The Niger Delta Development Monitoring Group (NIDDEMOG) has challenged presidential candidates of major political parties to make public their action plan for the Niger Delta region.
The group said it wants a clear plan for the revival of the abandoned East-West Road project, refineries, seaports and for addressing environmental degradation in the region.
It also cautioned governors of the South-South against blind endorsement of presidential candidates.
In a statement at the weekend, Team Lead of the group, Chief Nengi James-Eriworio, Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), warned presidential candidates against using cheap controversy on who brought about poverty and other trivial issues to divert attention of voters. He urged them to focus on telling each region, including the Niger Delta, their action plan for development, prosperity and empowerment.
James-Eriworio also called on state governors of the region to show capacity in leadership by ensuring that their endorsement of a particular candidate is not mere jamboree but a means of securing commitment towards improving federal interventions in road infrastructure, seaports, refineries and improved shore protection plan for communities being washed away.
He described the recent controversies on the coastal road as an indication that most of the presidential candidates are not in tune with challenges facing each region, particularly the Niger Delta.
“How can a former governor of Cross River, Donald Duke, who is a presidential candidate of a party, be speaking with a clear knowledge of issues concerning the region? Most of the issues facing the region are not being discussed by the presidential candidates, not even President Tinubu,” he queried.
He added: “All they believe is that the Niger Delta region is taken due to oil pipeline surveillance contracts and the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP). Our problem as a region is more than that. Most of our communities are being washed away by the ocean due to poor shore protection plan. We have lost many lives due to 26 years of abandoned East-West Road project and we no longer have functioning refineries and seaports.
“Instead of discussing issues on what the Federal Government will do for the states on climate change as it is affecting our coastal environment and remediation of the damaged environment of oil producing communities, they are busy engaging in unfair and disappointing personal attacks and use of derogatory language on one another. This would not advance the development of the Niger Delta.”
He called on the presidential candidates to start discussing issues of gas flaring reduction, total completion of East-West Road, comprehensive plan on shore protection, Niger Delta states restoration and remediation plan on cumulative oil spills total clean-up and renaming the HYPREP as Agency for Environmental Cleanup.
James-Eriworio, who in a letter addressed to each presidential candidate against the backdrop of the kick-off of campaigns by political parties, said the presidential candidates should be more concerned about challenges confronting coastal communities and the Niger Delta region than engaging in verbal exchanges over who brought poverty and violence.
He reiterated that the proposed coastal road addressed a long-standing infrastructure need in the Niger Delta and should not be dismissed on political grounds, insisting that the region deserved more major investments in roads, refinery, seaports and bridges because of its contribution to Nigeria’s oil revenue.
According to him, the region is in need of an upward review of the 13 per cent derivation to 20 per cent and a clear directive to the International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the Niger Delta states to immediately relocate their headquarters and functional offices to the region.
He maintained that the region needed a network of roads and bridges capable of connecting its coastal communities, improving access to markets and public services, and opening up areas that had remained difficult to reach.
He cited road projects linking parts of the Niger Delta to the Atlantic coastline, including routes around Agge and Brass in Bayelsa State, as evidence that road infrastructure could be developed in challenging coastal environments.
He also referred to road and bridge connections in the Bonny and Opobo axis of Rivers State, arguing that the region’s terrain should not be used as a reason to discount the feasibility of further infrastructure development.
“We are not against any presidential candidates. All we are saying is that the region demands a commitment from each candidate for the Niger Delta region. I am one of those who advocated for it even before the Federal Government proposed the project. What we are saying is that the East-West Road and other failing roads in the region must also receive the attention they deserve,” he said.
The NIDDEMOG leader also questioned the state governors of the region to secure commitment from the presidential candidates on the contending issues of the abandoned East-West Road and other needed development initiatives rather than keeping silent amidst blind party loyalty ahead of the elections.
