allAfrica.com: Nigeria: New Bakassi Needs More Funds From FG

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.

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