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%.
No comments:
Post a Comment