#MNDA_Reflections LEARNING FROM LIFE By Usani Uguru Usani

Speech delivered by Usani Uguru Usani, Honourable Minister of Niger Delta, on the Occassion of his "THANKS-GIVING" Service, 3rd December 2016.

When I chose to “Thank” God, it was a divine obligation to be performed. When my friends and well-wishers decided to honour God in supporting me, it stood as a proof to the glorious maxim that those who look unto God will never be disappointed.

For all those who have attended this occasion, I cherish your enormous sacrifice of time and resources, which I consider as expression of love and care for me.

I thank my friends, the Governors, Members of National and State Assemblies, the APC platform, and my colleagues, for support in material terms and direct sponsorship.

History is a platform of reference which guides our actions for the future. Sometimes, it just happens and at other times it is just made.

Life records those who consciously seek to make history through fame, popularity, impressionable strive, as occupying the lower rung of history’s ladder.

In the natural course of events, everyone has a place in history. All those who appreciate the helpless state /weakness of mortal nature are enabled by God to achieve great feats.

Among the duties of mankind, the greatest is to “owe no man nothing, except love”.

Life is ruled by two elements- reason and emotion. The two play on the psychology of beneficiaries and society. One (emotion) is a spontaneous eventuality, the other achieves deliberate organisation. In both, man’s achievements are only sensual, all accounting for history.

For me neither reason nor emotion have contributed to life’s worth. This reminds me that I did not just become, I was created. Therefore, I am only good for what my creator assigns me. 

Life is thus nothing without the foundation of God.

When distress attends my way, I do not relish in self-pity. When joy comes, I look forward to when it will wane. Life is, thus, a cycle of moments of ‘good’ and ‘bad’. In all, the fundamental benefits are lessons of philosophy and psychology. When we learn fast, we gain from the benefits of knowledge. When we reject the knowledge of discontent, we pass through that route again with greater agony.

The greatest moments of history are recorded under compelling divine direction. At other times, positive history beckons on the indifferent lot.

However, history is recorded in positive and negative terms. Consequently, let no man count on his strength, but on the perfect will of God.

#MNDA_Reflections COMMUNITY-LEVEL ENGAGEMENT AT THE HEART OF MNDA STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPMENT.

Nigeria  is  faced  with  renewed  issues  of  youth restiveness,  pipeline vandalization, kidnapping,  cultism,  oil  theft, agitation for Biafran Republic  and  other politically  motivated vices, and one of the major theater is the Niger Delta. For reason, there is need for renewed efforts to meet stakeholders at community levels. This would promote the peace and sustain development in the grassroots.

Designing  peace building  initiatives  and  ensuring  sustainable  peace  in  the  Niger Delta  region  is among  other activities  that are at  the center of the MNDA’s mandate. Hence, the government  through the ministry is taking  proactive measures to reduce the tension and agitation  that  have  become  recurring  events in the region’s rural communities, and making the promotion of peaceful co-existence  for  the  betterment  of   the  Niger Delta  region  and  the nation.

The  Ministry in order to fulfil this mandate organized a sensitization stakeholders forum tagged “Securing  National  Assets  and  Peace  for  Sustainable Development: The  Grassroots’  Approach’’, at Ode Aye community, Okitipupa  LGA of Ondo State. Speaking in Okitipupa, the Honorable Minister of State Prof. Claudius Omoleye Daramola, has maintained that the FG will continue to engage constructively with community-level stakeholders in conflict resolution and development in order to create a conducive environment  to  fast  track  the development  in the region.

He  added  that  the  President  Muhammadu  Buhari  led  administration  was  not  only  calling  for  better  ways of  resolving  conflicts  by  communities  but  also  undertaking  programmes  targeted  at  addressing  the socio- political  and  economic  needs  of  the  region’s  population, especially its  youths.  One  of  such  programmes is  the   training  and  empowerment  of  youths  in  various vocations  and   establishment  of  skills acquisition centres  for  the  training  and  empowerment  of  Niger  Delta  Youths  in  the  nine  states  of  the  region.

Prof. Daramola  also  flagged  off a free test on Malaria, Blood Pressure, Diabetes, HIV and  free drug administration  programme to  the  people at  the event. He  said  that   the  essence  of  the  health programme  was  for  the  people  to  know  their  health  status  so as to sustain healthy lives.

