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| L-R: Minister of Environment, ,Hajiya, Amina Mohammed; Minister of Niger Delta, Mr. Usani Uguru Usani; representative of the Vice President, Amb. Yemi Dipeolu, and Chairman Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brigadier General Paul Boroh (rtd) during the Niger Delta Way Forward Forum in Abuja... on Tuesday |
The need for a more coordinated development
efforts in Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region received a renewed boost from Federal
Government Agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and key development partners working
on issues related to the region recently, as they converged in Abuja to articulate strategies
aimed at accelerating development at a technical workshop tagged Niger Delta
Way Forward: From Stabilisation to Sustainable Development.
The workshop, which was jointly
hosted, by the Federal Ministries of Niger Delta Affairs and the Environment, the
Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Presidential Amnesty
Programme (PAP) was aimed at reinforcing and rallying a cohesive strategy for
government Agencies to work together in the region. Present at the event were
the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani, Minister of
Environment, Hajiya Amina Mohammed, Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty
Programme, Retired Brigadier General Peter Boroh, representative of Vice President
Yemi Osinbajo, Ambassador Yemi Dipeolu among others.
The strategic forum received
supports of development partners like Partnership Initiatives In the Niger
Delta (PIND), Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP), Facility
for Oil Sector Transparency in Nigeria (FOSTER), Nextier and Stakeholder
Democracy Network (SDN).
Speaking at the event, the
Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani, noted that government
allocations to that region could be better applied, “But in the real terms, our
people are dishonest in the application of the resources allocated to the
region”, he stated.
The minister urged all
stakeholders in the region to be honest and realistic in the discharge of their
duties, adding that whatever must be done in the region must be confirmed to
have been done. “We were wrong in not following up with a robust post-amnesty
plan that would have contributed to the economic and psychological development
of the people. We were wrong in our approach to coordinating the relationship
between the principal government stakeholders, the Amnesty Office, NDDC and
Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. We were wrong in pursuing projects without a
philosophical programme and we were wrong in emphasizing infrastructure, rather
than human capacity development”, he explained.
The Minister of Environment, Hajiya Amina Mohammed noted that the
current government desire a Niger Delta that thrives under secured environment
and a robust economy where jobs are available for young people, particularly the
women. She urged participants at the forum to determine the real roles and
responsibilities for all stakeholders involved in the Niger Delta project. The
minister however noted that the challenges of her ministry include, maintaining
the narrative and taking key climate action and protecting the environment
towards building a green economy.
Speaking on the importance of the
technical workshop, Director Planning Research and Statistics, Niger Delta
Development Commission (NDDC) Mrs. Rebecca Okorodudu, who represented the Acting
Managing Director of the Commission, Mrs. Ibim Seminitari, said her Commission
is more concerned about a more focused development in the region which requires
collaboration between NDDC and willing partner development organisations to
avoid usual duplication of efforts in the region.
“In Niger Delta, development is a
mantra, development must be done. And the NDDC is the only Agency that is
mandated by law to develop and coordinate development activities in the Region.
And to do this job, we do it with partners. We must partner young, old, local
government, NGOs and everybody that is interested in developing the region. You
must show your presence, you must show us what you are doing so that we don’t
duplicate efforts. That has been our bone of contention, that some projects
have been duplicated. We do not want that to happen any longer, we want to be
more focused. In developing the region, we want to know that we are partnering
with this organization or another on this or another project”, Okorodudu said.
According to Monitoring and
Evaluation Manager, Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), Sola Afolayan
the technical workshop was aimed at securing cohesive supports of all key stakeholders
in achieving sustainable development in the region. “This forum is to ensure
that it is not just about stabilization but it’s about sustainable development
in the region too. And interestingly it is similar to the usual annual
development initiatives of the PIND Foundation called Niger Delta Development
Forum (NDDF). It is organized by PIND and we have alliance on this with the
same set of partners that here. One of those things we do is to open discussion
on opportunities and proffering solutions to challenges in the region. It is
not just about the security issues they have in the region. This is one of PIND
Foundation’s efforts in the region. And we’ve hosted four NDDF forum from 2012
till date with over 2000 participants,” Sola explained
According to the Executive Director, Nextier, Mr.
Charles Azodo, there is no better time to harmonise developments efforts in the
region than now. “This technical discussion is one of the steps to ensure a
paradigm shift in the way we are doing things in the Niger Delta. We don’t want
a situation where Niger Delta becomes a cacophony of various forms of
Interventions. We want to begin to see a situation where Niger Delta becomes an
environment where it is more of an orchestra in the delivery of development
activities in the region. And there should be a conductor who drives the
process. And this is basically what we are trying to accomplish, ” he
explained.
The two-day session has expanded strategic frontiers and
engendered ray of hope amongst stakeholders who are already looking forward to
a new Niger Delta with common sustainable development and measurable
developmental impact.
Country Director of Stakeholder Democracy Network
(SDN), Mr. Inemo Samiama expressed optimism about the success of the renewed
Stakeholder Commitment: “I am quite positive. I have participated in a lot of
talk-shops on issues involving the Niger Delta. I am very positive because for
the first time, I can see some form of coordinated approach to try to deal with
the issues of the Niger Delta. This is actually a welcome development.
Personally. I have been involved in the
issues of the Niger Delta for a while I have never seen this. This is the first
time I will be seeing this very vital and important offices coming together to
deal with the issues of the Niger delta in a holistic, coordinated and
hopefully integrated manner.”
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