Lagos — The intellectual group in the House of Representatives under the aegis of "The Initiatives" last Monday in Abuja, gathered together to chat a new roadmap on the Niger Delta question.

The discussion titled "Niger Delta Crisis and the Challenges of Leadership" brought together members of the executive, legislature, the mass public, civil society organizations and other stakeholders where they critically examined and proffered solutions on the challenges of nation building as it affects the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

The Executive Hall of the International Conference Center, Abuja, venue of the event was filled to capacity as Nigerians cutting across all tribes and religions attended the event.

Other eminent personalities who attended the parley included the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, who was chief host and Senator Mohammed Sanusi Daggash, former Minister of National Planning, who presided over the session. Others are governors of Akwa Ibom and Rivers States, Chief Godswill Akpabio and Chief Rotimi Amaechi, Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, Prof. Danfulani Ahmed

Other personalities are deputy governors of Rivers and Akwa Ibom states, Engr. Tele Ikuru and Engr. Patrick Ekpotu, Speaker of the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly, Obong Ignatius Edet, and Deputy Inspector General of Police, Udoh Ekpoudom, President of Ijaw National Conference, Dr. Atuboyedia Wolfe Obianime and many others.

The Coordinator of the Initiatives, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, who is also the House Committee Chairman on Media and Public Affairs while welcoming the participants set the tone for the roundtable by acknowledging that the restiveness in the Niger Delta region had resulted into a sharp drop in the production of oil and a decline in gross national earnings. This development, according to Eyiboh, has become a source of concern to the government and the people of Nigeria.

Eyiboh, who betrayed his emotion on the troubled Niger Delta, said the House had come to the conclusion that the Niger Delta crisis has reached a state in which positive action should be taken.

According to him, "It is sad and mind boggling that many have down played the enormity of the crisis by corrupting efforts aimed at resolving it and rather transformed the conflict as money-spinning venture. We cannot explain the rationale behind the current rate of kidnapping and criminality in the area vis a vis the genuine struggle for government attention in the region.

"There has also been a noticeable level of diffusion of responsibility among different agents of development and crisis management in the area. It's also clear that beyond insincerity and neglect by previous governments to develop the area is the absence of strategic leadership at family, religious, traditional and political levels.

"Also implicated in this decay is the total breakdown of traditional, cultural norms and values, and irresponsible parenthood. The results have been those of social disruption, investment and capital flight, poverty and under development. The biggest challenge today is lack of integration in national consciousness with its concomitant excruciating impact in national planning and development. These put together describe a situation that requires immediate and sincere intervention," Eyiboh said.

He alluded to the fact that the people of the Niger Delta are suffering today because they graciously sold their land to a stranger who later discovered that diamond was abundant in the land. The stranger that bought the land, according to Eyiboh, having discovered the large quantity of diamond in the land now proceeded to claim both the land and the natural resource without allowing the original owners of the land to have access to both the land and the natural resources deposited in the land. This scenario, according to Eyiboh, is the situation the Niger Delta people found themselves today. Therefore, Eyiboh charged the Niger Delta people to use all processes of rule of law and not violence to recover their acres of diamond.

For Daggash, these are trying times for the people of the Niger Delta region, noting that after 40-50 years the challenges in the Niger delta are still coming. He however, employed all stakeholders to use the platform provided by the Initiatives to set a national agenda.

He said: "To resolve the problem in the Niger Delta, government and individuals should do what is expected by ensuring that peace is achieved in the Niger Delta. To achieve the expected desires, Daggash said that three ingredients are needed, namely; peace to achieve development in the Niger Delta., to achieve progress and development that resources are needed to execute projects in the Niger Delta. Thirdly, Daggash said that time is needed to transform the Niger Delta, noting that not less than 10-15 years are needed to properly execute the Niger Delta master plan, which he said in his own estimation is good enough to transform the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

"Nigeria is a country in a hurry. Government should involve their constituents and keep them up dated about government activities, as this is the only way their good works will be appreciated by the people," he said.

