'Largest allocations mean little'

The Niger Delta does not receive all of the money budgeted for it and should not be judged by these budget estimates, the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, said on Monday in Abuja.

Mr. Akpabio was responding to a remark by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, that the region enjoys the largest fiscal allocation of any region in the country, even though its population is just 15 million out of 150 million Nigerians.

The two leaders spoke on Monday at a discussion session on good governance, organised by a group in the House of Representatives, called The Initiatives, at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.

Mr. Bankole also said the region should rather show appreciation than sustain the violence that has affected oil production and has resulted in an ongoing military operation in the area.

The Akwa Ibom State governor, however, said the trillion naira proposal for the region in the 2009 budget could not be used to assess the level of funding for the region. He also faulted the Speaker’s population estimates for the region.

“Budget is just a projection; where is the money?” Mr. Akpabio asked. “It is one thing to announce, and another thing to release. It is not the budget that helps the region, but the releases.”

Mr. Bankole said the Yar’Adua administration has paid the greatest attention to the Niger Delta of any Nigerian government and does not deserve to face violence and militancy.

Failure of leadership

“The inclusion of the people from the area is not meagre, with the highest military office and the police occupied by indigenes of the area,” he said. “What has happened in this government has not happened before and no reason can justify the violence in the Niger Delta whereby innocent people and government investment are the victims.”

Mr. Akpabio, however, said the situation in the region arose from a failure of leadership and neglect through the years; and that this has created a feeling of marginalisation of the people.

“How many Niger Delta people own ships that carry crude oil? How many of them have oil blocs?” He asked. “The people of the region feel they have been made strangers.

For many years, the nation invested so much on national security, which was the philosophy of the military, as opposed to human security. They failed to make the change that mattered most.”

Mr. Bankole’s measured response to the Niger Delta issue came after he received a note passed to him by his press aide before he started speaking. The note, seen by NEXT reads: “The Niger Delta issue is a very touchy one now, so we should avoid comments.” The Speaker is fast building a reputation for courting controversy with most of his public comments.

Mr. Akpabio was more forthright. He said his government was concerned about the upsurge of criminality in the area, which he said has permeated the genuine struggle of the people.

“Anyone who kills and kidnaps, must die,” he said. “The militants should rise up and sanitise themselves between the genuine militants and criminals.”