Former President Goodluck Jonathan has blamed the persistent underdevelopment of the Niger Delta region on weak political will and the overriding personal ambition of political office holders.
Speaking in Abuja on Friday at the launch of ‘The Hidden Treasures’, a book by former Delta State governorship aspirant Chris Iyovwaye, Jonathan argued that political rivalry and the scramble for power have repeatedly forced key regional progress projects to collapse.
Jonathan, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Mike Oghiadomhe, recalled his attempts to drive regional economic growth during his tenure as Deputy Governor between 1999 and 2007. He recounted that his efforts to coordinate South-South governors and federal lawmakers ultimately failed because of the competition for power and control;
At one point, everybody in the Niger Delta wanted to be the Vice President to an unknown President. That was because Obasanjo was president from the South, and the next president was going to come from the North. But nobody knew who he would be. So, everybody started scrambling to become the Vice President to whoever was coming
The former President urged current leaders to move beyond talking and demonstrate the right political will to revive the economic potentials of the region.
A lot has been said in the past and even now. But when you don’t bring action to it, it will remain a potential… The Niger Delta is supposed to be the economic hub of this country, with the potential to build the biggest seaport in Nigeria.”.
Dignitaries at the event, including former Social Democratic Party presidential candidate Adewole Adebayo and former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana supported Jonathan’s claims.
Gana, who conceptualized the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in 1999, expressed profound disappointment that the interventionist agency has fallen short of its founding vision.
He stressed that the original vision was to transform the Niger Delta into one of the most beautiful places in Nigeria, with excellent infrastructure, urging the current leaders to do something great for the people.
Adewole Adebayo described the resource-rich Niger Delta as a vast, mismanaged economic paradise, too richly endowed for its citizens to remain poor;
In truth, every part of the Niger Delta is brimming with human, material, liquid, and solid resources. So, if you are from the Niger Delta, it will be an oxymoron to say you are poor. It is impossible to be poor in that paradise
Adebayo accused past generations of leadership of being consumed by appropriating surface wealth, investing the country’s resources to foreign enterprises, and collecting rent, which has diminished the true economic potential of the region.
The Niger Delta, despite contributing the bulk of Nigeria’s revenue, continues to suffer from decades of environmental degradation, unemployment, infrastructural neglect, and corruption, to issues multiple presidential audits of the NDDC have repeatedly cited as unresolved.
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