Nigerian State and Development in the Niger Delta: A Critique of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)
- November 14, 2018
- Posted by: RSIS
- Category: Political Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume II, Issue XI, November 2018 | ISSN 2454–6186
Ekekwe, Eme N., Ph.D.1, Ukachikara, Ucheoma O.2
1, 2Department of Political & Administrative Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Abstract: – Nigeria’s Niger Delta has a disreputable history of poor living conditions despite its rich human and natural resources. Since the findings of the Willink’s Commission in 1957, the precarious development condition of the region has continued to be poorly addressed, oversixty years after. Various development interventions have been made by the Nigerian state supposedly to tackle the development conundrum of the region. Latest of such programmes is the Niger Delta Development Commission established in 2000. Despite this latest effort, the Niger Delta continues to be trapped in the vicious circle of underdevelopment. Given that many factors may be responsible for the failure of the Commission and its inability to facilitate development in the region, this study attempted an interrogation of the impacts of the character of Nigerian state on the poor performance of the NDDC, and by implication, other such interventions in the area. Marxian Political Economy was adopted as the theoretical framework for this study. Data collected from secondary and primary sources were analysed using the Content Analysis method. It was found that the abysmal performance of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in the development of Niger Delta could be safely attributed to the nature of the Nigerian state. The Commission failed to facilitate development in the region because it was not structured to do so. It was conceived and designed as an avenue for creating the order in which the interest of the ruling class to accumulate capital in the region is favoured and protected. The study therefore recommended that the NDDC legal framework be reviewed to accommodate such people-centred provisions as making membership of the management and governing boards of the NDDC a community elective affair, as well as making the advisory and monitoring committee of the NDDC independent bodies composed of members of the local communities.
Keywords: State, Capital, Development, Interventions, Niger Delta, Ruling Class.
