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| Press Release: Why Niger-Delta stakeholders summit must hold - Yar'adua |
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| Thursday, 03 July 2008 | ||||||
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Against the background of certain misconceptions about the Summit of Stakeholders in the Niger Delta planned by the Federal Government, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua wishes to reaffirm his continued commitment to the summit as a critical first step and take-off point for the implementation of his Administration’s agenda for peace and rapid socio-economic development in the region. As President Yar’Adua has often stated, peace and security are essential preconditions for meaningful development. One of the primary objectives of the Stakeholders Summit is to evolve an across the board consensus and commitment from all concerned parties to end the incessant violence in the region and engender a much more conducive atmosphere for the massive improvement of infrastructure and social services in the region. The President believes that the summit is necessary to obtain a firm and binding commitment from all stakeholders to stop all acts of violence and criminality which have unfortunately turned the Niger-Delta into a no-go-area for many of the construction companies and contractors whose services are required for provision of essential amenities in the region. The sad reality of the present situation in the region is that by the time President Yar’Adua assumed office last year, most of the contractors mobilized to sites in the area had abandoned their projects--some after collecting huge sums of money--because of insecurity and the ever-present threats of violence. The continual disruption of work by armed gangs, kidnappings of expatriate personnel and family members for ransom as well as the necessity and cost of providing high level security cover for workers, sometimes involving deployment of troops, have today driven up the cost of executing projects in the Niger Delta by about 300 per cent with no guarantee of completion. Under these circumstances, President Yar’Adua considered it absolutely necessary to engage all stakeholders in the region in meaningful and purposeful dialogue aimed at removing fundamental obstacles to the implementation of his Administration’s plans for Niger-Delta. The Stakeholders Summit is therefore expected to provide the forum for this dialogue and the adoption by all stakeholders of the Yar’Adua plan for addressing the developmental challenges of the region. The urgent resolution of the developmental challenges of the Niger Delta remains a very critical element of the Yar’Adua Administration’s seven-point agenda and the success of the Stakeholders Summit is central to efforts to fulfill the Administration’s commitments in this regard. Much thought and effort has already gone into the conception and planning of the summit. President Yar’Adua is fully committed to doing everything possible to ensure that it yields positive dividends for peace, security and long overdue progress in the Niger-Delta. As far as achieving the expected outcomes depend on the President’s resolve and commitment therefore, the summit will certainly not turn out to be another pointless and diversionary jamboree as some fear. As a prelude to summit, President Yar’Adua set up two committees last year. He has personally chaired one of the committees which has been engaging Governors from the region and other critical stakeholders in reviewing the Niger Delta Development Masterplan as developed by NDDC and working out details of the implementation plan with deliverables by each of the stakeholders and timelines. The second one headed by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan was to synthesize all previous attempts and reports on the resolution of the problems of the Niger Delta, engage all the stakeholders, including the militants and elders in the region, work out the modalities for the Summit, appoint the Chairperson for the Steering Committee and establish the parameters for discourse. Once the summit has held and achieved its key objective of getting all stakeholders to buy-in to the Yar’Adua Administration’s agenda for the region and guarantee the creation of the right conditions of peace and security for the rapid execution of the agenda, the Federal Government will move very quickly to begin the faithful implementation of the Niger Delta Development Master Plan. Olusegun Adeniyi Special Adviser to the President (Communications) July 3, 2008  Quote this article on your site | Views: 399 | Print | E-mail
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