Ben Agande
12 September 2008
President Umaru Yar'Adua threw light, yesterday, on government's decision to create an exclusive ministry for the Niger Delta, saying it was to fast-track the development of the region.
The ministry, he told the visiting British Minister for Africa, Lord Malloch-Brown, in Abuja, would serve as the main tool for the implementation of his administration's socio-economic agenda for the region.
"The Ministry will coordinate our efforts to tackle the challenges of infrastructural development, environment protection and youth empowerment in the region," the President said, stressing that government was taking measures to isolate the security aspect of the Niger Delta problem and deal with them while tackling genuine agitation for years of neglect of the region.
Expressing government appreciation for the British government's offer to assist the country in the development of a greater institutional and human capacity to resolve some of the challenges in the region, the president said the Federal Government was in the process of studying Nigerian laws with a view to initiating amendments that might be required to "operationalise" a Prisoner Transfer Agreement with Britain.
He reiterated his administration's commitment to the war against corruption, saying "nobody, no matter how highly placed, will be shielded once caught in the web of corruption."
In an interview with State House correspondents after meeting with the president, the visiting British minister said the meeting was a follow-up on some issues discussed between President Yar'Adua and the British Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown, when the former visited the latter in July.
"The meeting was a follow up to the issues that were raised in London when he was the guest of the British government in July. It is about a range of issues that had been raised then and he has instructed his ministers to follow-up in the meantime. We had a good discussion on the good steps his government had taken," the British minister said.
Lord Malloch-Brown used the opportunity to clarify what he said was a misconception about British offer of support to the Nigerian Army.
According to him, the assistance was not in terms of providing troops or equipment but for training of Nigerian Armed Forces.
"There is a misunderstanding about the proposal. The issue of training, we are already providing training for Nigerian peace-keeping and it is a long tradition of British training defence forces.
This is a training role in the background it is not providing equipment and certainly not providing British soldiers. I think the bad reception is as a result of the misunderstanding of the support. The military training and cooperation between Nigeria and Britain has been going on. It is not some new initiative or expansion of our role," he said.
He said President Yar'Adua called for further cooperation "with us on some high court actions in the UK which is enormously important priority for him and a broader commitment in fighting corruption and rule of law. In other words, he wants to make sure that the court in UK or here in Nigeria is fully respected in a way that you root out corruption and respect rule of law structure." He expressed cooperation and full support to what is happening in the law court in London.
The creation of the Niger Delta Ministry is part of the restructuring of federal ministries announced on Tuesday after the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council.
Special Adviser to the President on Communications, Mr Segun Adeniyi, said the restructuring was to fast-track and effectively coordinate the implementation of the seven-point agenda of this administration.
Under the new dispensation, the Ministry of Energy has been broken into two ministries - Ministry of Power, to be manned by a substantive minister and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, with a minister and a minister of state- while the present Ministry of Transportation, which is an amalgam of the Ministries of Works, Aviation and Transportation, has been split into the Ministries of Works, Housing and Urban Development; Aviation and Transportation respectively with substantive ministries.
Mr Adeniyi's statement: "As part of efforts to fast-track and effectively coordinate the implementation of the seven-point agenda of his administration, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has approved the rationalisation and restructuring of federal ministries.
"A Ministry of Niger Delta has been created to lead and coordinate environmental and youth empowerment policy initiatives as well as reinforce the administration's commitment to the overall development of the region.
"Similarly, the Ministry of Police Affairs has been restored to give necessary attention to the security imperatives of the nation within the ambit of the seven-point agenda.
"The Ministry of Energy has been broken into two Ministries - the Ministry of Power to be manned by a substantive minister and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources with a minister and a minister of state.
"Other adjustments to the current ministerial structure are the restoration to their original concepts of the Ministries of Aviation; Transport; Environment; Works, Housing and Urban Development; Water Resources; and Agriculture and Rural Development.
"Furthermore, the Ministers in the Ministries of Education, Mines and Steel Development, Science and Technology, have been reduced by one each.
"The review of the current structure is predicated on the need to streamline and strengthen the mechanism for service delivery without sacrificing the objectives of the Public Service Reforms carried out at the twilight of the last administration.
"Under this new structure which is expected to engender greater flexibility, direction and focus, there will be 28 ministries and 42 ministers to cover the constitutional requirements for federal character while addressing the issues of equity and affirmative action.
"Other ministries in the new dispensation are: Finance, Health, Justice, Commerce and Industry, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Information and Communications, Labour and Productivity, Youth Development, Women Affairs and Social Development, Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Interior and Federal Capital Territory Administration. The National Planning Commission and National Sports Commission retain the same structure.
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No one doubts the sincerity of Mr. President to resolve the Niger Delta - without which his 7-point agenda could not take off. But to think that the panacea would be throw more bureacracy at the issue is to misunderstand the underlying cause of the problem of the region. Secondly the rationale given by the local elders that by having a separate Minister for ND with full access to the president, is logical and a very good idea, in deed. But to go from 19 Ministries to 28 seems sneeky to me. Why sneak 8 additional Ministries in the name… [Read Full Text]