The stakeholders  consultative forum was attended by traditional rulers, opinion leaders,  youth and youth  leaders, non- governmental agencies, women and women leaders,  politicians  civil  and  public servants  from Okitipupa, Ilaje  and  Ese-Odo  LGAs  in  the Ondo South Senatorial District  of  the  State.

#MNDA_Reflections DAY16 ENTREPRENEURSHIP, SKILL ACQUISITION AND POVERTY REDUCTION IN THE NIGER DELTA (3)

The role of Institutional Mechanisms

Institutional mechanism refers to operational modulation of processes, managed by people toward achieving a set of goals within a corporate organisation bearing a brand identity. The aim of each corporate entity determines the factors that are inalienable to its workability. In all circumstances, people remain the force of drive for such mechanisms’ strength. This condition shows that the nature and capacity of leadership is a very important factor in driving institutional mechanisms. It suffices to state that institutional mechanisms are strengthened by character and adherence to observing the rule of law. My view is that institutions are the custodians of moral, regulatory and justiciable rights to shape societies by their statutory mandates. They, in turn, mould sovereign society through cultural and moral orientations. Strong institutions depict strict adherence to the rule of law and regulatory statutes. The essence of strong institutions is to carry out optimum functionality through prescribed duty discharge in order to meet the state demands of organised human-spatial space. Such statutes must not be designed for or against any particular segment of society or person(s).

There are obvious instances of people who made rules based on their privileged favourable circumstances but got caught up by the same rules afterward. When rules are skewed in favour of persons, the outcomes are only capable of endangering society and its members.
The instance of the last amendments to the Electoral Act and the rejection of removing immunity clause from the Nigerian constitution remain fresh in memory as a classical example. Some of the politicians felt like using the clauses against their strong governors when they felt that they were denied places in democratic contests. Whereas institutions are established for the benefit of humanity, they have to continually amend their operational roles and rules in order to fit into the evolving dynamic societies. Institutional mechanisms must be seen to have the capacities to perform their mandates. These capacities include personnel of knowledgeable and courageous character. There should also be a legitimacy that can be derived from observing the objects of their establishments; ranging from personnel recruitment to satisfying the collective will of society.

Strong institutions should be able to outlive any particular regime and show enough reasons for their continuous relevance. However, some of the setbacks besetting the strength of institutions are sometimes extraneous to the highlights above. By the nature of the dominant operating industry in the region, the oil sector; issues of legislative and justiciable considerations are at play. In certain instances, it may be difficult to exercise full legal enforcement when perceived violations are recorded. The global political economy is largely directed by the global corporation and trade. Implicit in this is the security implications and energy significance of this sensitive industry that operates in the region. Sovereign compromises are often registered in exchange of some remote but strong interests of centres of global governance. Security, energy, trade and investments govern sovereign regimes these days. This is why China can place conditions of engaging Chinese companies in order to benefit from their EXIM bank loans. It accounts for why national governments advocate the interests of corporations of international representations.

Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Development

Poverty is a condition of lack, deprivation and inability to meet up with basic needs. It is a state that calls for progression in economic and development conditions, which sometimes motivates enterprising minds to engage in gainful vocations.  Albeit, poverty is not necessarily antithetical to development, it is an indication of lack of development. Development, though relative, when enhanced signifies accession of primary needs and enablement to have minimum comfort. The concept of development is a continuum whose meanings and definitions are varied but suggesting a similitude of consensus for improved living conditions. It is as old as the philosophy of man’s economic evolution and social transformation. The philosophy of Immanuel Kant upholds the basis of development as improving human welfare, which was heralded by the post war speech of President Woodrow Wilson of the United States. Whereas development addresses continuous quest for improvement in human conditions, poverty specifies a certain condition of living with a characteristic lack of some sort, sometimes assuming proportions of absolute destitution. Society’s evolutionary trend has transcended several levels of human needs like Maslow’s human hierarchy of needs. From Needs approach through Dependency Theory, Poverty Strategy Papers, Human Development Approach to the Rights Based. In each of these, the underpinning continues too desire a form of better conditions of living.

