9 April 2008
interview
Lagos — Chief Andrew Uchendu, representing Ikwerre/Emohua Federal Constituency in Rivers State, is the Chairman, South-South Parliamentary Caucus (SSPC) of the House of Representatives.
In this interview with Ernest Chinwo, he speaks on the Bakassi question, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and militancy in the Niger Delta among other issues.
A lot of people see the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as a vehicle for the development of the Niger Delta, especially since the master plan has been drawn. How do you see the performance of the NDDC and do you think the Federal Government has been releasing enough funds for the commission to do its job?
As far as that is concerned, we have even highlighted it during our last South-South Caucus meeting in Yenagoa. The Federal Government is owing the NDDC a lot of money. That is to say, the Federal Government has failed to meet up with its own contribution, including the allocations that should come from the oil companies. We have decided to assist the Commission and the relevant Committees of the House of Representatives to ensure that every agency that is expected to contribute towards the development of the Niger Delta makes its due contribution according to law.
In terms of programme, hitherto I have not been satisfied with the performance of the NDDC. But since the assumption of office of Timi Alaibe as the Chief Executive, I am beginning to see focus and direction. A master plan is in place and the issue of taking on micro projects is being diluted and mega programmes have been drawn on board. This is what we expect, and if we give him more time, we will be happy that we have a man like that on seat.
Will you say that the denial of funds to the NDDC has been deliberate?
I will not say so but it is curious for me to observe that the Federal Government will not want to comply with the NDDC Act 2000 that provided what amount they should contribute to the Commission on a monthly basis.
Militancy and kidnappings have made Rivers State and the entire Niger Delta region lose investment opportunities. What progress has been made to make the region once again safe for investors and residents?
I may be wrong, what has happened has been that successive administrations from 1960 to date ignored the yearnings, the cries of the people of the Niger Delta over the development of the Area.
With democracy taking root, many more opportunities have been presented for our people to express their views. Even though government is responding today, some miscreants seem to have cashed in on the popularity attendant to the struggle to now bastardize it. The struggle for the development of the Niger Delta is completely different from these other aberrations which some deviant members of our society seem to have been involved in over the past few months and government has been able to try to ensure that they are dissuaded. They persuade them to abandon this approach, because at the end of the day only few individuals are going to be involved in it and their activities are affecting the majority of the people of the Niger Delta, in which case it is not a just cause. All that government can do is to see how they can come up with programmes that will enable those few that are involved in these criminal activities to turn a new leaf and be re-integrated into the society, so that we all will join hands to fight for the development of the Niger Delta in the proper constitutional and legitimate way.
Some people believe that militancy and other criminal activities in the Niger Delta persist because some prominent politicians are behind the perpetrators. Do you subscribe to this view and do you think government is doing enough to bring these people to book?
I may not have enough facts to support this view but that some responsible citizens could be behind the sponsorship of these criminal activities, I don't think so.
Remember the struggle for the development of Niger Delta did not start today; it started as far back as 1967. Our fore-fathers and fore bears have been in this struggle. Why didn't they sponsor these criminal activities then? It is not true to the best of my knowledge. No reasonable citizen of the Niger Delta will criss-cross the entire area, see the level of marginalisation and abandonment, and what will occur to him as a solution will be to sponsor criminal activities in the form of kidnapping and hostage taking. No. it is just that few criminals, who are not Niger Delta citizens have found it "a little bit viable option" to them.
Are you saying that what is going on is being sponsored from outside the Niger Delta?
I am not saying it is being sponsored from outside. There are criminals everywhere. So, if they think that a particular opportunity exists somewhere, they will move in there to take advantage of that opportunity. After all, some of the people that were caught come from many ethnic groups outside Rivers State, outside the Niger Delta area. So, it becomes a little bit irreconcilable that kidnapping and hostage taking are entirely a Niger Delta affair. It is just criminal gangs that are not particularly from the Niger Delta.