Daggash charged discussants to explain to the people what they experience as leaders saying that "it would help us to put up a frame work that is pragmatic and effective."

The essence of the roundtable, according to Daggash, was about inspiring leadership and making critical assessment of what the elected and appointed political leaders have been able to achieve. He said that the country needs unity to be able to achieve progress and development. "In as much as our people have freedom to criticize, we must trust our leaders."

However, there was a mild drama when the Speaker , Hon Bankole mounted the podium to read his speech, one of his aides passed a note to him where he was advised to restrict himself to his prepared speech and refrain from making volatile comments on the sensitive issue of Niger Delta crisis.

But the Speaker started by saying that the House was going through "hard times now", apparently referring to pressure from the Nigerians on so many issues.

Speaking on the Niger Delta, Bankole said that he supports the use of force against the militants who have turned the genuine agitations of the people of Niger Delta region into criminality, which he said had become a heavy burden for government to continue to endure.

According to him, he was in total support of the current use of force by military as directed by President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's government to flush out the criminals in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. Bankole did not spare Nigerian leaders either as he blamed the failure in leadership for the present crisis in the Niger Delta.

The activities of the militants, according to Bankole, have impacted negatively on the health of the country as the country is now witnessing a sharp drop in oil production level, causing jeopardy in national budget for 2009, vandalisation of oil pipelines, capital flight, escalation of poverty and entrenched perpetual fear in the Nigerian people because of the illegal activities of the militants.

President Yar'Adua, he said has shown unequal commitment to the concerns of the Niger Delta people having taken positive steps by first setting up a presidential committee, creating the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, granting amnesty to the militants. He said that government from all ramifications is justified by applying military action against the militants whom he said have refused to complement Federal Government's good intentions.

But he was quick to say that the military should carry out their assignment with precision in order to minimize civilian casualties, saying that other agencies of government should also intervene by attending to the displaced people in the Niger Delta region.

The only enduring way of solving the Niger Delta problem, according to Bankole, was through meaningful dialogue with all the stakeholders and not violence. Bankole said that now is the best time for the Niger Delta people to resolve the problems in the region, which was occasioned by government's long years of neglect.

He said that the people of Niger Delta received the highest allocation in the 2009 budget. According to him, out of the budgeted N3.5 trillion in a country of 140 million people, Niger Delta whose population he puts at 15 million people received N1.5 trillion from the national budget.

"The latest offensive started because of the criminal activities of the militants. No responsible government will allow a few miscreants to hold the country to ransom.

"I think we have come to a cross road. We had an opportunity to put a stop to what is happening in the Niger Delta. Out of the country's national budget of N3.5 trillion, the states in the Niger Delta receive N1.5 trillion. Niger Deltans are there at the highest level of government. Both the Minister of Defence and Inspector General of Police are from the Niger Delta.

These are facts. Head of Civil Service is from the Niger Delta. These are facts. Nigeria en-thrusts these people with responsibilities," Bankole said. He that for peace to reign in the Niger Delta, leaders should show seriousness in the act of governance.

"As leaders it's incumbent on us to achieve peace in the Niger Delta. Please, for God's sake lay down your arms. Embrace peace and allow for dialogue because whatever happens we will have to go back to dialogue. House of Representatives will continue to give every needed assistance, offer suggestions to the Niger Delta problem," Bankole declared.

Members of the House of Representatives, according to Bankole, are tired of the activities of the militants hence their support for the current military offensive against them.

Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio who apparently understands the dynamics of politics and political statements mounted the podium and corrected Eyiboh's earlier analogy that the people of Niger Delta have lost their acres of diamond.

Instead, Akpabio insisted that people of Niger Delta still retain their land but what has happened in the area was the abuse and mismanagement of the 'acres of diamond'.

Without mincing words, Akpabio quickly cleared the air on the Speaker's claim on budget allocation and the actual population of the people of the Niger Delta. On population, Akpabio claimed that in the last census conducted in the country, the official population of the Niger Delta people was put at 31 million against the Speaker's claim of 15 million. While on the budget, Akpabio rhetorically asked the Speaker where is the money?