The sum of these various approaches and strategies underlying principles of development and poverty reduction underscore the following:
The desire to improve human standard of living;
The need to develop capacities that guarantee one’s chances of making choices due to acquired capacities that can be gained through education and good appropriate disposable incomes;
Meaningful development must be non-discriminatory, which as a corollary suggests inclusiveness.
Development implies reduction of poverty through accession of facilities and amenities, while securing liveable incomes for daily needs.
Inclusiveness is a fundamental requirement of poverty reduction and automatically commits the process of development to the expansion of spaces in the human habitat.

The current policy drive places a critical focus on the following aspects of the regional economy:
The training programmes are now intended to secure actual engagement of trained persons through provision of start-up packages;
Household economies are being given due attention through empowering married women and vulnerable single parents;
Payments for projects will be based on reference to the current report of our project audit committee to ascertain claims of work done.
The ministry of Niger Delta Affairs is assuming a refreshed approach focus to address the issues that are waste curbing, human centred programmes, and engagement of skilled trained citizens and mapping every activity for vivid appreciation of planning needs.

Every Nigerian laments the decadence of moral and ethical content of our citizenry. Poverty is the enemy of human comfort. Human beings are the primary beneficiaries of development processes. People are equally the managers and custodians of the processes of development and equally custodians of the demands of institutional capacity strengths. From where we are to where we desire to be, a change of attitude and preferences are fundamental. Change is thus inevitable in the quest for the region’s development. CHANGE begins with ME.

#MNDA_Reflections DAY15 ENTREPRENEURSHIP, SKILL ACQUISITION AND POVERTY REDUCTION IN THE NIGER DELTA (2)

The history of Niger Delta as a region started with heightening environmental concerns of gross pollution with no corresponding level of corporate social responsibilities. The Department of Petroleum Resources estimated that 1.89 million barrels of petroleum were spilled into the Niger Delta between 1976 and 1996 out of a total of 2.4 million barrels spilled in 4,835 incidents, and UNDP report states that there have been a total of 6,817 oil spills between 1976 and 2001, which account for a loss of three million barrels of oil, of which more than 70% was not recovered, with 69% of these spills occurring off-shore, a quarter in swamps and 6% spilled on land. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) places the quantity of petroleum jettisoned into the environment yearly at 2,300 cm3, with an average of 300 individual spills annually. The largest individual spills include the blowout of a Texaco offshore station which in 1980 dumped an estimated 400,000 barrels (64,000 m3) of crude oil into the Gulf of Guinea and the Royal Dutch Shell's Forcados Terminal tank failure which produced a spillage estimated at 580,000 barrels (92,000 m3). Pollution has led to loss of a large expanse of the mangrove forests, depletion of fish populations and the invasion of water hyacinth (which thrives in polluted environments, both of which affect oxygen and sunlight supplies to marine organisms, and blocking waterways and making it nearly impossible to carry out aquaculture.

Nigeria flares an estimate of 3.5 billion cubic feet of associated gas (AG) produced annually, and 2.5 billion cubic feet (70,000,000 m³), of which about 70%, is wasted by flaring; with the excuse that faring is done because it is costly to separate commercially viable associated gas from the oil. Oil companies operating in Nigeria harvest natural gas for commercial purposes but prefer to extract it from deposits that are found in isolation as non-associated gas. Associated gas is flared off to decrease costs. This has accounted for discharge of enormous hydrocarbons that carry hazardous effects including carcinogenic consequences. What began as a genuine agitation assumed a dimension that was no longer defined by collective interest, but by greed and personal aggrandizement. Arms struggle came in. Sabotage and oil theft, through siphoning, become a major issue; contributing to deeper environmental degradation.  Oil theft is performed primarily through what is known as "bunkering"; whereby the individual attempt to tap the pipeline. In the process of extraction, the pipeline is damaged or destroyed; and damaged lines may go unnoticed for days, and repair of the damaged pipes takes even longer. Oil siphoning has become a major business, with the stolen oil quickly making its way onto the non-quota marketing stream. This is the direction that the agitation has taken.

