Daniel Idonor
5 September 2008
(Page 2 of 2)
The composition and terms of reference of the committee, government said, speak volumes of the coming Summit . We must point out that the Summit would not be business as usual. It would provide a forum for the articulation of the Niger Delta challenge and deliver an item by item roadmap for the resolution of the crisis in the region.
According to the statement, the committee's terms of reference include: Review and agree on the strategy, structure, composition and phases of the stakeholder consultation process; Identify appropriate stakeholders and organisations that will participate in the summit; determine basis of representation; and create inclusive processes for the selection and authorisation of representatives and set criteria for accreditation of participants.
The committee would also liaise with appropriate national and regional leaders to provide briefing or assistance required to ensure resounding success; identify, discuss and monitor issues related to the consultation process and provide advice to government and key stakeholders on problems encountered during the consultations; establish benchmarks; and plan and mobilise resources needed for every phase of the consultation process, and report to the Vice President.
The decision to finally bury the summit was reached at a midnight meeting at the resident of the vise president, as it was shelved following uncompromising stand of the people of the area who are stoutly opposed to the idea as another round of jamboree.
A statement by government said that the proposed talks may not be referred to as a "summit." Instead it should be described as a dialogue of stakeholders on finding the way forward
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua on assumption in office on May 29, 2007 had declared that as part of his government's efforts to tackle head-on the aging developmental neglect of the Niger-Delta by successive government as listed in the his seven-point agenda was to stage an all embracing summit.
This, according to him, would provide an apple opportunity for a proper but unmitigated articulation of all shed of opinion by stakeholders that could set the stage for a planned massive development of the region.
In fact, the proposed summit which has elicited widespread reaction from Nigerians with a larger percentage speaking against its necessity was billed to hold this month despite the mounting pressure to drop the idea.
However, after surviving the first controversy that greeted the appointment of a world-class Nigerian diplomat, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, which government bowed to by dropping him, government said that the summit was no longer capable of solving the myriads of the problems in the troubled region.
In its place, the Federal Government appeared to have conceded to the decision of the most governors and leaders of the region as well as other stakeholders opposed to the summit from the onset; and has decided to focus on a massive development plan for the troubled region which would be jointly agreed upon by all the stakeholders in the region.
This is the outcome of a meeting which took place Wednesday night at the residence of Vice President Goodluck Jonathan. Those in attendance include the Vice President Governors and Opinion Leaders of the Nine Oil Producing State .
The meeting was a continuation of the effort to seek a resolution to the crisis in the region.
Jonathan in an interview with journalists, after the meeting said the federal government was looking at holding discussions with all parties in the region with a view to arriving at a consensus on what and how the issue of the Niger Delta would be handled.
Jonathan said "when you use the world summit, it is a problematic word now because the people feel that when you say summit, that people will come from everywhere, different memos, sentiments, and they will say it is a jamboree. It is not really what they want. We will raise the issues, present it before the federal government and we will dialogue. Let's leave it at that point. We are not using the word summit."
He noted that the government was now interested in holding discussions on the issue so that all parties would have a say on the final decision to be taken on the development of the region.
"What we want is a discussion. Let us listen to the issues in the Niger Delta. Different people have different thinking about the Niger Delta. Some people think it is purely a security matter, some think it is purely an infrastructural matter, some think it is a political matter. Some think it is education."
"So, it is a complex thing. The committee will rise the fundamental issues what we believe are the challenges and present it to the Federal Government and make recommendations on the way forward. So when the document is presented to the President, we will look at it and then move from there," he said.
"So we have agreed that a committee would be set up to raise these issues and then the issues would be presented to the President. Then the journey starts from there," he said.
The problems of the Niger Delta the VP noted "are not issues you can solve overnight but the present administration is committed. The whole thing is growing like a cancer and it is going to consume everybody if nothing is done. That is why are holding these various meetings. We must get to a point and move ahead."
"We cannot solve it overnight. That is what everybody must learn. If it was possible to solve it overnight probably it would have been solved before some of us entered primary school," Jonathan said.
The decision to dump the initial arrangement of holding a summit, which was taken at a meeting with Jonathan, at the presidential villa, Abuja , along with governors of the Niger Delta and stakeholders from the region the VP said "have seen some mileage in terms of consensus on the way forward. That is the most important thing. We have agreed on how to move ahead with the federal government."
Jonathan disclosed that the government would continue to meet with the relevant groups in the region until a final decision was taken on the next line of action.
"I will continue to meet with different groups. I have a meeting with the governors after the National Economic Council meeting today. But basically what we have agreed today is that if there are problems in the Niger Delta, what are these problems, what caused these problems, what is the way forward, the challenges, the issues?"
Meanwhile, also yesterday, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has approved the appointment of Elder Braeyi Ekiye as a Special Adviser to the Vice President on Parastatals, Statutory Bodies and Inter-Governmental Affairs.
A statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Communications to Vice President, Mr Ima Niboro, said until his latest appointment, Elder Ekiye was the Principal Private Secretary to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan.
Born on July 31, 1949 in Adagbabiri, Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Elder Ekiye began his career in 1969 as a freelance reporter/broadcaster with the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, now Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).
According to the statement, between 1979 and 1983, he was Speech Writer to late Chief Melford Okilo, Governor of old Rivers State .
A recipient of several honourary awards in journalism and PR practice, Elder Ekiye is the publisher of Environment watch newspaper, an indigenous tabloid in Bayelsa State .
He is a seasoned journalist, author, publisher, administrator, politician, public relations practitioner and holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Calabar .
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The name of Kalu and most of the cmte members seem like recycling the same old govt officials from the corrupt administrations of yesteryears whose collective decisions led to the current crisis - more or less putting old wine in new bottles hoping that the old wine will taste great until you sip it. This is yet another subterfuge to gloss over the real issue that in the long run will not benefit the real people but a few elites, as usual. I cannot foresee anything good coming out of this talk shop other than talks that lead to another deadend - just postponing the inevitable if this administration do not allow the people to pick & chose their own representatives to the event. The people cannot claim ownership of the outcome of the event because party A (govt) picked the reps of Party B (Deltans) in a dispute between party A and party B -who is fooling who here - govt thinks the people are stupid. Si?