"The budget is just a mere estimation which doesn't automatically translate to money. Therefore, he openly challenged the Federal Government to declare to the public how much it had made available to the Niger Delta states so far from the N1.5 trillion allocated to the states in 2009 budget.

"Mr. Speaker quite frankly, my people want to know how much was released to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs at the end of the day. It is not the budget that will develop the Niger Delta. I hope the Speaker is with me? We have lost the management of the Niger Delta region.

"What is lacking is participation. How many Niger Deltans are lifting crude oil or have oil blocks? We never sold our land we are only displaced. And we are not given the opportunity to participate in what is happening on our land. I'm very emotional about what is happening today," he said.

On the current use of military action against the militants, Akpabio declared that he totally support President Yar'Adua on the use of force against the recalcitrant militants whom he said have caused so much pain to the country through their in human and nefarious activities.

He implored the militants who claimed that they are fighting the genuine causes of the Niger Delta to sanitize themselves by doing self-cleansing. Akpabio asked the militants to show their faces, if really they are real agitators of the Niger Delta cause.

"We must rise up against those militants who brought criminality into the Niger Delta cause. If as leaders we cannot identify them then we must take responsibilities there must be an end to this.

"In Akwa Ibom State we will wipe out the criminals. Kidnapping now attracts death penalty in Akwa Ibom State. Any person that takes to kidnapping must die. You must join us to fight these criminals," Akpabio said.

According to the governor, there is hope in the horizon and urged President Yar'Adua to see the Niger Delta challenges as an opportunity to show that heroes are born in the midst of great conflicts.

He said that Prof. Chinua Achebe's book: 'The Trouble With Nigeria' vividly showed that the Niger Delta challenges, is a failure of leadership noting that winning independence is one thing but being free is another thing.

Akpabio, whose presentation was interrupted by several claps of appreciation from the audience, said the culture of poverty is so glaring in the Niger Delta. According to him, any one who has not visited the area would not be able appreciate the level of abject poverty in the Niger Delta.

He said that giving employment to the youths from the Niger Delta would in no small way reduce HIV/AIDS, water borne diseases, which he said kills more than any other disease..

"Without development in the Niger Delta there cannot be political stability. National security will be threatened failure of leadership caused the Niger Delta problem," he said.

Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi who spoke through his deputy, Tele Ikuru, said in the past, derivation used to be 100 per cent, 50 percent enjoyed by the West that produced cocoa, the Eastern region that produced coal and palm produce and North that produced the groundnut pyramids. But he regretted that when oil was discovered in the country the formula reduced drastically as the center now collected everything without giving anything to region that produced the oil.

"The Niger Delta region suffers gross neglect and deprivation over the years despite its enormous contribution to the economic prosperity of Nigeria. One very major issue that this nation has failed to appreciate regarding the Niger Delta is the fact that the region suffers double jeopardy; Niger Delta as a region suffers very difficult terrain resulting into poor accessibility by way of transportation, communication, etc. Development of any infrastructure within this region is 10 times costlier than any other part of the country. Any responsive central government would ordinarily give special developmental status and attention to such region as done elsewhere in the world. "

"The second jeopardy that befell the Niger Delta and which aggravated its situation was the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantity. The already bad, difficult and impregnable terrain was worsened by oil exploration and exploitation. Oil exploitation left its footprints in form of massive oil spills resulting to destruction of vegetation and aquatic life. This rendered the entire land of the Niger Delta "dead". The immediate host communities whose major sources of livelihood are dependent on their waters and land suffered major deprivation and have been neglected by the beneficiaries. While oil facilities are lit 24/7, the host communities are perpetually in darkness. In some cases, these host communities travel hours to some of these oil facilities just to beg for drinking water since their water are either salty or polluted.

"Whereas lesser challenges in other regions of the nation have over the years been a subject of major funding from the federation account, the Niger Delta stands neglected. This utter neglect, complete lack of basic social and economic infrastructure and widespread poverty contributed largely to the frustration currently being expressed. There is high rate of unemployment hence crime. This frustration, ethnic polarization, communal suspicion, indeed provides good reasons for genuine agitation for change."