The deterioration of the Niger Delta environment attracted global and national attention and called for urgent attention. Response was basically attracted by the violent posture of the “new agitation”, which involved armed deployment. Such responses have been expended by institutions of global governance and their agencies such as the UNDP, UNEP, USAID, DFID, EU, and other technologically advanced nations. They began to carry out interventions through building human capacities and amenity provisions. The Nigerian national government has also made very clear efforts in addressing these issues, by setting up specialized institutions; but in spite of the fact that these institutions still live, and have been allocated large financial sums, the challenges and their attendant consequences still persists.

The efforts of government in the region to engender development are captured according  to various sub sectors of development. Some of the ministry’s engagements are in training young people in the region and development of infrastructure. The Ministry has trained hundreds of persons in IT and Agriculture vocations with starter grants/soft credits of between one hundred thousand and one million Naira only. The Federal Government, in its efforts to institutionalise her reach to develop the region and tackle its peculiar challenges created the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (MNDA), the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), and the Amnesty Programme. The efforts of government in the region to engender development are manifest in training young people in the region, developing infrastructure and providing social intervention amenities. The Ministry has trained hundreds of persons in IT and Agriculture vocations with starter grants/soft credits of between one hundred thousand and one million Naira only. Results from these institutions’ works and activities have shown that financial allocation has never been adequate though mismanagement; internal betrayals and environmental conditioning characterise the region’s development efforts. Tackling the Niger Delta debacle and its attendant problems such as poverty, youth unemployment and restiveness, environmental degradation, infrastructure deficit and general underdevelopment, relies on the abilities to address these and the coordinated efforts of all parties to commit to a common agenda.

The recent report of the ministry on technical audit of the ministry’s projects and programmes is replete with startling revelations. From 2009-2015, four hundred and twenty-seven (427) projects had been awarded. Budgetary provisions of Seven Hundred Billion Naira (N700, 538, 741, 691.00) only. More than 60% of this amount has been disbursed with a record of 12 % project completion rate and 8% impact. 70% of the projects are still identified as “Work-in-progress”. Road construction took 87% of the budget, Training 0.87%, Conservation and Development of Coastal Ecosystem 0.03%, Water Scheme 0.32%, Rehabilitation and Remediation of Oil Impacted sites 0.16%, Skill Acquisition Centers 4.39%, Consultancy 2.13%, Food and Cassava Processing Plants 0.18%, Electrification 0.34%, Canalization 0.86% and Housing Scheme 1.05%. Project duplication by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (MNDA), the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Amnesty Programme, and the various State Programmes is very high. In reference to the Ministry’s project, percentage of project duplication by the NDDC is 98%, Amnesty Programme - 90%, and State programmes 85%. This suggests lack of harmonization in the prioritization of projects between these entities, so as to collectively develop the region from different fronts, to address the needs of the people. Excessive project valuation is a subject of serious concern. Some roads are estimated and budgeted at between N300, 000, 000.00 and N960, 000, 000.00 Naira only as gross cost of construction per kilometre.

From these account, we can derive that poverty in the region does not merely have its solution in the availability of financial capital, but primarily in the continual strengthening of institutional frameworks designed to oversee its development.  Furthermore, it is good to note that, in terms of capital project distribution by states since the Ministry was formed to 2015, Rivers State has got 43%, Delta 26%, Akwa Ibom 7%, Abia 7%, Imo 6%, Bayelsa 3%, Ondo 4%, Edo 2% and Cross River 2%.

#MNDA_Reflections DAY14 ENTREPRENEURSHIP, SKILL ACQUISITION AND POVERTY REDUCTION IN THE NIGER DELTA (1)

Within the broad framework of the theme of this discourse, “Strengthening Institutional Mechanisms for Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Development in Nigeria”; the topic suggests critical areas of economic build up in developing economies as a function of institutional strengths, with a bearing on common problems – poverty, demanding remedies - development. The theme also underscores an element of inclusive development, without which the object of poverty cannot be said to be adequately addressed.

Whereas the topic considers key factors of human attributes that contribute to economic development (entrepreneurship and skill acquisition), the significant notations, which are interwoven between the topic and the theme are the geo-spatial definition of the Niger Delta region and “inclusive development”. We will try to consider contextual definitions of entrepreneurship, skills and their acquisition, connotations of poverty, on one hand and institutional mechanisms and inclusive development on the other. With the consciousness of policy based targets, I will assume practical perspectives with feasible realities, occasionally drawing from experience. Some of the issues and their understanding may seem subjective but they will not obliviate the essence of policy pillars identified as poverty reduction and institutional strengthening that are intended to be achieved by the programme of your engagement in this course “SEC 38”.

