World Report

The latest crisis in the Niger Delta gives new urgency to plans to speed social and economic development in the oil-rich but impoverished area

ocated in the southwest, the Delta comprises nine of Nigeria’s 36 states. It has an estimated population of about 20 million, divided into 3,000 communities. Commercial quantities of oil were discovered there fifty years ago, but decades of neglect have left the area the least developed part of the country, blighted by poverty, economic stagnation and pollution.

Farming and fishing have been damaged and the people of the Delta have gained little advantage from the exploitation of their homelands. The recent outbreak of hostage-taking and attacks on oil facilities and clashes with security forces is just the latest expression of a long simmering sense of injustice and frustration, compounded by unemployment among local youths.

Emmanuel Aguariavwodo, Managing Director of the the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) acknowledges that past experiments to revive the area failed. “The years of neglect had rendered whatever infrastructure that was in place obsolete and made the people of the region wonder whether they were part of this enterprise called Nigeria.”

He says the need to start redressing the situation was recognised early by the Obasanjo administration. The bill to set up the NDDC to spearhead change was the second to be sent to the National Assembly after the Anti-Corruption bill.

Emmanuel Aguariavwodo
Managing Director of NDDC

‘The people need to be in the driving seat of development’

INTERVIEW

Long-term strategy aims to improve the lives of the people

An integrated strategy to achieve the transformation from poverty to prosperity is contained in a recently launched 400-page masterplan. The aim is to accelerate development in the Delta, focusing on four key areas: industrialisation and economic growth, human and community needs, the environment and physical infrastructure.
A guiding principle is the active involvement of the people of the region. This is to be achieved through a partnership involving the public sector, private sector and the civil society. “The strategy recognises the need for the people to be in the driving seat of their own development,” says Mr Aguariavwodo.

Designed to fit in with the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy, the blueprint is intended to harmonise the activities of all the agencies of development in the region. Included on the NDDC board, sworn-in in April last year, are representatives of the local communities, the federal states and local governments, the oil industry, the international community, NGOs and donor organisations.

A timeframe will be put on the commencement and completion of projects. “The masterplan will be implemented over a period of 20 years,” Mr Aguariavwodo explains. “Every five years, we will review where we are in terms of development with all the partners and focus on the next stage.”

Moves are already being made to provide additional facilities for education and health.

Action has already been taken under an interim plan with a series of projects providing schools, hospitals, roads, jetties, canals, and water and electrification schemes. Previously abandoned schemes have been completed and hundreds of new ones have been commissioned.

Agricultural initiatives include a massive boost for cassava production, provision of fertilisers and a community-based natural resources management programme. The cassava project alone will create more than 20,000 jobs.
Priority projects include securing a steady power supply, creating educational centres of excellence, promoting small and medium-sized enterprises, dualising the East-West Road, strengthening democratic governance, the combat against HIV/AIDS and developing sporting activities. Other initiatives focus on economic empowerment and skills acquisition.