MYSTIFYING DEVELOPMENT POLICY STRATEGIES IN THE NIGER DELTA THE UNENDING MISTAKE

Abstract

The Niger Delta has been a centre of intense conflicts and violence. These conflicts and violence have necessitated the setting up of various intervention bodies to remedy the situation. These badies include Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB) (1958), the Oil Minerals Producing and Development Commission (OMPADEC) (1992), the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)(2000) and the most recent, Ministry of Niger Delta (2008). In spite of these measures, violence is on the increase coupled with the taking and use of hostages as a means of negotiation. It is in this direction that this paper seeks to investigate why the development efforts have not translated or impacted much on the lives of the rural people in the region. This paper asked a fundamental question of; what is responsible for the development crisis in the region? The exposed answer is that, the problems that besieged the Niger Delta intervention agencies since 1961 of NDDB through OMPADEC to the present NDDC, was ill-managed by inefficient administrators. This article demonstrates how the state pursues the interest of the few Niger Delta ruling elites to the exclusion of the intended beneficiaries of the development. The consequences are the feeling of deprivation and alienation which is still persuasive till date.