Niger Delta Human Development Report - UNDP Nigeria - United ...

A minimum level of
income and employment
can be guaranteed if
there is greater efficiency
in use of public funds
and value added
enterprises are
promoted.
All stakeholders—
federal, state and local
governments, the
NDDC, the private
sector, CSOs and
international
organizations—have
roles to play in
addressing HIV & AIDS
pandemic.
Strong advocacy from
top leaders should
accompany public
awareness campaigns
about the
multidimensional nature
of HIV&AIDS. A major
concern is the shortage of
health care facilities.
adopted in order to improve biodiversity
in all the ecological zones and the international
boundary area.
Other specific strategies that complement
the physical goals include:
• air quality synoptic stations to
monitor air quality in the region;
• engineered landfills, such as those in
Port Harcourt and Owerri, supported
by public-private partnerships;
• a reliable national spill contingency
plan for oil spills; and
• effective enforcement of the 2008
deadline for the oil companies to discontinue
gas flaring.
As a general principle, every economic
project in the Niger Delta should be required
to incorporate environmental provisions
using tools such as:
• environmental impact assessments
• strategic environmental assessments
• environmental policy integration
Goal 2: Socio - Cultural Goals
The socio-cultural goals include:
· the first six MDGs;
· a level of per capita social and economic
infrastructure (roads, rail lines,
waterways, hospitals, schools, etc.) that
is well above the national average;
· a reduction in dependence on natural
resources or an expansion in opportunities
for participation in oil and gas
and other industries, both in the Niger
Delta and other parts of Nigeria;
• timely access to credible information,
and citizens who are aware of their
rights and options;
• protection of the environmental and
cultural rights of citizens; and
• increased security for lives and property.
Given the current levels of human development
in the Niger Delta, attaining the
first six MDGs by 2015 will require more
than business as usual. Any effective development
strategy must resolve the tensions
between the Niger Delta states and
the rest of Nigeria over the use of oil revenues,
and cultivate relations between gov-
ernments and citizens defined by clear social
contracts and enforceable citizens’
rights. Resolution of the issue of resource
control in a way that promotes a peoplecentred
and bottom-up approach to national
development, however, would make
it possible for oil revenues to be equitably
distributed and efficiently utilized to:
• build social and economic capital (road
networks, rail lines, waterways, power
grids, hospitals, schools, etc.);
• support the expansion of opportunities
for participation in oil and gas as
well as in non-oil and gas activities in
the delta region and in other parts of
Nigeria; and
• ensure timely access to credible information,
justice, peace and the protection
of cultures.
The goal of timely access to credible information
and more aware citizens requires
further elaboration (see box 7.5), as it has
not been touched on elsewhere in this report.
In essence, poorly informed people
cannot hold either governments or businesses
to account, even when these groups
make decisions that undermine people’s
lives. Knowledgeable citizens are therefore
critical to progress on all human development
goals.
Goal 3: Economic Goals
The main economic goals are:
• guarantees of minimum levels of
income and employment opportunities,
and greater access to health care,
education, safe drinking water, etc,
leading to improved human development;
• a higher share of revenue from oil
and gas, and growth in oil and gas revenue;
• greater efficiency in resource use
through deliberate employment of local
resources and capacities;
• growth in added value from oil and
gas resources through deliberate polices
that promote backward and forward
integration along the oil and gas
value chain; and
170 NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT