FRESH CRISIS LOOMS IN NIGER DELTA OVER NDDC, MINISTRY BUDGET

EXCEPT President Umar Yar'Adua's administration quickly initiates a constitutional engineering that will jack up derivation principle to the 25 per cent as proposed by the Ledum Mitee-led Niger Delta Technical Committee (NDTC), there are no prospects for stability in the Niger Delta area in the 2009 fiscal year.

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Operators of the oil industry, and other businesses in the oil and gas region are said to be jittery as the active circles in the region are said to be grumbling aloud over the budgetary allocation to the newly created Niger Delta Ministry, and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Some security advisors to the multinational oil corporations are said to be counselling the industry to take ''extra security measures'' as situations in the oil and gas region are still largely unpredictable.

Already, President Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Dr Chris Ekiyor, has said that the restive youths of the oil region are not comfortable with the allocations to the NDDC and the Niger Delta Ministry. Ekiyor spoke as part of activities marking  the 10th year anniversary of the Kaiama Declaration.

According to him, the allocations were not only a slap on the region but intended to further impoverish the region. Describing it as day light robbery on the people of the Niger Delta the president said from first of January next year youths of Ijaw nation would begin massive protest on the streets of Abuja and other parts of the country against the budgetary allocation.

“From January 1, 2009 Ijaw youths will start a resistance process aimed at impoverishing the peoples of the Niger Delta. We have as an organisation, rejected the budgetary allocation to the Ministry of the Niger Delta and the NDDC. It is an act of criminality. The region provides about ninety percent of the economy that sustains the nation. What government did was to take the balance of the NDDC budget and distribute'', he said.

Continuing, he said NDDC  had N97 billion in the 20098 fiscal year. Surprisingly, they are giving the development agency N27 billion  next year. This is even coming when we shouted that the N79 billion was not enough then. They are merely removing  N47 billion from last year’s allocation to the NDDC and give it to the newly created Niger Delta Ministry, and the balance of N27 billion to the NDDC''.

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According to the obviously angry Ijaw youths, nothing new has come to the oil region in terms of allocation, adding, ''rather what we have is even a shortfall from what the NDDC got last year to the tune of twenty three billion naira. Where has this twenty three billion naira gone to? Now they want the new ministry to handle construction of the East West road from its paltry allocation. This we will reject because it is a crime against the people of the region”.

They therefore  reaffirmed their commitment to the Kaiama Declaration insisting that it is the only thing that could free the people from the shackles of poverty and oppression in a country where it produces about seventy nine percent of its economy. “: On Kiama declaration we stand. We reaffirm today that this solemn declaration which Ijaw youths in worldwide gave to ourselves is our right and our life. On kiama declaration we stand”