Friday, November 01, 2019 / 6.30PM / Agency News / Header Image Credit: Ikenga Chronicles
As the federal government sets up an interim
committee to run the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) over claims that
the people of the region are yet feel the positive impact of activities of the
Commission and other similar initiatives, civil societies organizations are calling
on the government to pay greater attention to the results on ground in the
region.
The call was made during a dialogue organized by
the Nigeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC) in partnership with We The People
with other critical stakeholders to determine solutions and advocacy points on
how best to ensure transfer of benefits to host communities in the Niger Delta
region.
The event which had in attendance, the Special
Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Edobor Iyamu and
representatives from the Office of the Vice President, also had the NNRC's
Expert Advisory Panel member Dr. Ukoha Ukiwo, Dr. Dauda Garuba, Representative
of the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Chris Onosede of Stakeholder Democracy
Network (SDN), Faith Nwadishi of Women in Extractives (WiE) Peter Egbule OF
Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Bassey Udo of Media Initiative on Transparencyin
Extractive Industries (MITEI Dr. Sam Kabari of Centre for Environmental, Human
Rights and Development (CEHRD), Abel Akeni of BudgIT and Victoria
Ibezim-Ohaeri of Spaces for Change among many other nongovernmental and civil
society organizations such as Order Paper Advocacy Initiative (OAI),
Policy Alert, Centre for Development Support Initiative(CEDSI) West African NGO
Network (WANGONET) among others.
Participants unanimously called on the federal
government to implement the Niger Delta Regional Development Plan targeted at
transferring benefits to the host communities and follow through the programs
initiated to ensure a holistic development of the region, in terms of
infrastructure and facilities. They also noted that Niger Delta's issues
including environmental pollution, development, livelihoods should be
prioritized by the government and funded to demonstrate its commitment to
transferring benefits and not just addressing the negative impacts of resource
extraction to the Niger Delta people.
On the raging issue of environmental pollution in
the area, the federal government was called upon to meet its obligations to
Nigeria to reduce environmental pollution in the Niger Delta and stop
postponing its targets to detriment of the health and survival of those living
in the Niger Delta.
Participants acknowledged that while there has
been a plethora of initiatives by the government and multinational companies
such as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Presidential Amnesty
Programme (PAP) and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, all designed to
transfer the benefits of oil revenues to resource-rich communities, evidence of
benefits could not be traced, thus the need for government to ensure greater
interagency coordination and focus to enhance synergies and progress tracking
to ensure the people benefit from such initiatives. Moreso, they called for the
approval of the Strategic Implementation Work Plan (SIWP) by the Federal
Executive Council and subsequent funding of all projects therein.
On the oil producing states, the participants
called for greater accountability as there is little to show for the
derivations they have been receiving over the years. They thus called on both
the citizens, civil society organizations, and the media to help in demanding
that oil producing states account for their resource revenue expenditures to
the citizens by frequently publishing budgets as a matter of course, while
Lagos state should be required to reveal its accruals as an oil producing
states and disclose its plans for those revenues. To ensure greater monitoring
and compliance, participants called for the leveraging of technology to
increase transparency in the processes and systems of dispersal of resource
revenues to the Niger Delta region.
Still on transparency and accountability,
participants demanded that Nigerians deserve to know who owns what, so as to be
able to track the possibility of conflict of interests, to this end, they
demanded that Beneficial Ownership process should be made a non-negotiable
prerequisite for any third party engagement with any benefit organs in the
Niger Delta while all contracts and projects approved, commissioned, funded and
executed by Niger Delta development agencies must be transparent. They equally called for the strengthening of the local
governments so they can manage the revenues made available through the NFIU
policies.
The group condemned the non-inclusion of the
communities from participating in taking decisions on issues directly affecting
them, calling for frameworks designed for inclusive community participation
while more efforts must be made in sensitizing communities; citizens and
accountability actors including community media to hold state and local
governments to accounts in the management of funds to improve livelihoods and
lives of the citizenry.
They also called for the strengthening of more
oversight institutions such as relevant National Assembly Committees and State
Legislatures to aid in increasing accountability of the state and local
governments in oil producing states in Nigeria. Even as the Petroleum Host and
Impacted Community Development Bill should be revised, expanded and debated to
provide more inclusive arrangements and opportunities for both transferring
benefits to local communities and deepening community participation in the
development of the region.
Related News
1. Is OPEC Doing
Enough To Counter The Looming Oil Glut? - OIR 291019
2.
Axxela Rated BBB
plus Long-Term (NG), A2 Short-Term (NG)- GCR; Outlook Stable
3.
Oil Markets: Oil
Bulls Broken By Economic Fears - OIR 251019
4.
OPEC Raises
Nigeria's Oil Production Quota by 80,000bpd
5.
Oil Rebounds On
Rare Market Optimism - OIR 221019
6.
OPEC Faces
Critical Decision As Oil Drops Again - OIR 181019
7.
Average Prices
Of PMS, AGO, HHK and Cooking Gas - September 2019
8.
Oil Markets
Bearish Despite Rising Geopolitical Risk - OIR 151019
9.
A Long-Term
Crisis Looms For Oil
10.
Oil Prices Rise
On Trade War Optimism And Tanker Attack - OIR 111019
11.
Border Closures
May Only Offer Temporary Subsidy Reprieve
12.
The Impact Of
Impeachment On Trade War Talks - OIR 081019
13.
A Crisis Looms
Over U.S. LNG
14. Oil Markets: Everything Is About Weak Demand