The following sub themes will be the pivots of our anchor.
What is entrepreneurship? What is Skill acquisition? What is the relationship between the two? Of what relevance are the two to poverty reduction? How is poverty theorised? Why is the Niger Delta peculiar in this discourse? Is there any bearing of the foregoing with institutional capacities toward achieving development and having it inclusive in order to reduce poverty?

The discourse will be tailored toward addressing the topic within the context of the key elements of the theme, which are basically around strengthening institutional mechanisms and inclusive development.

Entrepreneurship is a commitment to a production process that is established for commercial purposes, with a motivation to create, invest, and organize, through strategic application of innovation, skilled labour, social capacities and/or capabilities and institutional linkages. All these can be enabled or disabled by the strengths and weaknesses of institutional frameworks; and powered by regulatory competence, which is in turn, defined by political willingness, human knowledge management, environmental condition and conditioning, resource base as well as social capital. Entrepreneurship is conceived as a profit seeking venture through a means of production process. Entrepreneurship is powered by skills as a key factor.

A skill is a potent resourceful capacity, acquired through training or personal initiative to introduce and sustain a vocation that may serve the purpose of a career or an occupation. Skills are acquired capabilities for specific task performances. Skills can also be derived from innate potential-resource capabilities. In each case, they serve the purpose of endowing one with a set of advantages that can enable specialized knowledge capabilities, which are capable of offering opportunities to the bearer for making particular choices in the relevant sector(s) of economic, social or political productivity, in this case economic. Skills may be acquired in management systems such as technical fields, human management, resource and information systems. Such capacities that are strengthened by capabilities are essential for entrepreneurship. The essence of skills acquisition is to enable bearers of skills to engage in productive ventures for better living standards, which inadvertently is a critical, but remote approach of the general struggle to reduce poverty. The nexus between entrepreneurship, skill acquisition and poverty reduction are founded on human capacities, desires, and demand for improved quality of life.

Theorisation of the Niger Delta region has diverse perceptions and conceptions. The prevailing view of external formulators portrays a complex milieu of persons characterized as inconsiderate agitators or perceived as milking the cow without nourishing the grazing field. The actual and undeniable circumstance of the Niger Delta is that of a degraded environment, deprived people and abused opportunities.

-The peculiarity of the Niger Delta is derived from its economic relevance as oil and gas producing region that sustains the national economy;
- Definition, which encompasses 9 States, traversing 3 geopolitical zones; the South-South, the South-East, and the South-West as enunciated by the Willink’s Commission;
- Demographic capacity of more than 40 million people;
-Environmental abuse;
- Identity of agitation with a violent force;
- Deprived status in terms of amenities and physical infrastructure;

The frame of this topic conveys a notion, which highlights the Niger Delta region as an area that is occupied by a remarkably poor population. This is a true conveyance and made more apt in relation to the resource base that the region provides for the national economy. Remedial efforts are always the background conditions for agitation of different sorts, which implicate the International Oil Companies and other players in the region and beyond for their different roles either to promote or diminish value for such agitations. Whereas the oil companies comprised the initial agents of environmental pollution through operational spills, they devised means of survival by turning the inhabitants against one another. Some of the times, it was possible to turn the communities’ rural leadership against the elites that initiated the consciousness of environmental abuses through pollution.

EXCERPTS FROM "ENTREPRENUERSHIP, SKILL ACQUISITION AND POVERTY REDUCTION IN THE NIGER DELTA" PRESENTED TO EXECUTIVE COURSE 38 (SEC) 38, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR POLICY AND STRATEGIC STUDIES (NIPSS), KURU, BY USANI UGURU USANI, MINISTER OF NIGER DELTA AFFAIRS ON THE 9TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2016

#MNDA_Reflections. Day11 Closing the Facility-Density Gaps in the Niger Delta Secondary Schools and Primary Health Centers

The African Centre for Shared Development Capacity Building in collaboration with the UNDP and MNDA, carried out a comprehensive baseline study of the social and infrastructure sectors of the nine Niger Delta States to provide a solid basis for the design and implementation of the intervention programmes aimed at improving living standards, sustaining economic development and consolidating and sustaining peace in the region. The study is expected to provide a guide to areas of intervention under the Niger Delta Action Plan and provide a basis for evaluating the impact of such interventions by the three tiers of governments, development partners and other stakeholders in the context of the Multi-Stakeholder Trust Fund in particular and other initiatives. The aim is to solidly develop the social and infrastructural deficits in the region; specifically, educational facilities (primary schools, secondary schools and tertiary educational institutions), health facilities (primary health care centres, hospitals, Teaching Hospitals and Federal Medical Centres), water supply and sanitation, transport facilities (road, rail and sea) and power supply facilities.

The statistics shows that the percentage increase in number of secondary school required by the States to catch up with national average is, Abia 2.74%, Akwa Ibom 4.03%, Bayelsa 2.94%, Cross River 2.94%, Delta 56.25%, Edo 38.89%, Imo 35.87%, Ondo 37.55% and Rivers 140.38%.

These data presents estimates of the percentage increases in the stock of primary schools that are required to close the gaps between the densities of each of the nine Niger Delta States and the corresponding national densities. It shows that the number of secondary schools in Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa and Cross River States should keep in step with the population growth rates of the States. Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers States should increase the number of secondary schools by 56%, 39%, 36%, 28% and 140% in order to catch up with the national density. Thereafter, they should ensure that the increases are in line with the population growth rates of their respective states.

The statistics shows that the percentage increase in number of primary health care required to catch up with national average is, Abia 21.43%, Akwa Ibom 8.97%, Bayelsa 11.84%, Cross River 2.94%, Delta 46.55%, Edo 54.55%, Imo 70.00%, Ondo 3.05% and Rivers 102.38%.

With respect to primary healthcare centres, all but Cross River and Ondo States need to significantly increase the stock of primary health centres in order to catch up with the national density. There is need for considerable increases in the stock of primary health centres in Rivers (102%), Imo (70%), Edo (55%) and Delta (47%) in order for them to catch with the national density. Relatively modest increases are required in Abia (21%), Akwa-Ibom (9%) and Bayelsa (11%) in order to close the gaps between these states and the nation.

#MNDA_Reflections DAY10 Closing the Facility-Density Gaps in the Niger Delta Primary Schools

The Niger Delta has experienced agitations emanating from the consequences of crude oil exploration. The basic cause of these agitations has been the question of social and infrastructural deficits in the region; specifically, educational facilities (primary schools, secondary schools and tertiary educational institutions), health facilities (primary health care centres, hospitals, Teaching Hospitals and Federal Medical Centres), water supply and sanitation, transport facilities (road, rail and sea) and power supply facilities.

These ingredients of development have baselines, which represents the standard in which people live. Percentage of facilities required to close the density gap in terms of primary education in the Niger Delta is palpable. In a research conducted by African Centre for Shared Development Capacity Building in conjunction with the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, the percentage increase in number of primary school required by the States to catch up with national average is, Abia 2.74%, Akwa Ibom 53%, Bayelsa 37.9%, Cross River 29%, Delta 90%, Edo 8.11%, Imo 37.93%, Ondo 33.33% and Rivers 33.93%.

These data presents estimates of the percentage increases in the stock of primary and secondary schools that are required to close the gaps between the densities of each of the nine Niger Delta States and the corresponding national densities. It shows that all but one of the Niger Delta States will require considerable increases in the number of primary schools in order to catch up with the national average. Abia State will need to ensure that the increases in the number of primary schools is in line with the population growth so as to maintain the density. Relatively large increases will be required in Delta and Akwa-Ibom States in order to catch up with the national density. There is need for at least 30% increases in the stock of primary schools in Bayelsa, Cross River, Imo, Ondo and Rivers states in order to catch up with the national density while Edo will need at least 8% increase in the stock of its primary schools in order to catch up with the national density.

In essence, there is need to significantly increase the number of primary schools in 8 of the Niger Delta States while ensuring that the number of primary schools in Abia State keeps in step with population growth rate of the State.