Agenda Papers Editorial: Scrapping Ministry of Niger Delta, Creating & Retaining Ministry Of Livestock Is Time Bomb Awaiting Explosion—By Austine Uche-Ejeke

As the dust of the recent cabinet reshuffle by president Tinubu is gradually settling down one feature of it that is glossed over is the abolition of the ministry of Niger Delta.

For students of history and for clarification’s sake the ministry of Niger Delta was created in September 2008 by the Yardua/Goodluck Jonathan administration.

The sole purpose of the creation was majorly among other things to include youth mobilization and empowerment in the Niger Delta Region, advise government on security issues concerning the region and liaise with relevant government, non-governmental and private organizations. It also involves formulation and coordination of policies for environmental management in the region.

With the above purposes of creating the ministry it shows that Yardua saw a lot of sense and justification to create the ministry for the oil rich Niger Delta region. Prior to that time the region was engulfed with restiveness and crisis of oil pipe bombing and vandalization, kidnapping of expatriate oil workers and general unrest.

Also to note here is that the administration not only created the Ministry of Niger Delta but went ahead to grant Amnesty to all the militants operating in the region, rehabilitated most of them and in fact sent some of them abroad for studies and learning of various skills.

With that, a sort of calmness was seen in the region and it is on record that oil production stabilized and in fact peaked at an all time 2.3 million barrels per day.

The states in the oil rich and environmentally devastated Niger Delta region include Rivers,Bayelsa, Edo, Delta, Cross River and Akwa Ibom. The level of oil pollution and environmental degradation is better for somebody to experience than just to imagine it. That to a large extent was the rationale for the creation of the ministry of Niger Delta in the first place.

It is this all important Ministry that president Tinubu woke up one day and with presidential fiat ordered its scrapping without considering the after effects it’s going to have in the region, the people and the country in general.

Extensive massive national and global condemnations have greeted the abolition of the Niger Delta ministry as key observers are warning of the impending doom such policy rascality can cause Nigeria.

Prominent among the voice of condemnation is leading Niger Delta champion and elder Statesman Pa Edwin Clarke who has warned of the great dangers such scrapping can cause.

Added to that community leaders of the six oil rich states, youths, ex militants and oil stakeholders have also lent their voices in strong condemnation.

But unfortunately politicians and political actors in the South -South region are not seeing the big picture and challenge the president on the scrapping of the Niger Delta ministry.

Politicians like Nyesom Wike, Godswill Akpabio, Adams Oshiomole etc Somebody like Wike who is very close to the president and also doubles as powerful minister of the federal capital territory should be in the forefront of questioning the rationale behind the ministry.They will not speak out because of the pecuniary benefits they are getting right now. Tomorrow when they are thrown out or lost out they will start acting as progressives and revolutionaries just like what Rotimi Amaechi is doing now after being minister and an insider in the Buhari’s regime for eight years.

In all of these there is a consensus of opinion that nothing will be too big for the Niger Delta region which is the goose that lays the golden egg. This is because for a very long time that region has suffered untold hardship and neglect by both the government and oil companies that operate in the region. All their waters and aquatic plants and animals are polluted and gone. There is frequent oil spillage that no adequate compensation is given and so many injustices going on in the region.

No wonder many see the scrapping such a sensitive and important Ministry as an act of mischief and wickedness. To many it is seen as a daring act by a president who does not care and this is supposed not to be so.

To make matters worse while scrapping the Ministry of Niger Delta the president created and retained the ministry of Livestock. The ministry was created in July, 2024 and inside sources revealed that the creation of the ministry was an outcome of the visit of Miyetti Allah to the president in Aso Rock. A few days after the visit the ministry of Livestock was created and you can imagine and do the deductions yourself.

According to presidential sources the ministry was created for Nigeria to take advantage of Livestock farming! A livestock ministry is created in a country where we have the ministry of Agriculture yet the mainstay of the economy for a long period of time which is oil, the ministry of Niger Delta that is supposed to cater for the region was scrapped. What an absurdity!

The sorry thing about the creation of the ministry of Livestock is that most Nigerians know that it’s majorly and for protection of cows and itinerary grazing but the poser for the president and others is since the creation of the ministry has the activities of the rampaging herdsmen stopped. Has cows stopped invading the farms of Nigerians and eating up their crops. Has the hostilities and killing of innocent Nigerians by herdsmen who move these cows around stopped. The answer is capital NO and if that is the case of what use has the creation of the ministry been.

What we are preaching is the gospel that will provide eternal peace for the country and not just policies that will scuttle the peace, tranquility and unity of this country.

Scrapping a sensitive ministry and retaining one that is of lesser significance should not be a patriotic act of a well meaning statesman but that of a coward and selfish politician who is not thinking of the future generations but that of his survival in the next election.

This attitude of always dancing to the whims and caprices of a particular section of this country is what will sink Nigeria if care is not taken. It’s high time the president and the rulers knew that all the regions in this country are equal, together with the citizens of this great nation. No particular region or individual should be treated as superior to the other.

It is on that note that we call on the president to do a policy adjustment and bring back the ministry of Niger Delta. The hallmark of a brave leader is to swallow his pride and own up to his mistakes if they are pointed out to him.

If this is not done president Tinubu should take responsibility to any ugly outcome of this scrapping of Niger Delta ministry as the youths, elders militants and community leaders of the region are not happy and may be jostling for hostilities which may not be in the best interest of the country at this material point in time.