Mr. Udeme Nana is Special Assistant to Governor Victor Attah on Public Affairs. In this interview with Peter Okhiria, he speaks on the struggle for resource control and why the Niger-Delta States have not given an official response to the lawsuit filed by the nineteen Northern States challenging the abrogation of the oil dichotomy.
Excerpts:
You had a successful launch of the book, “Attah on Resource Control.” In what direction do you think the struggle for resource control will go?
The struggle will continue until the people of the Niger Delta are satisfied with the benefits that should accrue to them from the oil resources from their environment. The struggle is continuing.
Already, the nineteen governors in the North and two from the South-West are against the Act abrogating the onshore/offshore dichotomy. If the Supreme Court grants their prayer, then the Niger Delta will be the loser...
That is an hypothetical situation. The nineteen governors have gone to court which is unfortunate, and how I wish Nigerians will focus on things that will unite everybody and not things that will divide them. That is where I end my comment on the purported suit by the nineteen governors. How I wish Nigerians at all levels will always focus on issues that will unite everybody and not issues that have the tendency to cause disaffection and disunity.
What plans is your state making to counter this move by the northern governors?
I think the party, the PDP, at the national level has said it would intervene. We will wait for that.
What gains has your state made from the president’s recent visit to your state?
You know before the president visited Akwa Ibom State, he had a rather negative perception of what was going on in Akwa Ibom State and so we were lucky, that when the governor invited him, I want to make it clear that it was the governor who invited and for the governor to have invited the president was an act of courage on the part of the governor because of this negative insinuation that nothing had happened in Akwa Ibom State in five years. And so, the president came to Akwa Ibom State. He admitted that the Uyo he had seen had changed from the Uyo he saw in 2001 when he came. He admitted that the agricultural programmes of the government of Akwa Ibom State was quite exemplary.
He also admitted that the educational achievement of the government of Akwa Ibom State were outstanding. He also admitted publicly that the health programmes of the governor of Akwa Ibom were outstanding. Now this put paid to all the negative insinuations that were being bandied around that in five years, Akwa Ibom State did not do anything.
But I want to point out that in almost every sector, Akwa Ibom State has done exceedingly well for its own people in Akwa Ibom. That is the point. Akwa Ibom Government under Victor Attah has done exceedingly well for the people of Akwa Ibom State in and outside the state.
Maybe the people that are insinuating that the governor has not performed are saying this because of the revenue he has received in five years...
Well you know people bandy figures around without really examining what is achieved with these figures. I tell you something, let me use as a benchmark the figure the president gave out. He publicly said that Akwa Ibom State may have collected N90 billion in five years, and now in Akwa Ibom State, you have one of the largest civil services in the country, I’m talking about a public service that gulps a total of N1.3 billion. In five years, N1.3 billion multiplied by sixty months, because you have twelve months in one year, multiply that by five years, you have sixty months. Now multiply N1.3 billion by sixty months. it gives you not less than N78 or N80 billion. The difference is not much at all. And if you have a governor of a state able to bring about so much progress, so much development with that balance, then you know that he has delivered dividends of democracy to the people of Akwa Ibom and that is why when the president came, he was impressed by the turnout of people on the streets wherever he went because it showed the people were happy with the governor. So the people went out and received the president because they were happy. So people should be more objective in their analysis.
The governor is trying to strengthen the revenue base of the state by tapping the tourism potentials in the state. What is the state of the 5-star hotel he is building in this direction?
I tell you that work on that hotel project has reached an advanced stage and I want to tell you that in the next couple of months, in the next three months, that hotel is likely to be opened. Let us not see that hotel as something government should not have gone into. You know every policy and programme of this government is directed at expanding opportunities in Akwa Ibom, not only for Akwa Ibom people but for others outside Akwa Ibom to come into the state.
We are talking about investors coming in. there are investors who won’t stay in any hotel but have their own standard and where you put them shows a level of seriousness of that environment. So if we are serious about inviting investors to Akwa Ibom, we need to have a conducive environment, so that when they come, they can stay and do business and that is why when this administration started, Akwa Ibom was on analogue. It took two years before the NITEL lines became digital, so communication was a problem and because this man is working on a vision of transformation he saw the need to invest in the GSM telephony system that was introduced in the country. And so in the next couple of months, a businessman coming into Akwa Ibom State is sure he can stay in Uyo and still maintain contact with any other place in the world.
A businessman coming into Uyo from France or the U.S or Britain will be assured that he would stay in a hotel that is comfortable and convenient. A businessman coming into Uyo will be assured that the road network is good enough and there is security in the state. There are issues commentators pay less attention to.
There are insinuations that the governor's struggle for resource control now is to position himself for his post - 2007 ambition.
No. You know this fight started before people imagined about 2007. It’s a struggle a long time ago, even before the 2003 general election. So, this struggle is based on a genuine convention, a genuine love for the people of the Niger-Delta. It has nothing to do with 2007.
