COMMUNIQUE OF A SYMPOSIUM ORGANISED BY THE NIGER DELTA YOUTH ASSOCIATION WORLD WIDE




As a body known as the Niger Delta Youth Association World Wide, it behooves us to organize a symposium on the economic way forward for the Niger Delta Region which we entitled 'Growing the Economy of the Niger Delta Region'. This event was held at the emporium of the University of Portsmouth's Students Union Building in Portsmouth, United Kingdom. Before now, the economy of the Niger Delta collectively as a federating contingent of the Nigerian State, have been over looked by the various states and well as administrations of the federal government of Nigeria. It is against this backdrop that the NDYA deemed it necessary, to come up with a symposium in order to review the precarious effects which the dormancy of the economy has had on the Niger Delta Region and Its People.
After many deliberations on all features of the Niger Delta Region ranging from its political, commerce, economy, infrastructural, social and environmental features and structures; certain realities were arrived upon. Chiefly and most important of these is environmental pollution, this has affected the agro-economic participation of the Niger Delta People and have created a situation where the agricultural support funds from the federal governments continues to slim down year after year. There ports (Warri, Port Harcourt, Onne and Calabar) scattered across the Niger Delta but without direct international freight access.
Again, infrastructural development which will aid commercial and economic activities remains low irrespective of the fact that the region is chiefly responsible for 96% of foreign exchange earnings accrued to the federal, state and local governments including the multinationals in Nigeria. Rather than create the needed partnership for developing infrastructures in the Niger Delta instead these tiers of government allowed politics to decimate every tendencies to provide infrastructures especially roads leading in to rural areas where agro-economic activities needs high stimulation.
The people of the Niger Delta are institutionally alienated from the commercial, economic and a skills activity which fathoms the very resources found in the region both by the federal and state governments. The people have no direct access to owning oil and gas, be it joint venture, profit sharing or sole operatorship of oil and gas blocks within the 'Indigenous Participation Scheme' established by the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida's military administration in 1990. Worst still is the fact that even the 13% derivation is handed to governors to manage on behalf of the people and this money does not go in to providing infrastructures directly for the rural areas rather all governors who has handled these monies, concentrated on the various capital cities of all the Niger Delta States hence, this practices unfettered results to the present economic strangulation witnessed in the region.

The Niger Delta crisis which root cause is traceable to the constant military interjection in the democratic social contract mechanism the Niger Delta operates with the Nigerian State particular, the unilateral issuing of decrees which serves as working laws that coordinates economic activities like Decree 5 of 1976 and Land Use Decree 1978 which strips the people of the Niger Delta of a reasonable level of economic autonomy. The 10 years crisis which ended with a Declaration of 'Amnesty' by the President Umaru Musa Yara'Adua led administration, dealt a big blow to the economy of the Niger Delta Region and in same vein as the current resurgence of the insurgency therefore, We resolve as follows:

1. That politics within the region and of the region must reflect the aspirations and yearnings of the people of the region, administrators must not subvert the peoples theoretical political approach to solving their immediate needs as such practice has kept the people in redundancy and has retarded economic development.

2. That federal, states and local governments must make it a priority to establish or give leave to establish community banks, micro-finance banks, building society financial houses to provide funds and supervision to small and medium scale enterprises in order to pump life in to the commercial lifeblood of the Niger Delta Region. Resources ownership and control as well as 'True Democratic Federalism' is a key to growing the economy of the Niger Delta.

3. The endowments which consists of the resources of the region particularly the natural resources must be ruled by circumstances and laws that will allow the people to transform them in to consumable commodities by way of using them to produce goods and service for them and for external use so as to earn remuneration. For instances, today rather than keeping and enforcing laws that create illegal crude refineries instead laws which allows people of the region to group them together to invest in modular refineries is more economically viable and guarantees safer environmental practices.

4. That a serious joint venture of the three tiers of government and the multinationals companies on rapid infrastructural development like roads and bridges to link the rural areas where agro-economic and commercial activities is on decline, is highly needed. Infrastructural revolution should be declared in the Niger Delta.

5. That due to a massive decline in the economy of the Niger Delta Region over the years, there is evidential proof that this has resulted in several social vices and degradation of the Niger Delta Region and its people particularly the youths in an attempt to survive therefore, resources is needs to be invested in social orientation programs especially in education, student loans should be made available to enable as many youths as possible to get quality education, our state and federal government owned schools must be upgraded to the best possible standards. Community and youths centers/facilities need to be provided for skills absorption and recreational purposes. This will foster personal development which will lead to creating youth entrepreneurs and artisans.

6. That multinational companies, federal, state and local governments have a moral duty and responsibility to make the cleaning up of the Niger Delta environment, their priority. The oil spillage in the 'Gulf of Mexico' was single handedly cleaned up by British Petroleum in 2010 hence; it shouldn't be about paying compensation but more of cleaning up the mess. There must be a quota within the budgets of the three tiers of government for the cleaning up of the Niger Delta and unfailingly. This is to prepare the land and rivers for agro-economic purposes to better the lives and welfare of the people.

7. Lastly the security of the region must be paramount as artificially induced insecurity by politicians or a show of federal might which is out of place is not what is needed currently in the Niger Delta. Shifting military hardwares down in to the Niger Delta by the federal government in place of providing agricultural and cleaning up equipments is indeed a shame. This is the reason why we seek 'Self Determination' because a situation where a government that fails to do simple things for the Niger Delta yet is quick to militarize it with heavy military equipment in a format characterized of US invasion of Iraq, is nothing to write home about because it is an evidence that the government wants nothing but poverty in the region.

We call on all Niger Delta youths, elders, resources persons and traditional rulers to join hands in this mission of growing the economy of the Niger Delta for the highest good of all and sundry. We must not allow negative reports to deter us from achieving this necessary feat. We must focus on developing capacity for easy transformation of our noble ideas in to great projects that will take us way deep in to the 21st century and beyond. May God guide and empower all our efforts to grow the Niger Delta to an enviable height.

Signed:

Comrade Victor James
President
Comrade Ibiso Harry
Vice President
Comrade Gabriel Patterson Unyeowaji
Spokesman
Comrade Emomotimi Zeiprebo
National Publicity Secretary
Comrade Eme Praise Fynface
Chairman UK Chapter
Comrade Engr. Tony Emeka Odoe
Publicity Secretary UK Chapter