NIGERIA Working towards better conditions for people living at the heart of the nation’s oil sector
Projects to share the wealth of the rich Niger Delta

Extending over an area of 70,000 sq km, the Niger Delta is a mix of saltwater, mangrove and freshwater swamps, sandy coastal ridges, lowland rainforest and farmland. This oil-rich region forms the productive heart of Nigeria’s economy.
Almost all of the nation’s petroleum is produced in the Delta, where local communities have frequently disrupted the work of foreign multinationals, demanding more jobs and a greater share of the wealth derived from the region. Oil spills and allegations of human rights abuses have provoked violence and protests, so finding a lasting solution is high on President Obasanjo’s list of priorities.

The Senate Committee on the Niger Delta was set up by the government to deal with the issues. Chairman Victor Oyofo says: “Our major role is to ensure peace in the region. This means it is important to address the problems of the people who see a lot of money being created in the state but very little remaining here.”
He says the creation of a free market through privatisation and private investment will stimulate both small and medium-sized enterprises. “If our economy grows properly, we might be able to set aside some funds for small borrowers who will be able to start small family businesses.”

The Niger Delta Development Commission, set up at the behest of the president, is an agency with a broad mandate to improve standards of living in the area. Managing director Godwin Omene says the big multinational oil companies are delighted that there is a specific agency able to deal with socio-economic problems across the region.
“There are more than 1,000 schemes to be carried out, ranging from school projects to improving water supplies, laboratories and electricity. There are also programmes for youth employment and developing the potential of agriculture, fisheries and tourism,” he says.

A master plan includes a massive – and expensive – operation to improve the lives of the inhabitants of the small communities in the swamplands by building new housing and infrastructure.
Of the nine oil-producing states spread across the Niger Delta, the most important is Rivers State. Governor Peter Odili believes that since about 30 per cent of all offshore oil and gas production in the country comes from Rivers State, more resources need to be allocated to change the lives of its population for the better.
“We are not looking at oil and gas as our objective,” says Dr Odili. “We see these as resources which will lay the foundations for a state with a diversified economy in the future.” His ambition is to turn Rivers State into an information technology centre for the country. The capital, Port Harcourt, is Nigeria’s second-largest city and reducing its high level of unemployment is a top priority for the authorities.

Dr Odili’s most significant achievement has been to introduce free education at all levels. “This has meant that parents no longer have to worry about school fees, which is a serious issue in a country where families tend to be large. We have also provided free transport to and from school, which takes the burden off parents.”
Underpinning his ambitions is one key factor: by 2002 the whole state should have access to electricity. “We hope in the next couple of years to be totally self-reliant in power delivery. We are restoring infrastructure and laying solid foundations for the future. We believe that we now have the right tools in place that will permit technological growth in the future. We must ensure that there is power everywhere.”

Rivers State boasts Nigeria’s first independent electricity generating plant, which was commissioned in May at Eleme, outside Port Harcourt. The state government took over the plant two years ago and made it operational at a cost of more than $8.8 million. Dr Odili says the project would not have been possible but for the country’s transition to a democratic government.
The 1999 constitution allows Nigeria’s provincial states to generate and transmit power. Rivers is ahead of the others, with a second 30MW power station being built in Port Harcourt’s manufacturing area and a third 60MW facility planned for Omoku.

Other states, led by Lagos, are also investing in their own independent projects because of the inability of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) to meet their demand. Dr Odili believes Rivers State is poised for greater foreign direct investment as the multinationals will be more willing to set up in the oil-rich state if there are reliable power supplies. Port Harcourt is less than an hour by air from the capital.

“In the past year we have seen a great upsurge in new businesses coming into Port Harcourt,” he says. “In the future, we expect that our capacity for revenue generation will continue to improve.
“With the right investments being made by the state, and with the frugal funds from the federal government, we are going to continue to improve by sustaining the programmes we have started.”