Date Published: 08/29/09
OF NIGER DELTA MINISTRY AND INFORMATION MARGINALIZATION
By DIMKPA ALIKOR
The Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, a creation of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, was created about one year ago to address the issue of under-development of the Niger Delta region. This federal government’s establishment has no doubt earned Mr. President the accolade of a promise keeper as he had promised during the presidential campaign that preceded the April 2007 elections, that the general development of the Niger Delta region occupies a pride of place in his seven-point agenda for the Nigerian nation.
This is of course against the background that the oil rich region has hitherto suffered untold neglect, deprivation, economic exploitation, poverty and marginalization by successive federal governments, be it military or civil. The militants in the mangrove swamps and creeks, initially sabotaging the nation’s oil exploitation and exploration activities, and later taking expatriate and Nigerian oil workers hostage, all were linked as a reaction to these social and economic problems created by successive governments, before President Yar’adua took over the saddle on May 29, 2007. True to his promise, a federal Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs was born with headquarters located in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The ministry’s mandate, inter-alia, includes the fashioning out of a developmental agenda for the over-all infrastructural and human development within the region.
Niger Deltans, in particular and well meaning Nigerians in general welcomed this initiative of Mr. President towards a sustainable development of the goose that had laid the golden egg since 1957 and is still laying till date. In Port Harcourt, Calabar, Uyo, Asaba, Yenagoa, Umuahia, Owerri and Benin, residents heaved a sigh of relieve as what appears as a perennial problem, was to get some positive attention. The joy of the region knew no bounds when a Nigerian of Niger Delta extraction, Chief Ufot Ekaette was appointed the pioneer Minister of the ministry. A career administrator, Chief Ekaette, Niger Deltans believe ought to have a first hand knowledge of the problems and with the expected inputs from the technocrats that are expected to work with him, solutions are bound to reach residents and indigenes of the region.
Judging from this ministry’s activities so far, the end of the tunnel appears to be very far from sight. In May, 2009, the ministry advertised for contractor’s pre-qualification registration applications. The medium they choose to publish this all important step towards the registration of competent contractors to execute their projects in the Niger Delta region happened to be a national daily newspaper whose readership within the Niger Delta region is to say the least poor. The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, it is believed have experts who ought to know that their area of operation is the Niger Delta region hence their target audience ought to be Niger Deltans within the region. Be that as it is, the media houses that ought to be used are those that are local to the region. These media houses ought to include the various state-owned tabloids and radio/television stations. They should include the privately owned tabloid whose coverage area is either the entire Niger Delta region or a substantial portion of the region. This would have provided the indigenous and indeed resident contractors within the region a wider opportunity to participate in the physical development of the ministry’s catchments area.
In July 2009, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs organized and held a sensitization seminar/ workshop. In a brief interview granted by Elder Godswill Orubebe, the Minister of State in the ministry to a television station news crew at the venues of the event where he said “the workshop was designed to bring all stakeholders together, to rob minds on the way forward for Niger Delta development”. If this statement is to be taken seriously, then, the venue for such occasion ought to have been any of the state capitals in the Niger Delta region. That was not to be. In the judgment of the authorities of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, a five-star hotel in Abuja was more central to the ministry’s catchments area and so that venue was chosen.
Adequate pre-workshop publicity was not given to the occasion and there is no evidence to suggest that the Niger Delta stake-holders such as unemployed youths, traditional rulers, women groups and professional bodies were invited to participate, let alone being transported to Abuja by the ministry.
Based on the utterances and actions of President Yar’adua, his resolution to right the wrongs of history by developing the Niger Delta region is total. The continuous empowerment of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the creation of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the granting of amnesty to Niger Delta militants adds credence to this. The insensitivity of officials of the ministry towards the plight of the people of Niger Delta region should be corrected now before they make mockery of Mr. President’s good intentions.
As input, this writer suggests that;
Local media houses within the region should be patronized to reach the indigenous population;
Sensitization workshops and seminars should be hosted in several state capitals in the region;
Where it has to be held once, Port Harcourt, being the epic-centre of the region should host such group gatherings;
A more detailed analysis of the various publics that constitute the Niger Delta regional stakeholders should be made with a view of sourcing enough local inputs for planning and execution of developmental projects;
And conscious efforts should be made to empower indigenous contractors as both public and private sector synergy can bring about the much needed development within the region.
All hands must be on deck to sustain the peace and security that has returned to the Niger Delta for sustainable infrastructural and human development.
Alikor ,is a Journalist, Public Affairs commentator and Lecturer at the International Institute of Journalism, Port Harcourt Study Centre.
