Contending Issues in the Niger Delta Crisis of Nigeria - Journal of ...

Olawale Olaopa, Ibikunle Ogundari, Mike Awoleye, and Willie Siyanbola
The response of the federal government to the agitation for more
oil revenue by the oil producing states has being largely military. A
few direct interventionist agencies, such as the Niger Delta
Development Commission (NDDC), funded directly by the federal
government, have been established to promote the economic
development of the region, still one of the most backward in Nigeria,
despite its oil resources. But the NDDC, itself a cesspool of graft, has
had very little impact on economic and social development in the
region which, despite its oil wealth, has one of the worst
infrastructure in Nigeria. The oil companies, for their part, set up
several projects, including provision of basic infrastructure,
scholarship schemes, and community-relation units through which
community members could express their needs. Yet the oil companies
have continued to deny responsibility for the ecological destruction.
This is attested to by the assertion made by Brian Anderson, Shell's
managing director at the time that "We totally reject accusations of
devastation in Ogoni land or Niger Delta. This has been dramatized
out of proportion."
In any case, as far as the communities are concerned, these
efforts are insignificant given the billions of petrodollars that are
extracted from the soil. This assessment applies also to the civilian
regime of President Obasanjo. The most significant step taken by his
government, the establishment of a Niger Delta Development
Commission (NDDC) has come under a hail of criticism. Ben Naanen,
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