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Professor Gambari’s 50% Prescription for a Short-Term Solution in the Niger Delta: a Recipe for No Action By Abubakar Atiku Nuhu-Koko
Recently in Lagos, at the formal launching of his book, the highly regarded and respected international diplomat and civil servant, Professor (Ambassador) Ibrahim A. Gambari, former Nigerian Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in New York, United States of America (USA) and presently, UN Under-Secretary for Political Affairs expressed his opinion on how to go about resolving the lingering development and other social crises in Nigeria’s troubled Niger Delta region in the short and long term horizons.
Professor Gambari was reported by some Nigerian Newspapers to have recommended to the Nigerian government to set aside 50% of all accruable revenues from oil and gas sales for 30 days towards providing the immediate basic needs of the region in the short term while sorting out for long term solutions to the problems at hand:
“THE Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs at the United Nations (UN), Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, has urged the Federal Government to consider devoting an equivalent of 50 per cent of oil revenue for 30 days to the development of the Niger Delta region in order to address the most basic needs of the region.” (The Guardian Newspaper, Thursday, May 15, 2008).
This proposition seems to be a mere political statement as he did not back it up with any legal instrument and or Constitutional provision. Therefore, accepting and implementing Gambari’s proposition will amount to illegality on the part of the Nigerian government, something that would not have been permitted by the UN in its own organizational set up. Hence, the proposition has credibility problem as discussed below.
The aim of this piece is to put this expressed opinion in the context of sustainable international best thinking and practices and more importantly and within the provisions of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution and the rule of law.
There are no doubts whatsoever in the minds of Nigerians that the lingering special development needs of the Niger Delta region deserve urgent and concerted concerns and efforts by all the three tires of governments of Nigeria, private/multinational oil and gas resources developers and international development partners/donors alike.
While it is an undeniable fact that the people in the Niger Delta region have been, and indeed, are unfairly negatively impacted by the oil and gas development activities, and that there is more than urgent need to address this situation, however, we must not go about doing this through knee-jerk reactions.
Nigerians and government policymakers must learn from what happened in the power and other infrastructure sectors (such as transport, Federal Capital Territory, Health etc) during the immediate past administration of former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. The lessons to learn from the episodes in the said sectors of the economy are many.
The failure to transform Nigeria’s public utilities and infrastructures in spite of the huge funds committed in the 1999-2007 period was the result of greed and wrong decision on the part of the politician, government, bureaucrats and technocrats. In part, these wrong decisions were deliberate avoidable misalignment of incentives rather than genuine mistakes.
For example, in a rather belated attempt to solve the lingering power crisis in the country, the Obasanjo’s administration resorted to the usual Nigerian brand of fire brigade approach – taking short-cuts to reach the disaster scene; albeit, ill-equipped to quench the fire as the fire engines lack sufficient water and water pressure to do the job! Such efforts ended up as failures as they lack honesty, transparency and efficiency; the power projects were foolishly conceived and did not pass through mandatory due process and competitive tendering.
The Nigerian fire brigade approach to solving national and or local problems involves also cutting corners; including resorting to illegal constitutional breaches/violations and rule of law breaking - all in the name of serving national interest. In the process however, avenues are more often than not, deliberately created and exploited for nefarious private and personal enrichment among other malfeasances.
The recent sordid revelations at the on-going public hearings and findings by the various legislative oversight and investigative committees are frightening and eye openers to say the least. It is against this backdrop that Professor Gambari’s (and other concerned individuals) fervent desire for a rapid resolution of the unfortunate situation in the Niger Delta region need to be viewed.
Professor Gambari’s prescription touches on sensitive constitutional issues bordering on: presidential democracy’s separation of powers, fiscal federalism, and Rule of Law. Moreover, strict adherence to Rule of Law and the provisions of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution are cardinal principles of President Yar’Adua’s administration.
