Niger Delta Ministry: A Mere Tokenism
-UAD
The convener, United Action
for Democracy, Mr. Abiodun Aremu, has described the recent creation
of Niger Delta ministry as a panic measure meant to deceive the people
of the region that the government is addressing their problems.
According to him, "what the Niger Delta needs is the constitution of
people's assembly where the Niger Delta people can negotiate their concerns
or interests with the rest of their Nigerian people that are also raising
similar questions, so that whenever the oil is no longer available in
their regions and attention is shifted to other resources, which are
available in other regions, the Niger Delta will not feel alienated
from the commonwealth."
Aremu made this clarification when he granted an interview to the Niger
Delta STANDARD in his office in Lagos. He described the unfolding scenario
playing out in the region as part of the unresolved colonial question.
According to him, the minority question was in the front burner during
the negotiation for independence, especially from the COR states, comprising
the old Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers.
"There was the report of the Willinks Commission which says that in
all the negotiation towards independence, the interest of minorities
in Nigeria must be taken into consideration, but if you look at the
post-independence constitutional conferences that this country has had,
the minority views were not represented," he said. He frowned at the
situation where the ruling class in Nigeria ties the development of
the country to oil.
"We have a ruling class that is backward and lacks the intended appreciation
of what is required in the modern day governance in terms of people
been the center of development," and accused the Nigerian leaders of
aspiring to be in government for the purpose of primitive accumulation,
looting the treasury and organizing fanfares.
On the issue of setting up a technical committee to harmonize the reports
of past committees, Aremu dismissed it with a wave of hand, reiterating
that recommendation had been made in the past, "so what that means,"
according to him, "is lack of commitment and political will to implement
some of the lofty recommendations." He, therefore, insisted that what
the Niger Delta wants is autonomy, which is beyond the fiscal tokenism
that is being given to them.
Ifeanyi Nwabugu
NPA Set to Boost Port Operations
The managing director of the
Nigerian Ports Authority, Mallam A b d u s a l a m Mohammed, has assured
that the current project that is being embarked upon by the NPA will
have a positive impact on port operations when fully completed before
the end of the year. Some of the projects that are said to be going
in all the major seaports in the country include upgrading of some draughts
and the repairs, as well as the renovation of some common user facilities.
The managing director made this remark in Lagos during a roundtable
with stakeholders who participated at the quarterly meeting of the Port
Consultative Council in Lagos, assuring all the stakeholders, comprising
essentially terminal operators and port users at the meeting that by
the time works on the project were completed, all the bottlenecks and
operational obstacles that are confronting the port system will be a
thing of the past.
He listed such priority to include dredging of channels in Lagos, Tin
Can Island in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Calabar, as well as the Warri
port. While appreciating the constraints faced by port users in conducting
their business in the nation’s seaport, the managing director pleaded
with them for understanding, assuring that the management of NPA is
striving to reduce such constraints.
The managing director further informed the stakeholders that NPA has
adopted a strategic approach in confronting the challenges of the system
in all their ramifications and assured them that the effects of the
ongoing efforts will soon manifest. "We may not have met our targets.
We have challenges, and we are aware of those challenges. We are being
strategic in tackling them, with little time we shall overcome all these
challenges. We only need your understanding and further cooperation,"
he explained.
Ifeanyi Nwabugu
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