Amaechi Laments Nigeria’s Low Per Capita Income

Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State says there is no justification for Nigeria’s per capita income (PCI) to be lower than those of Ghana and Cameroun, judging by the country’s huge earning from oil since independence.

The governor said that within this period, oil productions have generated about $300billion for the federal government but regretted that the per capita income still stands at an abysmal $2.748

Governor Amaechi, who made the observation, Monday, in a paper delivered at the Royal African Society Forum at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, titled “Militancy and Amnesty, Good and bad governance in the Niger Delta”, said the country’s Per Capita Income is abysmally low when compared to Ghana’s $10,748 and Cameroun’s $10,758 amongst others.     

He described the standard of living in Nigeria, as worse when compared to the independence era, noting that the situation in the Niger Delta area was even worse, citing the example of Rivers State which had not felt the presence of the federal government for over 20 years.

The State Chief Executive explained that the Niger Delta region remains the centre of oil production in Nigeria with the people suffering the hazards associated with the exploration and exploitation of the black gold which generates billions of dollars to the federal government.

Governor Amaechi maintained that it was not strange that discussions about the Niger Delta in circles continue to revolve around the issue of violence, militancy and disruptions of oil production  because the people live in abject poverty and misery,

Tracing the origin of militancy in the Niger Delta, the governor said, one of the conditions for independence as proposed by the political class from the Oil Rivers Protectorate was the assurance of protection from the dominant groups in the federation.

According to him, these agitations were pioneered by Harold Dappa Biriye and his colleagues from the minority ethnic groups in the South-South, which led to the setting up of the Henry Willinck’s Commission and the eventual constitution of the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority.

Governor Amaechi said the inability of government to allay the fears of the people, in spite of the recommendations of the Willinck Commission, may have snowballed into what their descendants in the present -day oil rich Niger Delta seem to be clamouring for, but regretted that in later years criminality overtook the struggle.

The governor, who faulted the oil companies, federal government, foreign and local  businessmen, political and military leaders for contributing’ to the unrest in the region, noted that Rivers State Government’s effort to rehabilitate ex-militants predates the federal government amnesty programme.

He appealed to the federal authorities not to renege on the promise to the ex-militants that embraced the amnesty offer.

“We must objectively ask ourselves, why did the boys in the creeks take up arms against the federal government in the first place? We cannot just sweep the issue of resource control under the carpet, until the aggrieved party is truly assuaged and fully re-integrated”, Amaechi contended.

The State Chief Executive said that bad governance and corrupt leadership could only serve as catalyst for brigandage in an unfriendly environment, pointing out that his administration had entered into an unwritten agreement with Rivers people to change the developmental indices and deliver good governance that would be remember generations to come.