: Delta problem key issue for new government

There is a palpable feeling of hope in Nigeria following the swearing-in on Saturday of President Olusegun Obasanjo, but it is tempered by a realisation of the enormity of the task ahead of the new administration in rebuilding a country brought low by 15 years of military misrule, analysts say. Among the critical tests for the government is how it handles the simmering resentment in the oil-producing Niger Delta over the region's neglect and impoverishment. Demands for greater autonomy and a larger slice of the oil revenues that flow from the six underdeveloped southern states have been backed by attacks on oil installations, demonstrations, and clashes between communities in land ownership disputes. In the past, the military responded to the local agitation with repression. However, in his inaugural address, Obasanjo acknowledged the seriousness of the Delta problem, and in charting a new course, stressed the need for dialogue. He also said a bill would be prepared "within weeks" to increase from 3 percent to 13 percent the share of revenue earned from the region that is ploughed back in development spending. But, according to Delta activists, the increase which is enshrined in the new constitution, is too little too late. They are demanding that 50 percent of all revenues earned from the region be returned to the local communities with expenditure of the funds brought under their control. "Will the Delta accept 13 percent? The answer is no, Brisibe Annie of the environmental NGO the Niger Delta Wetlands Centre told IRIN. "There are six states in the Delta and they are all supposed to share that 13 percent - what kind of development will that bring? And it is 13 percent of what - gas money? Petroleum? Solid minerals?" According to Obasanjos chief spokesman, Onyema Ugochukwu: "The problem of the Delta is one of neglect over a long period. Obasanjo will show the Delta people that someone cares. It is not a question of percentages now," he told IRIN. But Annie and other Delta activists want more than to know Obasanjo cares. For them, democracy now means that the bill has to be debated in the National Assembly - which includes representatives from the oil-producing states - before it is passed. "The next step for the federal government is to dialogue properly with the people of the Delta. We want a renegotiation of this issue," she said.