Simbi Wabote: How Niger Delta Wasted Over $258bn in 26 Years

• As stakeholders discuss new devt model

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Over $258 billion that accrued to the six Niger Delta States in the last 26 years from federal allocation, excess crude, amnesty programme, among other interventions, was not properly utilised for the transformation of the region.

Oil expert and former Executive Secretary of Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote, made the assertion yesterday in Port Harcourt.

Wabote spoke at the first Niger Delta Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Trade, Mines and Agriculture (NDCCITMA) forum.

He said the funds could not be accounted for and channelled properly to the development of the region.

Wabote blamed the situation on policy inconsistency, failure to create a workable framework, and volatile political environment.

The former NCDMB executive secretary, who decried the situation, cited Rwanda, with less than half the population of the Niger Delta, and a lower Gross Domestic Product (GDP) than the region, which transformed its economy, currently ranking among the fastest growing in Africa.

He stated that the failure of both the private and public sectors to synergise and evolve a workable blueprint had put Niger Delta in a backward situation.

He urged concerted effort to diversify the economy from reliance on oil.

“We should establish clear metrics,” Wabote said, to monitor progress, and set targets by institutionalising accountability.

Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Samuel Ogbulu, called for proper needs assessment in the region.

Ogbuku said a suitable needs assessment template will help to drive development and ensure that projects executed were based on priorities and were tailored to uplift the people.

He said the new NDDC board had committed to changing the old narrative to fit into the realities and needs of the region.

Ogbuku commended President Bola Tinubu for ensuring that board members completed their tenures for stability and proper management of resources.

Urging all stakeholders to confer and evolve a fresh blueprint for the region’s business development, Ogbuku said, “We need to think out of the box on the necessity of bringing back the region to what it used to be.”

He tasked the private sector to work towards driving the new initiative, pointing out that government cannot do it alone.

Chairman of NDCCITMA, Ambassador Idaere Gogo Ogan, disclosed that the conference, the first of its kind, and will draw up a template to revive business and economic growth in the region.

“We need to start producing results and go beyond our potentials. And this will help define a new roadmap,” Ogan stated.

Ogan added, “We must use our brain. If we use our brain collectively and individually, results will come. The Niger Delta does not begin from insignificance. It begins from weight.

“On the last broadly comparable all-state baseline, the nine-state Niger Delta accounted for roughly one-fifth of Nigeria’s economy.”

Board Secretary of the chambers, Chief Solomon Edebiri, commended the huge participation of stakeholders. Edebiri emphasised that the conference will promote ease of doing business, and leverage medium and small-scale businesses by preparing their minds for the future.

He assured that the conference will set up an action plan once resolutions were reached on how to revive the region’s economy.