On Bakassi, your caucus visited the people on a fact-finding mission last year and the people made a lot of complaints about their proper resettlement. What is your comment on this and what does this portend for the people whose issue you are handling at the National Assembly?
We have at different fora taken up the issue of resettlement of the Bakassi people and the SSPC is of the view that it is the responsibility of the Federal Government. The boundary dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon was an international matter and our people in the South-South are the ones that are badly hit. As citizens of this country, the Federal Government should take full responsibility for their resettlement. And we are calling on the Federal Government to set up a committee for their resettlement.
Yes in the budget for 2008, N1 billion was provided for the development of the local government and we are saying that the development of the local government has not got much to do with the resettlement of the people. Therefore, Federal Government should provide extra funds for the resettlement of the people.
To what extent was this handled in the budget?
Few improvements were made in the budget. The budget has been forwarded to Mr. President for assent. Until it is assented to, can we be sure of the actual provisions.
But whether that figure is increased or not, we will continue to fight for the resettlement of the people of Bakassi until that issue is addressed by the Federal Government.
Whose responsibility is it to create a new homeland for the Bakassi people and to adjust the boundaries of the local government?
This is a tricky issue. This issue of creation of local government is the responsibility of the state government but with consequential orders to be made by the National Assembly. That is, it is subject to ratification by the National Assembly. Boundary adjustment is a state matter again. Therefore the boundary adjustment between Nigeria and Cameroon, having been completed, and taking into account the issue of brotherhood, the state government could readjust, through some internal mechanism, the boundary between one local government and the other because of the exigencies of the time.
Your state, Rivers, has been a peculiar state since the last general elections. The removal of Sir Celestine Omehia following the Supreme Court ruling and the emergence of Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amacehi have raised some political issues in the state. As an elder of the PDP in the state and member of the House of Representatives, how do you see the political issues and how are they being tackled?
What has happened, to my mind, is a family affair. Beyond that, Chibuike Amaechi felt angered that his substitution was not in compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act. Understandably, he had to go to Court. The Supreme Court did rule. The Supreme Court has established beyond reasonable doubt that it is time we complied with due process, we uphold the rule of law. And because this has been achieved, peace, love, harmony have been restored back in the state and majority of Rivers men and women are satisfied and have expressed in many forms their confidence in that judgment and on the leadership of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi. We are not anticipating any more changes in the system.
To what extent has the PDP been able to reconcile the feuding groups within the party, namely supporters of Omehia and Amaechi?
Our Ikwerre people have a common proverb that when fish wants to get rotten, it starts from the head. As at now, Amaechi is the political leader of the State. He has shown in very clear and unambiguous terms that he will run an open government and he has reached out to all the various groups and stakeholders that may have one grievance or the other. And they have been giving him maximum support. As far as I am concerned, he has done what is expected and the results are beginning to show.
Rivers State gets more revenue than most states in the Niger Delta and the country in general. But there is little to show for this in terms of development of the area. What is responsible for this and what can be done to ensure that the people get value, in terms of development, for the revenue that accrues to the state?
To be myself, I will say that I have not been able to meaningfully conclude my analysis of revenue received and actual worth of projects and programmes executed by previous administrations. I am already working on that.
Be that as it may, I hold the people responsible. Democracy is government of the people by the people for the people. Government will be responsible to the people. We have not been inquisitive enough to find out what government is actually doing and what it is supposed to do. We have members of the House of Assembly and members of the House of Representative etc. I have had occasions to challenge my constituents; ask me questions. It is your right so to do. A situation where the electorate, including the enlightened electorate, cannot meaningfully ask their government what they are doing with funds released to them creates a situation of grave concern. So, when the people refuse or ignore asking questions, you cannot avoid a situation where some Chief executives will exercise unnecessary discretionary powers which may lead to poor performance. So, the only way I think we should improve on the situation is for the citizenry to be alive to their responsibility by asking the government of the day questions on what that are doing with the mandate given to them.
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