Niger Delta Committee Convenes; Employment in the Region Promised

Niger Delta Committee Convened

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has inaugurated the Presidential Committee on Socio-Economic Development of the Niger Delta. The 50-member committee was set up to find ways to end the crisis in the country's oil-producing region. Obasanjo has promised Delta residents 20,000 new jobs as well as the construction of a US$1.8-billion highway and improvements to the Delta environment.

President Obasanjo announced that residents of the seven oil-producing states would receive one-fifth of the 1,000 jobs that are to be created in the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Delta residents have long complained that the elite in the country has grown rich from the resources extrapolated from the Delta. The promise of jobs is the president's first step in addressing the serious issue of unemployment in the Delta. Obasanjo has said that the three Armed Forces services had been mandated to recruit 1,000 indigenes from the Delta area. He also announced that the police would be recruiting 10,000 people from the area.

The committee has been charged with finding short-, medium- and long-term development programmes to reverse the worsening prospects for Delta residents. In the short term, jobs have been promised with immediate effect. Medium-term programmes are expected to be in place between 2007 and 2009, while long-term development projects extend beyond 2009.

The Delta will also be dredged, which will make transport access easier, and seaweed will be cleared. Obasanjo also made clear that he wanted to eliminate pollution and clean up the Delta. He also said that the government was implementing a rural electrification programme that would benefit 396 communities and that he hoped that mobile phone providers would be able to extend coverage to major towns and communities.

Not Enough

Despite the promise of job creation and employment opportunities, many Delta residents remain unconvinced and believe that the announcements are a short-term remedy to ensure that President Obasanjo receives backing from the Delta region as he attempts to change the constitution to enable himself to run for a third term as president.

Oronto Douglas, who mediates on behalf of the militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), told Reuters: 'The announcement from Abuja is not exciting enough to compel a positive response'.

Outlook and Implications

The militants, who have been responsible for shutting in around 560,000 b/d and forcing foreign oil workers out of the Delta because of the deteriorating security situation, are set to re-commence their attacks on 25 April (see Nigeria: 14 April 2006: Niger Delta Militants Set Date for New Attacks as Oil Shut-Ins Remain). It is likely that the shut-in will remain in place until that time, while IOCs assess the safety of the region to determine whether any of the militant groups will act on their threats.

Minister for Petroleum Resources Edmund Daukoru continues to make overly optimistic assurances about the return of oil production. However, it has become clear that the IOCs operating in the Delta will not send their workers back to the region until they are content with the security situation. This negates the opinion of Daukoru, who will continue to make statements aimed at calming investor sentiment over Nigeria's main oil-producing region.

Although Obasanjo's announcements will go down well on the international front, the next couple of months in the Delta will prove to be crucial for the country. If Delta residents believe that the federal government is sincere in its promises and if employment opportunities are realised, the committee will be regarded as a turning point in the Delta. However, if the militant groups return, as they have promised, and continue to attack IOC facilities, the country's production capacity could well be cut further. If this occurs and is accompanied by further insecurity in the region, Obasanjo will have to rethink how to resolve the Delta crisis and address the situation when the committee convenes again on 18 July. Nevertheless, more than anyone, Obasanjo is aware that the successful resolution of this crisis will represent a major factor in whether he can move forward with his plans to run for a third term in the presidency.