On militancy, Amaechi said that "any meaningful agitation must be purposeful, focused, and humane, within the rule of law and with the fear of God. The ongoing militancy approach lacks all the above. It should be noted that the legitimacy of the demand for resource control which had been the aspiration and ongoing project of the Niger Delta people has unfortunately been hijacked and reduced to criminality.

"The hydra headed and monstrous criminality in the Niger Delta started as ethnic violence for competition for oil wealth, graduated into political thuggery and has presently metamorphose into profitable enterprise of oil bunkering and kidnapping of innocent citizens for ransom. Proceeds from these activities end up in arms purchase. In some cases arms are exchanged for stolen oil. This so call militancy is certainly not an agitation for the common good of the subjugated, oppressed and repressed ordinary people of the Niger Delta. It is a criminality that only seeks to fill the pocket of the criminals and their cohort with blood money. The criminal activities of a small minority of the Niger Delta population, who have now been joined by our business minded neighbours has cost the nation a huge loss in oil infrastructure, reduced foreign investment in the region and has tremendously slowed down the pace of development in the region while at the same time," he said.

To truly show concern about the Niger Delta problem, Amaechi called on the Federal Government to release funds to the NDDC and ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. He also called on government to pay all the debts the are owing the NDDC to enable it carry out its constitutional work.

Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, Prof. Danfulani Ahmed, in his contribution called for dialogue and political solution to the Niger Delta problem, saying that violence and force would not solve the problem of the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

Tracing the origin of the Niger Delta crisis, Ahmed said that apart from the fact that Niger Delta is the economic jewel of Nigeria, as it hosts almost all of Nigeria's oil and gas that accounts for over 80% of government revenue, 95% of export receipts and 90% of foreign exchange earnings. "Yet, it receives only little of these resources, and the prosperity generated has not touched the lives of the ordinary citizens in the region. The region is reputed to be one of the least developed and poorest in the country.

"The contradiction between being the bread basket on the one hand and underdevelopment, deepening poverty and misery on the other, has produced, mass discontent, resentment, alienation and hostility and generation of angry citizens. The region has been immersed in protests and struggles against the perceived injustice, inequality, disinheritance, marginalization and neglect. In 1966 and since 1998, these protests have become so broad and intense that they slipped into periodic insurrection and insurgency.

"The Nigerian state's perception and management of the struggles, has largely militarised the region, turned it into a huge garrisoned command, and made it the most large scale and prolonged military operation since the Nigerian civil war. Intense conflicts between the Nigerian state and the communities, civil groups, militant movements, that between the trans-national companies, communities and militant movements, as well as the conflicts between communities and ethnic groups and other communities and groups between and within militant movements, cults, and armed bands have turned the region into a melting pot of pervasive violence, crimes, local wars, insecurity. Nigeria's economic survival, its statehood and nation project are being consistently threatened just as the security of the citizens of the region,"Ahmed said.

According to Ahmed, to resolve the Niger Delta problem "we should note that historically and contemporarily, there exists no cases of insurgency that borders on contests of the state project and the national question that have been successfully repressed and suppressed militarily. There is always resurgence. The insurgent dimensions of the conflict require a political resolution.

"The military and repressive approached has either failed or is failing in dousing the agitation and insurgency. Rather than being a general approach, the military and security agencies should only be deployed against criminality and bunkering. The more effective strategy for comprehensively addressing the grievances and resistance is massive development efforts and increased revenues and resource benefits, woven around regional autonomy and reforms of governance and federal practice," he declared.

Ekpoudom, who represented the IG, said that everybody is guilty of the escalation of violence in the Niger Delta which is threatening the country's fledgling democracy, noting that conflicts start when certain necessities of life are denied the people. He asked all stakeholders to support government in its efforts to stop the conflicts in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

The Initiatives' roundtable on the Niger Delta crisis and the challenges of leadership, further helped to proffer solutions, which when put into legislation by the National Assembly, would help to mitigate the crisis in the Niger Delta region.