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Last week, my friend and Media Adviser to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Turaki Hassan, could not hide his joy. On Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp, he told folks how his boss, Yakubu Dogara, became an overnight celebrity.
Why the celebration? Well, President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the North East Development Commission (NEDC) Bill, passed by both chambers of the National Assembly earlier in the year. If encomiums can win elections, I am certain Dogara may likely not campaign in 2019; it should be a walkover for him.
Despite Hassan’s blind optimism, which I totally understand, his boss, Dogara, is still in doubt. For him, NEDC maybe another new oil money that will be squandered. His pessimism is already sinking in, even though the administrative structure of the agency is yet to be set up.
See what Hassan wrote: “Dogara cautioned against mismanagement of the NEDC and abuse of the trust given to them by Nigerians who supported its establishment through their lawmakers in the National Assembly.
“He (Dogara) contended that in the midst of doubts, North easterners should be given the chance to prove themselves; the freedom and opportunity to rebuild their region against the perceived failure of others.”
Dogara is not alone in this. Before you crucify me, let me state for the records, that I support government’s efforts to rebuild the North East. For me, it is a task that must be fulfilled. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) need to be reunited with their ancestral homes. Cities, towns and villages destroyed by the war, need to be rebuilt.
Whatever it will take to make this work, I am for it. However, I am not a blind optimist. I have doubts that NEDC will end up like the toothless Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). You may want to argue and I will indulge you. But be rest assured that in another five years, we would look back and wonder if it was worth it after all. I hope and pray that my negative expectations do not come to fruition.
Let me tell you why I have doubts: in June, 2016, senators from the six states of the North East, sharply disagreed on where the headquarters of the NEDC should be located. The move forced the Senate to suspend the passage of the bill in 2016.
Senator Ali Wakili, from Bauchi, who stirred the controversy, suggested that Bauchi, his home state, should be the commission’s headquarters against the recommendation of the Senate Committee on Special Duties, which proposed that the commission’s headquarters be located in Abuja.
But Wakil’s position that the commission’s headquarters be sited in Bauchi prompted another suggestion by Senator Baba Garbai from Borno Central that the commission be sited in Maiduguri, capital of his home state.
But this, again, was punctured by Senator Usman Nafada from Gombe North, who suggested that the headquarters be located in Gombe, his state. But the former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South, bemoaned the disagreement among his kinsmen over the location of the commission’s headquarters.
For another six months, the passage of the bill was deferred, while the leadership of the Senate and North East Caucus did underground work to calm agitating camps. In the end, the Senate settled for Maiduguri, Borno State.
That was not all. Some senators from North West and Central, wanted to smuggle in Kano and Plateau States. It was initially accommodated, but yanked off at the last minute. Former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Jeremiah Useni, again, made fresh attempts to open the floodgates for more states outside the North East to be accommodated. Again, the moves were frustrated.
Imagine what will play out when the agency finally comes on stream. Politicians are smart folks. They will hijack the agency and turn it into another vending machine. Their cronies will be recruited, even when they are obviously not qualified. In no time, overhead costs will outweigh capital expenditures and the essence for which the agency was set up, would be defeated.
If you are in doubt, go to the South South geopolitical zone and ask yourself some sincere questions about the relevance or otherwise of NDDC. President Olusegun Obasanjo established the NDDC in 2000 with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
The NDDC was created largely as a response to the demands of the people of the Niger Delta, a populous area inhabited by a diversity of minority ethnic groups. Some of its core mandates are formulation of policies and guidelines for the development of the Niger Delta area.
It was set up for the purpose of conception, planning and implementation, in accordance with set rules and regulations, of projects and programs for sustainable development of the Niger Delta area in the field of transportation including roads, jetties and waterways, health, employment, industrialization, agriculture and fisheries, housing and urban development, water supply, electricity and telecommunications.
Surveying the Niger Delta in order to ascertain measures necessary to promote its physical and socio-economic development was also part of NDDC’s mandate.
Others are preparing master plans and schemes designed to promote the physical development of the Niger Delta region and the estimation of the member states of the Commission.
