at the budgets of the Niger Delta Ministry, the NDDC and even the Amnesty Programme put together, they are more than the budget of so many states. But those who are administering the money are the problem. The money seems to be getting into private pockets and people are saying Niger Delta has been developed.

    Don’t you think the performance of these agencies could mar the re-election of the president, because people see all these and are feel they deserve more from the government?

    I will advise the President to look beyond his party, if he really wants to see results. He must search for square pegs in square holes even outside the PDP. This is the only way the people can benefit from these programmes. The SURE-P is a case in the Niger Delta; they have not done anything apart from their signboards on the road.

    And the president is the leader of the PDP…

    PDP is not really the problem, it is the characters involved. We have a PDP government in Akwa Ibom and Rivers that are doing fairly well. In Delta there is nothing to show because we live a life of godfatherism here. Nothing seems to be working in my state. They sign so many agreements and when allocations come, they enter hotel rooms and the money is shared by a few persons. That is the problem. Niger Delta resources have been hijacked by a few cabals, we all know this.

    That is the same problem within the amnesty programme. Some few persons have hijacked the whole thing even though the entire region fought for the emancipation and a South/south president, now it is a section thing.

    If we want to move forward, there must be a conscious effort to correct some of the things that are fundamentally wrong. Let the development not be for a section, let it be for everybody. That is not the reason we took up arms and went for the struggle; this was not the idea that moved Isaac Adaka Boro.

    Again, the president must be serious in his fight against corruption because that is one issue in this government that really bothers me. This government is not doing anything about fighting corruption because they are paying lips services. If the government won’t fight corruption, it can’t lead us anywhere. This is one area I am not impressed with the government.