In Parts 1 and 2, we x-rayed the financial spine of Delta State. We found it unjustifiably diseased. The summary of our findings and submissions is that Delta State should not be so financially handicapped that it cannot pay her workers. Delta’s inability to pay salary is not justifiable. Specifically, any good business, whether private or public that can deploy 1.5 trillion naira in 48 months, as Delta State did, should not be begging to pay staff salaries. Something is fundamentally wrong. Delta has no single reason to be poor nor have unemployed youths. We concluded by examining what could be done to reverse the decadence: prudence and diversification of revenue sources.
In this closing part, having come hard on past leadership of Delta State, it is only fair to let the immediate past governor, amiable Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, have the last word in this discussion. We represent here a statement from his administration’s site.
Dr. Uduaghan: “The entrenched and endemic abuse of basic rights and freedom under the military culminated in bottled up agitations, tension and pent-up emotions… Having identified the root causes, my administration concluded that massive government investment in infrastructure, eliminating corruption at all levels and a sustainable improvement in the general standard of living of the electorate would significantly help to arrest and ultimately eliminate the spate of insecurity…. I quickly empowered the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC)… to go down to the rural, oil-producing communities to create jobs, stem the growing army of unemployed youths and provide the much-needed infrastructure in designated host communities. 50% of the 13% derivation accruing to the state or about approximately $222.5 million annually is passed on to the commission… We…rehabilitated 42 high schools… we began…‘Delta Beyond Oil’…. the need to understand that oil and gas are finite assets and exhaustible resources… Correspondingly, we conceived and designed a new comprehensive economic development framework with investment strategies and approaches that ensured that other sectors of the economy in the state are brought on stream…. the completion of an international airport in Asaba… expansion of an existing airport at Osubi, near Warri… my administration launched an outreach programme in 2009 in New York under the chairmanship of Ambassador Walter Carrington, a former United States (US) Envoy to Nigeria.. We believe that there are eminent Deltans in the diaspora who have both the technical expertise and the web of contacts to bring to the table for the overall development of Delta State.
…in partnership with private investors… completing an Independent Power Project (IPP) to produce power that will be transmitted and distributed throughout the state. … Invested over N15 billion in the Federal Government IPP Project … to step up power generation and distribution in the state. Delta State has embarked on several projects to modernise and upgrade agricultural production in the state. Other strategies and programmes include the promotion of commercial and industrial entrepreneurship through the funding of micro-level entrepreneurs to grow into small and medium scale commercial and manufacturing enterprises. In total, over 100,000 people have benefitted from the micro-credit scheme. Also important is the development of the tourism sector. Because of our drive, a lot of tourism and hospitality industries are now springing up in the state. The biggest is the $240 million Delta Leisure Park by a private investor in partnership with the state government. We are also encouraging medical tourism by improving on the quality of secondary and tertiary hospitals and encouraging private investment in healthcare.
… Pursuit of local and foreign investors and expertise was implemented and we recorded encouraging results. The most recent example of large scale investments being attracted to the state is the plan by Transcorp Hilton Hotels to establish two five-star hotels in Delta State – Asaba and Warri respectively. In addition, Heirs Holding, a big private sector firm in Nigeria, plans to establish a $1.4 billion dollar fertiliser plant in Burutu, one of the riverine communities in the state. The Federal Government of Nigeria working closely with the Delta State Government is also building a multi-million dollar landing jetty in Okwagbe… the state has targeted two constituencies. These are Deltans in the diaspora who are given special incentives to bring investments in their areas of expertise and other foreign investors that are invited to invest in critical sectors of the state economy that will generate broad economic activities and employment opportunities while securing high returns.
… to attract and retain domestic and foreign investors to the state, the state decided to establish… the Warri Industrial and Business Park, the Koko and Ogidigben Industrial Park/Export Free Trade Zone and the Asaba Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Park.”
…in partnership with private investors… completing an Independent Power Project (IPP) to produce power that will be transmitted and distributed throughout the state. … Invested over N15 billion in the Federal Government IPP Project … to step up power generation and distribution in the state. Delta State has embarked on several projects to modernise and upgrade agricultural production in the state. Other strategies and programmes include the promotion of commercial and industrial entrepreneurship through the funding of micro-level entrepreneurs to grow into small and medium scale commercial and manufacturing enterprises. In total, over 100,000 people have benefitted from the micro-credit scheme. Also important is the development of the tourism sector. Because of our drive, a lot of tourism and hospitality industries are now springing up in the state. The biggest is the $240 million Delta Leisure Park by a private investor in partnership with the state government. We are also encouraging medical tourism by improving on the quality of secondary and tertiary hospitals and encouraging private investment in healthcare.
… Pursuit of local and foreign investors and expertise was implemented and we recorded encouraging results. The most recent example of large scale investments being attracted to the state is the plan by Transcorp Hilton Hotels to establish two five-star hotels in Delta State – Asaba and Warri respectively. In addition, Heirs Holding, a big private sector firm in Nigeria, plans to establish a $1.4 billion dollar fertiliser plant in Burutu, one of the riverine communities in the state. The Federal Government of Nigeria working closely with the Delta State Government is also building a multi-million dollar landing jetty in Okwagbe… the state has targeted two constituencies. These are Deltans in the diaspora who are given special incentives to bring investments in their areas of expertise and other foreign investors that are invited to invest in critical sectors of the state economy that will generate broad economic activities and employment opportunities while securing high returns.
… to attract and retain domestic and foreign investors to the state, the state decided to establish… the Warri Industrial and Business Park, the Koko and Ogidigben Industrial Park/Export Free Trade Zone and the Asaba Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Park.”
That was Dr. Uduaghan. Finally, having weighed both sides, the reader can make an informed opinion on Delta State. More importantly, the new Delta administration can shape even better policy. Incredibly beautiful Delta State deserves the very best. We must not let her down.
This is the concluding part of this study of Delta State. Having looked at Kogi, Lagos and Delta, we would pause for a while and return later to examine the financial spines of other states. In the mean time, we want to focus for a while, beginning next week, on a related albeit more national topic – Nigerian Vision 20_2020, Nigerian federal government’s economic roadmap for the next five years. The two focal analysis, states and federal governments, are of course related. As things are presently, the federal government would appear to be doing what ought to be left to states. There are of course strong reasons, albeit negative ones, for this bowlegged approach to the economy in Nigeria. But that discussion can await our fuller analysis of both state and federal financial situations and economic projections respectively.
Next week, I will begin in this column a series titledNigeria Vision 20-2020 Mirage? It is five years to go to achieve our dream of being in the league of the twenty (20) most developed nations in the world. What would make it not happen? What would make it a dream come true? After that series, I will resume the analysis of the economic spines of individual states in Nigeria.
source-->Dailytimes.com.ng