Implementation of all the measures approved for the development of the Niger Delta region by the Federal Government and the states of the Commission.
Identify factors inhibiting the development of the Niger Delta region and assisting the member states in the formulation and implementation of policies to ensure sound and efficient management of the resources of the Niger Delta region.
Assessing and reporting on any project being funded or carried out in the region by oil and gas companies and any other company, including non-governmental organizations, as well as ensuring that funds released for such projects are properly utilized.
Tackling ecological and environmental problems that arise from the exploration of oil mineral in the Niger Delta region and advising the Federal Government and the member states on the prevention and control of oil spillages, gas flaring and environmental pollution.
Liaising with the various oil mineral and gas prospecting and producing companies on all matters of pollution, prevention and control.
The NNDC is also to execute such other works and perform such other functions, which in the opinion of the Commission are required for the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region and its people.
On paper, NDDC is perfect. In reality, go to the oil producing states and weep. Apart from gales of abandoned projects, which stare at you when you visit the region, those adjudged to have been completed are not fit for human possession.
Almost two decades after its establishment, NDDC is yet to deliver 10 per cent of its mandate. The region is poorer, despite trillions of naira the agency has received. The NDDC is a total flop and a reminder that subsequent agencies that will be modeled after it will fail in the delivery of their mandates.
So, if you are jubilating that President Buhari has signed the NEDC bill into law, suspend your expectations. Unless God sends angels from heaven to operate the agency, nothing tangible will come out of it.
I am certain that in the coming days or weeks, sponsors of South East Development Commission Bill will resurrect it. With the right alignment, the bill will be passed into law. But whether Baba Buhari will append his signature to it, only the all-knowing ancestors will tell.
After that, other regions who are yet to join the long list of those to benefit from the national cake will come up with their development commissions. It will happen. I am not sure how soon that will be.
Before I conclude, let me be objective here. Twice in three years, the Senate has rejected proposals to grant Lagos a special status, in view of the avalanche of socio-economic challenges it is facing as former political capital of Nigeria.
Rightly or wrongly, the state is still the economic nerve centre of the country. Specifically, on June 5, 2013, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu-led Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Constitution Review, in its report, ruled out special status for Lagos. It said in the report: “On special status for Lagos, while the committee appreciates the peculiar needs and challenges of Lagos, it is our considered opinion that according such special status should be a matter of political decision, which should be kept out of the Constitution.”
For me, this is injustice and it needs to be corrected. Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun said recently that 87 per cent of Nigeria’s Value Added Tax (VAT) is derived from four states and the Federal Capital Territory.
“55 per cent of Nigeria’s VAT is collected in Lagos State, 20 per cent in FCT, 6 per cent in Rivers, 5 per cent in Kano, 1 per cent in Kaduna,” the Minister was quoted to have said.
In fact, only 13 per cent of Nigeria’s VAT comes from 32 other states of the federation. This is the sad reality. For a state as economically significant as Lagos, the National Assembly should revisit that request. In all fairness, the agitation by lawmakers from the state is in order.
After all, about 12 states in the North, where Sharia Laws are observed, abhor sale of alcohol. But they benefit from taxes collected from the same haram product sold in places like Lagos.
I so submit!
One more thing
…My man, Senator Kabiru Marafa
Do you remember that name, Senator Kabiru Marafa? He hails from Zamfara State and a force you cannot ignore in the Senate. At the height of the controversy that dogged the election of Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu as Senate President and Deputy respectively, Marafa became a lonely voice in the wilderness.
You may want to ask why I have singled him. You do not have to look further. Marafa heads the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream). Having worked in that sector before venturing into politics, he understands how things play out there.
Like others, I had expected that Marafa would compromise and become the poster boy of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other agencies under his purview. Surprisingly, he is one of the hardliners. Whenever folks in charge of NNPC err, Marafa openly reprimands them.
For his doggedness and standing up for the truth when it matters, Marafa deserves my commendation. Before you begin to ask questions, Fred Itua must not be a bully every time. Today, I have chosen to celebrate someone.
