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

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A low level of physical
development points to
the fact that the region
suffers from poor
governance.
Infrastructural
development, social
amenities and facilities
are unduly
concentrated in a few
cities, without much
regard for development
in other parts.
Strong-arm tactics
characterize electioneering,
with thugs
often used to terrorize
opponents, and prevent
free and fair access to
the electorate. This
erodes public confidence
in electoral
outcomes, which in
turn leads to the
declining legitimacy of
elected officials and
their institutions
but this was not enough for regional delegates.
Delegates from other regions, however,
could not accommodate the demand
for an immediate increase to 25 per cent
and a programmed increase to 50 per cent
in the medium term.
The stalemate brought the conference to
an abrupt end and resulted in heightened
tension. Militant youths stepped up activities
such as hostage-taking and the disruption
of oil prospecting and production activities
to pressure authorities to make further
concessions. The subsequent arrest
and detention of some leaders from the
core Niger Delta states appeared to be
exacerbating the feeling of political
marginalization.
While the Niger Delta region deserves
much greater attention and revenues to
deal with poverty and infrastructure needs,
it is also important to acknowledge that,
even though the percentage allocated to
the delta from the Federation Account
appears small, in real terms it amounts to
substantial sums of money, enough to significantly
improve the well-being of citizens
through better service delivery and
access to utilities. The fact that the level
of physical development in the region has
not improved underscores that it also suffers
from poor governance. That the Federal
Government has had to intervene
from time to time to create regional bodies
like the OMPADEC and the NDDC
to plan for and implement development
projects in the region is itself evidence of
the failure of state and local governments
to carry out their responsibilities to the
people. The absence of government in
many communities is behind the provision
of socio-economic infrastructures by some
oil companies.
A primary school building in one of the riverine villages.
As in other parts of Nigeria, the Niger
Delta region has been split into more
states in order to create more centres of
growth and administration, and to spread
development more evenly across the region.
But the benefits of this state creation
exercise are not obvious—the states
simply have failed to perform. In the core
Niger Delta states of Delta, Rivers and
Bayelsa, infrastructural development, social
amenities and facilities are unduly concentrated
in a few cities, notably the state
capitals and older administrative headquarters,
without much regard for development
in other parts of these states.
In a region that produces so much fuel,
for example, the electricity supply is very
sporadic—Bayelsa State is not even linked
to the national electric power grid. The
Niger Delta could be served with thermal
power stations strategically located to serve
the needs of every part of the region. But
this is not the case.
Similarly, the delta has a dense network
of freshwater distributaries and vast reserves
of groundwater, but no part of the
region can boast of a regular supply of
potable water. And while the watery terrain
across the region greatly increases the
cost of road building and construction of
all types, the vast amounts of money going
into the states should have produced a
steady increase in the road network over
time. Again, this has not been the case.
Nor have improvements been made to
health and educational facilities, which are
in a deplorable state of neglect in many
areas outside the state capitals.
Part of the problem of poor service
delivery is traceable to the absence of an
NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT