|
New Page 13
Peace is fast returning to Delta State— Onyibe
Hon. Magnus Onyibe, Commissioner for
Information of Delta State was a broadcaster, banker and businessman before he
joined the Delta State government. He spoke to Political Editor, SIMON IBE,
on developments in the state and the Niger Delta region as a whole. Excerpts:
Delta State is 13 today. How has it been
these years?
Well, I will say that the state has been
growing stronger and stronger. As you are aware, after the return of democracy
in 1999, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, the present Governor of Delta State took
over the mantle of leadership and has been running the state efficiently in
those five years. Delta state has gone through tremendous transformation from a
very rural area to a cosmopolitan area. Power generation has been boosted, lots
of transformers have been bought and installed, the education system has been
revamped, re-organised and re-energised. There are three polytechnics now in
Delta state, one in each of the three senatorial districts established by the
state. There is no Federal Government institution here. The Delta State
University, Abraka, has relocated to its permanent site, built by the state
government. There is a College of Physical Education built by the state
government and hospitals have been refurbished in each of the senatorial
districts. Over 12 General Hospitals have been built. Of course, you are aware
that we have now over 10 bridges of hope, where over N15 billion has been
expended. In the over 40 years of the existence of this country, the bridges
were begging to be put in place to link the people in the hinter land and the
main land and successive governments ignored the yawning gap.
But the government of Chief Ibori in the
past five years has put in place such huge structures that have become both
physical and psychological connection for the people of the Niger Delta. Those
are the kind of things that have happened in the past 13 years of Delta state’s
existence. Most of the infrastructure have come in the past five years of Chief
James Ibori’s administration.
You are saying that democracy has meant
more for an average Deltan?
Absolutely. The average Deltan has every
reason to celebrate democracy. For instance, without democracy, they didn’t have
13 per cent derivation, the funds that have been expended in executing these
projects came from the derivation fund. So, the average Deltan has every reason
to be excited, to be thankful, to be glad and to give glory to God that
democracy is in place in Nigeria.
What is the average Deltan looking forward
to in the remaining three years of this administration?
The average Delta knows that peace is a
sine-qua-non for every development and progress and Chief Ibori, the
governor of Delta state, has been able to accomplish so much even in the
atmosphere of conflict. You can imagine what he would have achieved if there was
peace and tranquility. Every Deltan is praying for peace. Once peace returns,
they know that there will be bigger strides that will be taken by the state.
We thank God that the average Deltan now
realises the need for peace.
So, all hands are on deck and peace is
fast returning to Delta state. The people want peace because they know the
benefits of peace. They know that violence profits none but peace profits all. I
think they have that behind their mind and are all out for peace.
What are the factors that are engendering
violence in the area?
Of course, it is oil exploration. When oil
exploration started in the Niger-Delta the inequitable distribution of wealth
led to agitation. Agitation between the people in the state and the Federal
Government, and agitation between the people themselves, that is the different
ethnic groups. The value of what you get from the oil companies is determined by
the amount of land you own, that is why the three different groups that were
living in harmony before are now at each others’ throat, in the area called
Warri and in other areas where oil is explored. Before now, no such premium was
placed on the land but because of the rent value, the whole society has become
rent driven and because the oil companies and the Federal Government did not
really address the issue the way there will not be schisms, there is a problem.
Incidentally, these companies that operate in the Niger-Delta also operate
elsewhere in the world and they don’t have the kind of problems we have here
because there are rules and they are made to follow those rules but in Nigeria
because there is disrespect for the rule of law, they come here and apply
different standards and we allow them.
Otherwise oil exploration did not start
here. Big companies operating here have experience from other places which they
can apply here. But because we operate in a jungle manner where there is no
respect for the rule of law, they come here and everybody is worse off. The oil
companies don’t like what is happening now so they are retracing their steps and
trying to make ammends and the communities have been informed that being at war
with themselves will not help anybody and they too have looked for common
grounds for peace. So, we are all pushing towards the same direction and if
things are consolidated as they are right now, we believe that Delta state will
accomplish all the aims of its founders.
What in concrete terms are being done to
guard against this violence?
The feuding parties have agreed to make
peace. They have come together, they are still dialoguing, they are coming out
with what you may call a road map to peace. It is being designed by themselves,
it is not being foisted on them. They are the ones determining how they think
they can live with one another harmoniously, so, it is home made. That is why we
think it will be more enduring than all other peace accords that have been made
in the past.
Apart from the instability in Warri and
environs, there is also instability occasioned by the legal problems the
governor has been facing. Do you think they have affected the state?
There is no instability in that aspect. If
the intention of the people is to destabilise him, they have failed to do that
because the governor has been getting support. That is why like I told you, in
spite of the ethnic unrest, he has still been able to achieve so much. I mean, I
stand to be corrected, I don’t think any state government has accomplished as
much as Delta State has accomplished.
There is no bridge the federal government
is constructing that is worth about N5 billion, how much more building four at
the same time. Delta State has no federal institution except the Petroleum
Institute in Warri. I think that for a state that contributes about 35 per cent
of the wealth of this country, that is disappointing. The university in the
state was built by the state government. There are three Polytechnics, one in
each senatorial district. Other states have federal polytechnics but there is
none in Delta State. They have Colleges of Technology, there is none in Delta
State. So, everything in Delta was done, created by the people themselves. It is
something we must be proud of and if peace is sustained a lot more will be done.
So, in terms of distraction, the intention must have been to distract Chief
Ibori and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) so that they will not achieve much
in the state so that other parties will have a chance. But they have failed in
that plot because PDP has been able to achieve a lot and it will remain the
prime party in Delta State because the leadership of Chief Ibori has been able
to accomplish quite a lot for the people of Delta.
What about those who say that the problem
is PDP based, that those who are pursuing the agenda are PDP people and that it
might have a political colouration?
In fact, in an event like this, people
have all sorts of opinions and they are entitled to them. The point remains that
the PDP contested the gubernatorial election in Delta State with the AD. Whether
there are other people who are interested in the ticket within the PDP, I don’t
know but the fact remains that at the end of the day, the PDP settled for Chief
Ibori and with him, the PDP won the election, so, anything that is done to bring
down the governor is against the PDP in the state. I don’t know if you can say
that the PDP is trying to bring itself down but you know that in a very big
political party all sorts of things are bound to happen. I am sure that you are
also aware that the party’s National Working Committee is working assiduously to
ensure that the PDP becomes a very strict and proper organisation that will
continue to win elections in both Nigeria and Delta State.
Part of what people are saying is that
Governor Ibori has been working but that his achievements are not commensurate
with the revenue that is accruing to the state. What is your view on this?
Everybody has right to their views. Some
people will say that the President is receiving so much more but what he is
putting in place is not commensurate with what he receives. There are some who
are receiving as much as Delta State but don’t have anything on ground to show
for it. We are working on a situation where we will be publishing a balance
sheet of what we generate and what was expended. As we are about to celebrate
our 13th anniversary, all the ministries have been giving press briefings
regarding accounts of their stewardship in just one year of being in office.
Also the Ministry of Finance has given a breakdown of how much Delta State
government has earned in the past five years of Ibori’s administration and we
have also explained what the money has been used for. Delta State is one of the
few states in this country where after executive meetings, I address the press
on contracts that have been awarded and the amount involved so that people can
check if what we are saying is true and also find out whether the projects are
on ground. As I speak to you, we have compiled all the projects we have executed
lately. And because our governor is a very meticulous person, he believes he
will not commission some of these projects because in the United States for
instance where water and road projects are being executed on daily basis, they
are no longer a big deal. The governor does not go along the road shouting that
he has built a road.
So, he believes that such things are
natural dividends of democracy that people deserve, so that you don’t make a
mountain out of a molehill.
The governor is a team leader. He is not
the kind of person who will impose his views on the people. When we insisted
that he must commission the projects, he said no, and advanced his reasons and
we advanced ours and he told us to do them ourselves if we felt strongly about
them because these things are not what we should dance on the streets for
because the people deserve them.
Some people are saying that Delta State is
not getting what it should from the federal government. Are you one of those who
hold the view?
If you cast your mind back to the post
independence era before the military took over, states were getting exactly 50
per cent derivation from their resources, that was before the discovery of oil.
Western Region was collecting derivation from cocoa, Eastern Region from palm
oil and the North from groundnut. It was only when the military came into power
that it changed all this. The Regions were entitled to 50 per cent derivation
fund, now we don’t even have up to half of that. We just have a mere 13 per cent
and it is not even coming completely. The average Deltan believes that as the
goose that lays the golden egg, we deserve more going by what has happened in
the past.
Like we say, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a
step. We believe that as the nation gets more matured, as democracy gets more
entrenched, fairness, equity will begin to have a larger sphere in our lives.
But for now, we don’t believe that violence can be used in achieving the
objective, so we have to dialogue peacefully over the issue. Over time,
everybody will get more civilised, more broad-minded, more open
|
