I was totally bewildered by the recent brouhaha over an appeal by the incumbent Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, calling on the presidency for more funds for activities of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on account of its breakdown.
From my perspective, I believe that even if the 13% oil derivation funds to the NDDC is hiked to 50 per cent, the huge funds will never produce the desired effects and change the underdevelopment, abject poverty and untold plight of the innocent impoverished inhabitants of the Niger Delta unless the NDDC officials, state governors and traditional leaders and political giants of the region change their attitude. To be frank, the so-called distress of the NDDC is absolutely bred by the region’s cancerous corruption.
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The 13 per cent oil derivation is undoubtedly enough for transforming the lives of the poor people of the region unfortunately, the huge funds is diverted to a prodigal life and frivolous things for a circle of gluttonous individuals. Since the return to democracy in 1999 to 2018, more than N44 trillion is estimated to have been consumed by sundry cesspools of corrupt, unpatriotic, parochial and callous leaders.
Prior to the discovery of oil in 1956, many impoverished people of the Niger Delta were fishermen and subsistence farmers capable of feeding themselves. Their forefathers set their minds at rest by showing them that the oil will bring about a brighter future for the region. But today, they are being suffocated by gloom of massive, alarming unemployment and extreme starvation as a result of environmental degradation, soil erosion, flooding, loss of mangrove forest, among others.
It is heart-rending that there is nothing tangible to show on the ground executed with the huge funds.
I totally concur with the recent appeal of the National Director of Media and Publicity of the Host Communities of Nigeria’s (HOSCON), Okakura Monday Whiskey, when he called on the president pay the region’s 13 per cent oil derivation directly to the host communities, through the proposed Presidential Derivation Committee (PDC) and States Implementation Committee (SIC).
NDDC officials, governors and esteemed traditional rulers of the region should be reminded that our Lord never slumbers nor sleeps and His eyes are always open. He watches over those who do right and injustice. So, every leader will undoubtedly be questioned and interrogated about their leadership’s responsibilities placed on their shoulders on the Day of Resurrection
I strongly call on patriotic organizations of the Niger Delta region like HOSCOM, to help work hand-in-hand to liberate innocent suffering inhabitants of the region.
Mustapha Baba Azare, Bauchi State
