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(From The Guardian - http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article01//indexn2_html?pdate=021208&ptitle=Niger%20Delta%20panel%20seeks%2025%20per%20cent%20derivation) * Open trial, bail for Okah
* East West coastal road
* Release of NDDC funds
From Madu Onuorah, Abuja
FAR-REACHING recommendations to assist the Federal Government to attain lasting peace in the restive coastal states of the South-South have been made by the Technical Committee on the Niger Delta which submitted its report to President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua in Abuja yesterday.
The committee, which recommended immediate confidence-building measures to be implemented in the next six months, urged, among others, an increase in the derivation percentage for revenue sharing.
But President Yar'Adua pledged that his administration would "study and implement those recommendations that government finds acceptable from your report."
Chairman of the Technical Committee, Mr. Ledum Mitee, said while presenting the report at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa that the set of proposals to ease tension include: an increase of derivation from the present 13 per cent to 25 per cent and dedication of additional revenues largely to new infrastructure and sustainable development of the region;
* open trial and bail for accused militant Henry Okah;
* completion of the East-West Road with spurs to coastline;
* payment of outstanding statutory funds owed to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) ;
* disarming process for youths involved in militancy through creating the enabling environment and establishment of a credible Decommissioning, Disarmament and Rehabilitation (DDR) process;
* establishment of a Youth Employment Scheme (YES) that will employ at least 2,000 youths in each local government of the Niger Delta states.
Yar'Adua noted that "the problem of the Niger Delta is a strategic problem for this nation. I have expressed the determination of this administration to confront this problem head on and ensure that we employ all means available to government to cope and partner with all stakeholders in an effort to solve this national problem. You have done a lot of work within a very short time frame and you have examined all previous reports and the methods you have followed within this short period available to you, I am certain which has resulted in our report that will take this process of resolving the problem in the Niger Delta successfully. I want to therefore assure you that this report will be studied by government and we will give our recommendations. And I have no doubt in my mind that your work will form one of those great efforts that will ultimately help this country to find a permanent solution to the problems in the Niger Delta."
Mitee stated that "the demonstration of political will in our view need be expressed also in terms of improved effective law enforcement with integrity that ensures that all identified highly placed persons engaged in sponsoring of violence for economic and political reasons are dealt with according to law."
He went on: "Although the problems existed and indeed was exacerbated before the current administration, but having voluntarily chosen to make the holistic resolution of the Niger Delta problem as part of its cardinal 7-point agenda, the challenge before this government is to break with past attitudes, for the credibility and thus success of the administration will be measured by if and how this problem is tackled. The consequences of failure are enormous especially in the light of the downward trend in oil process. Thus, we have included some details of the economic and human cost of the crisis in the region which for instance some $20.7 billion worth of oil revenue were lost to oil theft and vandalisation between January and September this year alone. Needless to add that that the nation stands to gain tremendously if we invest similar amount in the short run to guarantee peace and safer investment climate in the region."
Mitee noted that the low infrastructural development and acute employment has heightened an increasing feeling of frustration and burning sense of injustice on which has fed agitations which have recently been exploited by several actors for sinister purposes expressed in attacks on oil installations, kidnappings, ritual killings and other activities that have heightened insecurity in the area with the equally devastating economic impact.
He said: "It is in this light that this nation comes to terms that the issue we are confronted with is not a Niger Delta problem but a national, albeit international problem. Our conversations and reactions about the Niger Delta must necessarily therefore shift from what has become a more limited and negative scope to the extent that many are content to view the problems in the Niger Delta as a problem of the Niger Delta by the Niger Delta and for the Niger Deltans (to resolve by themselves).
"One clear thing that this report has done is to give time frame. For example DDR, we came up with recommendation that within the next six months they should complete initial steps that will support a disarming process of youths involved in militancy. The process will have to begin with some confidence building measures on all sides. The measures will include cease-fire from both sides, pull back of forces, open trial and bail to (leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta), Henry Orkar and credible conditions for people to do that. So, all the recommendations came with the short, medium and long term and responsibility parties. We didn't throw things at the federal government. We threw things at the state government, at the local government, community and the oil companies and each came with a definite time frame. One of the things we recommended to Mr. President is the demonstration of will, not just committing money and resources and infrastructure but also to tackle the issue as a government committed to the rule of law. If you find other prominent persons who are exploiting the situation, they should also be dealt with in accordance with the law. We have received favourable indications from both government and the militants that under favourable conditions there can be improvements."
A member of the Technical Committee and a lecturer in the University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Youpele Banigo, told The Guardian after the presentation that the report "is comprehensive, dealing with political, economic and constitutional matters, identifying the vexing issues that directly affect the Niger Delta people, and recommending ways to solve the crisis in the region. I believe that if all levels (and institutions) of government, especially the Federal Government, resolve to accept and implement the Report, the raging war in the Niger Delta will disappear and the country will enjoy peace and prosperity."
But Banigo warned that the Niger Delta people were very wary of another recommendation that may not see the light of day, saying that "this may the last time they are prepared to participate in such event."
He said: "If by omission or commission the Federal Government fails to implement the Report, it will be a clear manifestation that the people of the Niger Delta belong to the wrong federation as perceived in the past, and the precipitating crisis will be of gargantuan proportion that will make the current instability in the region a caricature of intentions. The agitation might move at such a crescendo that could lead to the fragmentation of the country."
But he expressed the belief that "the government of President Umaru Yar'Adua will have the courage and the political will to patriotically implement the Report of the Committee because, this report is a concatenation of the previous reports and by implications; it is what the people of the Niger Delta have been waiting for. Therefore, I hope this report will not be subjected to unnecessary political gerrymandering and the core issues are addressed with immediacy."
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