But the paradox is that Prof. Gambari’s prescription will be in direct contravention of the provisions of Section 162(1&3) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution. For instance, Section 162 (1&3) of the 1999 Constitution provides that "the federation shall maintain a special account to be called the Federation Account, into which shall be paid all revenues collected by the government of the federation...any amounts standing to the credit of the Federation Account must be distributed among the federal, the state governments and the local government councils on such term and manner prescribed by the National Assembly."
Therefore, diverting any of such revenues for whatever purpose without recourse to compliance with these constitutional provisions will amount to constitutional breach/violation by the government. Furthermore, the proposition will also violate a number of existing short and long term contractual arrangements entered by the Nigerian government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporations with local and international oil companies operating in Nigeria. These contractual obligations are in conformity with the existing laws of the country.
However, knowing from where Prof. Gambari comes from (i.e., the academia and the UN), I don’t believe that Professor Gambari, a stickler for rule of law and respecter of constitutional democracy and peaceful resolution (through dialogues and negotiations) of conflicts would like to see the Nigerian government commit acts that border on violations of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution and breach Nigerian laws in the quest for a quick-fix solution to the problems that require both short and long term well-thought-out solutions.
Therefore, just as the venerable Prof. Gambari will not take action or inaction that violates the statutes of the UN, his current employers, so also I believe he will not encourage President Yar’Adua or any Nigerian to breach the Nigerian Constitution and its laws. Nevertheless, his proposition deserves to be studied by the government and the National Assembly and see how it can be useful within the law.
In the same manner, I am in agreement with the position of President Yar’Adua of not involving international mediators in the resolution of the Niger Delta issues. Nigeria is abundantly blessed with highly qualitative stock of very serious and able minded, highly regarded and respected statesmen and women (often utilized by the international community for international mediation of conflicts).
These eminently qualified Nigerians can be pooled together with participation from a pool of equally respectable members of civil society organizations to assist the government in tackling the lingering issues in the Niger Delta region without recourse to internationalizing what is solvable within the confines of our national border. For example, the government can effectively and efficiently use some members of the constitutionally provided advisory body – the Council of State in the resolution of the crises (see The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, Section 153 (1) (b) and Third Schedule, Part I (B)). The Council of State comprises for example, all former Presidents/Heads of State, all former Chief Justices of Nigeria etc.
The Council of State’s constitutional function is to advise the President in the exercise of his/her Powers with respect to a number of national issues among which include maintenance of public order and such other matters as the President may direct. It is in line with the letters and spirit of these Constitutional provisions cited above and others contained in the 1999 Constitution that both Prof. Gambari’s and President Yar’Adua’s positions regarding the Niger Delta development and social crises need to be contextualized.
Therefore, I would rather like to see Prof. Gambari joining hands with Nigeria’s other elder statesmen and women and the three tiers of government to fashion out a cohesive “Yar’Adua Green (in place of “Blue”) Print/Plan” for the accelerated implementation of the Niger Delta Master Plan in a similar (or even better manner) the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was and is being developed. However, for this Nigerian experience to be replicated in the Niger Delta region, the following minimum preconditions are required:
In conclusion, Prof. Gambari’s genuine desire for a rapid and sustainable resolution of the lingering social, economic and physical development problems in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region is shared by overwhelming Nigerians. But the methods of achieving the long awaited, real and genuine accelerated implementation of the Niger Delta Master Plan must be done within the laws of the federation.
Nigerian government must avoid repeating the seemingly deliberate (misaligned incentives) and or mistakes that were made in the hasty efforts to solve the power sector crises by the immediate past administration of former President Obasanjo.
However, misalignment of incentives as witnessed during Obasanjo’s administration (1999-2007) may be repeated unless there is political will to learn and to correct the past misdeeds or misaligned incentives through proper and well-thought out institutional innovations by the present Yar’ Adua administration.
Nevertheless, from this most recent sordid experience of the immediate past, Nigerians seem to prepare and to push for more appropriate and more effectively enforced accountability and transparency in our governmental affairs; relying more on the rule of law, public pressure than through violent and unconstitutional means.
Abubakar Atiku Nuhu-Koko Monday, 19 May 2008
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