18022020

18 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020
SINCE he assumed power some
eight months ago, Professor
Babagana Umara Zulum, the
Governor of embattled Borno State,
has continued to strike the posture of
a leader on a messianic mission.
He has put the interests of the
common man above partisan niceties
and often found himself at odds with
the Federal Government and the
military over the handling of the war
on terrorism in the North East.
It is unwise to openly sing the
praises of Nigerian politicians because
of their penchant to ride on the
crest of their populist waves into a
second term and then unfold their real
hidden agenda. Many of the former
governors facing prosecution for theft
and money laundering were once
populist politicians.
Prof. Zulum recently provoked
national excitement after his encounter
with a class teacher, Mrs. Obiageli
Gov Zulum and the good teacher
Mazi. Zulum had paid a surprise visit
to the Shehu Sanda Kyarimi Primary
School, Maiduguri at around 6.30 am
on Friday, February 7, 2020 and
found the Abia State-born Mazi as the
only staff who had reported for work.
Zulum, after engaging her in a
conversation, ordered her promotion
from Level 12 to the post of Assistant
Headmistress and gifted her N100,000
cash. A group of Borno State
indigenes who were inspired by the
deed of their governor also raised
another one million for the teacher
who is a Christian of the Igbo ethnic
group.
For the teacher to already be on
ground in spite of the bitter harmattan
cold showed great dedication to her
duties.
Also, being a Christian in a Muslimmajority
state seriously besieged by
Islamist terrorists thousands of
kilometres away from her native state,
with such a long pedigree of living
and working in Borno State (31 years)
shows that her faith in the oneness of
this country remains unshaken.
It takes a dedicated public servant
with an enquiring mind like
Professor Zulum to seek to know what
manner of a Nigerian the teacher was,
and to reward her the way he did.
This encounter holds great lessons
for the rest of Nigerians at this
juncture when the faith of the ordinary
Nigerian has virtually been eroded to
the foundations.
We are thus inspired to continue to
serve this country with all our strength
irrespective of the disappointments we
face from the failure of leadership and
breakdown of the collective patriotic
spirit.
Zulum’s gesture shows that Nigeria
only lacks good leaders because we
have failed to assiduously search for
them.
He represents a ray of hope for a
better tomorrow when Nigeria might
rediscover a model of leadership that
is no longer blinded by partisan,
ethnic, religious, regional and
clannish bigotry.
We hope the vicissitudes of politics
do not derail him.
SINCE 2000 every President in
Nigeria has been unfair to Ondo and
Imo states in terms of appointments of
chairman/managing director/executive
director in the Niger Delta Development
Commission, NDDC. It does not matter
the quantum of oil produced in those two
states as long as they are still members of
the NDDC, the rotation formula as
contained in the NDDC Act should be
applied. Why do I say so?
On August 27, 1991, General Ibrahim
Babangida, GCFR, created Delta State
along with other states. He then named
Asaba as the state capital, a decision that
is still regarded as crucial even till today.
A few months later on June 25, 1992,
General Babangida established the Oil
Mineral Producing Areas Development
Commission, OMPADEC. On July 9, 1992,
General Babangida signed into law the
OMPADEC Decree.
Covered by OMPADEC were Rivers,
Delta, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Edo, Ondo and
Abia states. Port-Harcourt was named as
the headquarters of OMPADEC in the
decree. The decree states, among others,
that the chairman and all other members
of the Commission shall be appointed by
the President, Commander-in-Chief of the
Armed Forces.
The chairman and all members of the
Commission shall be full-time members;
the chairman shall be the chief executive
of the Commission and the supplementary
provisions contained in the Schedule to
the Decree shall have effect with respect
to the proceedings of the Commission and
the other matters contained therein. In
establishing OMPADEC, General
Babangida took a cue from Section 159 of
OPINION
The imbalance in NDDC as it
affects Imo and Ondo states
the 1963 Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. General Babangida
should be commended for establishing
OMPADEC. From 1966 till 1992 nothing
was done by the Central Government to
cater for the plight of the people from that
region. Section 159 of the 1963
Constitution of the Federal Republic of
General Babangida
should be commended
for establishing
OMPADEC
Nigeria states that - (1) There shall be a
board for the Niger Delta which shall be
styled the Niger Delta Development
Board. (2) The members of the Board shall
be - (a) a person appointed by the
President, who shall be chairman (b) a
person appointed by the Governor of
Eastern Nigeria; (c) a person appointed
by the Governor of Mid-Western Nigeria;
and such other persons may be appointed
in such manner as may be prescribed by
Parliament to represent
the inhabitants of the
Niger Delta. (3) A
member of the board
shall vacate his office in
such circumstances as
may be prescribed by
Parliament.
(4) The Board shall be
responsible for advising
the Government of the
Federation and the
Governments of Eastern
Nigeria and Mid-
Western Nigeria with
respect to the physical development of the
Niger Delta, and in order to discharge that
responsibility the Board shall— (a) cause
the Niger Delta to be surveyed in order to
ascertain what measures are required to
promote its physical development; (b)
prepare schemes designed to promote the
physical development of the Niger Delta ,
together with estimates of the costs of
putting the schemes into effect; (c) submit
to the Government of the Federation and
the Governments of Eastern Nigeria and
Mid-Western annual reports describing the
work of the Board and the measures taken
in pursuance of its advice.
(5) Parliament may make such provision
as it considers expedient for enabling the
Board to discharge its functions under this
section; (6) In this section, “the Niger
Delta” means the area specified in the
Proclamation relating to the Board which
was made on the twenty-sixth day of
August, 1959; (7) this section shall cease
to have effect on the first day of July, 1969,
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or such later date as may be prescribed by
Parliament.
The objectives of the Niger Delta
Development Board are the same as that
of OMPADEC which are to (a) to receive
and administer the monthly sums from the
allocation of the Federation Account in
accordance with confirmed ratio of oil
production in each State - (i) for the
rehabilitation and development of oil
mineral producing areas, (ii) for tackling
ecological problems that have arisen from
the exploration of oil minerals; (b) to
determine and identify, through the
Commission and the respective oil mineral
producing States, the actual oil mineral
producing areas and embark on the
development of projects properly agreed
upon with the local communities of the oil
mineral producing areas;
(c) to consult with the relevant Federal
and State Government authorities on the
control and effective methods of tackling
the problem of oil pollution and spillages;
(d) to consult with the relevant Federal
and State Government authorities on the
control and effective methods of tackling
the problem of oil pollution and
spillages;(e) to liaise with the various oil
companies on matters of pollution control
(f) to obtain from the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation the proper formula
for actual oil mineral production of each
State, Local Government Area and
community and to ensure the fair and
equitable distribution of projects, services
and employment of personnel in
accordance with recognised percentage
production.
To be concluded