2007: The Niger Delta Alternative

By Larry Charles

The task before Nigeria today is to ensure that President Olusegun Obasanjo's successor fast tracks national development to ensure that Nigerians begin to enjoy the fruits of democracy. His successor must establish an enduring reform policy he has worked hard to enthrone over the past seven years. From 2007, Nigerians must be given clear concrete plans and targets on infrastructural provisions - Power, health, roads etc.

Who has that Push Polish to lead Nigeria post-Obasanjo era?. Several national and international commentators have analysed the country's political leaders over the years and are almost unanimous in their submission that leadership has been the problem with Nigeria. But amidst the dark cloud, some innovations, albeit not fully implemented had been enthroned by some worthy leaders.

Now that the nation is praying and searching for the leader that will provide succour for millions of Nigerians, it becomes appropriate to deliberately x-ray the character, integrity and developmental philosophy of the true leader to succeed Obasanjo. Opinion polls in Nigeria and various countries have consistently confirmed that the masses, the apathetic poor that constitute over 80 per cent of the Nigerian population want a man of "God" to lead.

Americans have always wanted " a man of good faith in the White House" and so have over the years also wanted a President with a high degree of 'honesty, trustworthiness, toughness, decisiveness and some touch of ruthlessness'. I must credit Obasanjo with toughness and some touch of ruthlessness. Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, our ruthless Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was quoted in ThisDay, edition of June 1, 2006 news report as giving indication on the type of Political leaders Nigerians need. He said in the news report: " We are not going to say that we are targeting anybody in particular.But the point is, we are going to ensure that we are going to get clean people, honest people, transparent people, people who don't have skeletons that will be able to come forward and be leaders in our country".

Mallam Ribadu's views have been echoed by many respectable Nigerians and indeed international leaders. It is to assist in this search that a recent research on political leadership qualities conducted over the past few years revealed that Nigeria deserves a political leader with both national and international respect.His initiative in promoting and launching a strategic marshal plan for Niger Delta is also considered to be of strategic importance for several reasons.

Nigeria, one of the leading members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and the world's sixth largest producer of crude oil also ranks as a major supplier of crude oil to (USA).

In the last six years of Nigeria's nascent democracy, crude oil prices have been consistently on the rise, considerably boosting Nigeria's crude oil earnings. Indeed, Nigeria has earned from crude oil exports in the last six years, almost over 40% of what she has earned in the last forty-five years of oil exploration and exports. The vicious cycle of underdevelopment over the past forty-five years has been linked to the military dictatorship that held the country down for over thirty years since after independence from Britain in 1960.

Nigeria is believed to have earned close to $350billion in oil exports over the past forty years and much of that is generally believed to have been mismanaged. A recent UNDP survey and corroborated in a study by Professor Collier of Oxford University, stated that Nigerian nationals have over $107 billion stashed in foreign accounts globally. The crisis in the oil rich Niger Delta region has resulted in major oil production disruptions in the last six years. The highest rise ever in the world oil prices since 1970s was recorded during the turbulence in oil prices since 2000 rising to over $70 per barrel in the last week of August 2005.

Never in the history of oil exploration in Nigeria has the NIGER DELTA oil region recorded more militant explosions by the resident communities than in the last six years. The international oil companies have been at daggers drawn with the oil communities due to what the communities perceive as insensitivity in providing development projects much infrastructure and provided billions of dollars in taxes to the government of Nigeria. But the truth remains that the oil companies have not been fair to the oil rich communities. Environmental decay due to oil spillage and gas flaring in the region have made life unbearable for most of the communities in the oil-producing region. Of Nigeria's 36 States, nine are directly located in the Niger Delta region. The neglect suffered by the region led the British colonial power to recommend in 1955 a special commission to focus on development of the region. Since independence in 1960, various civil and military governments have initiated measures to assuage the travails of the region but these measures have never really had any major impact. The continuous explosions of the youths and their determination to challenge the insensitivity of the oil companies have led to vicious wars leading to thousands of deaths. The situation has assumed more terrifying nature over the past six years. Rights groups and militants who fought for the rights of the people took their case to the United Nations during the military dictatorship of Sanni Abacha- 1994-1998. An influential Leader of the region and an internationally acclaimed Civil Rights crusader for the oil area, Ken Saro Wiwa from Ogoni region of Nigeria was haunted by the military regime, arrested and judicially murdered for his international campaign against Nigeria in 1995 by the Abacha dictatorship.

But democracy that was enthroned in 1999 has not brought the long awaited development because Odi town in the oil region of Niger Delta was assaulted by Nigerian security forces in 2000 leading to deaths of thousands of people. In Delta State, there has been a continuous war amongst the various communities, who now exploit the confusion to engage in highly profitable oil bunkering, sponsored by influential and wealthy Nigerians. The militia groups in the Niger Delta are now well organised and funded and have caused considerable havoc in the area, at times threatening the global oil prices. But the Nigerian Government that adopted a new Constitution in 1999 made a provision of 13% of the oil earnings to the States in Niger Delta. However, the 13% has been a cause of legal crisis between the States and the Federal Government at the center. The argument has been that the 13% is grossly inadequate to cater for the needs and environmental degradation caused by oil exploration in the region. But the Federal Government and others opposed to further increases argue that if the 13% derivation funds were judiciously invested in developmental projects in the Niger-Delta region, the plight of the communities would have been drastically reduced. The Niger Delta region has in the last six years been fighting for authentic fiscal federalism that will enable States control earnings from oil and other mineral or agricultural resources and only paying taxes to the Federal Government.

In Nigeria's first post-independence democratic governments, fiscal federalism was operational, at least 50% of income derived went to States of derivation. Each region, (North, East and West), utilised earnings from her natural resources for accelerated development. Those were years of abundant development in Nigeria's three regions - North earned much from her groundnuts, hides, skins and tin; West earned much from Cocoa and East was rich in oil palm. But with the emergence of the military regime from 1966, the constitution was mutilated to the extent that the newly created States became subordinated to the Federal Military Unitary government. To ensure adequate finances for the war, (1967-1970), and to effectively control the States, then governed by military appointees, the revenue sharing formula was massively altered in favour of the ruling military regime. Much of the over $300billion earned from oil exports over the past four decades were not altogether well managed by the military regime.

With the dawn of democracy in 1999 and after years of human rights challenges in the area, the oil communities had expected a reversal of the unjust revenue sharing formula to reflect fiscal federalism as had been in the First Republic. But to their utter frustration, the so-called 13% derivation provided for in the Constitution was not respected as the new regime of President Obasanjo subjected it to another legal test, introducing on-shore-off-shore dichotomy technicalities to reduce that figure. This has led to further tension between the oil producing States and the Federal Government. To aggravate the situation, the non-oil-producing States have opposed further increases to the oil-producing States.

PEACE IN NIGER DELTA
The future of Nigeria's peaceful emancipation as a formidable black power depends on the sincerity of the current Political Leaders. The next two years, (2005-2007), will test the vision, resilience, honesty and altruism of the Nigerian political leaders. As democratically elected leaders in 1999 and still actively in service celebrate their six years in office, there is cause for concern. Indeed, several Nigerian Newspapers and Magazines are currently loaded with supplements of achievements. Millions of Naira have been expended by State governments and political stakeholders to project their achievements. The most remarkable is This Day that has articulated verdicts anchored on three premises - Average, Above Average - plus in assessing the performance of the 36 States' Governors. But what is the verdict of the Nigerian masses, the governed that are at the receiving end of the policies and actions of the Governors?

According to Guardian's Vox Pop targeting the female gender published on May 28, 2005, most of the subjects interviewed were categorical in giving a 'failed' verdict to the democratic leaders of the last six years of democracy. Some of the subjects in anger even gave the Abacha military regime a higher pass mark than the democracy of the last six years. One recurring area where all agreed that the present democracy has been a blessing is in the area of Free Speech. But professional media experts and political and economic scholars argue that a six-year democracy that has been unable to pass the Freedom of Information Bill and that has not implemented measures to reduce the cost of information - must be scored low.

Any attempt to X-ray Nigerian Democracy in the last six years must focus on the performance of the media. But for the role of the media in the last six years, the democratic values would have been terribly mutilated far beyond our imagination.

It is therefore socially and morally incumbent on the Nigerian media to ensure that peace and development reign in Nigeria. The media can discharge this function by professional, ethical and moral commitment to the ideals of their cause. This brings to fore the fairness doctrine in Journalism. Do our Journalists appreciate the degree of degradation in the Niger Delta region? What amount of research is being conducted to prove the injustice and neglect against the region? The media according to Maxwell McCombs, sets agenda for public discourse, and in so doing molds opinion and influence public opinion. In the current debate on the soul of Nigeria, the media must maintain objectivity, fairness and professional ethics in reporting issues, especially in the beleaguered Niger Delta Region.