By Ishola Balogun
Billy Harry, Chairman, South-South Forum; National Vice President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, NACCIMA; Chairman, National Oil and Gas Trade Group and Chairman of the Port-Harcourt Chamber of Commerce in this interview, speaks on the region’s support for President Jonathan, the unresolved Niger Delta issue saying that the truth about militancy and Amnesty in the region is yet to be unravelled. . Excerpt.

On South-South support for Jonathan

The good thing about the South-South is that we’re very republican and everybody seems to have an idea of what they want to do and where they want to go. And typical of the way every South-South person has gone, our individual independent pervades in our decisions and actions that we take.

President Goodluck is from a very humble South-South background and today he is a candidate. Every well meaning Nigerian ought to see the good value the man has brought and for that singular reason all Nigerians should rally round him and support him.

Harry...President Goodluck is from a very humble South-South background

We’re working on a principle now where Nigerians will have a credible election, which is the beginning of the reality of transforming Nigerian, because when you get power by accountable voting, then you must be responsible to the electorate that put him there. Even from the voting pattern in the last primaries, the South-South gave him maximum support.

The other candidates though have their friends, spread all over the country and that is why I say Nigeria is not a tribal village. So, we’ve passed the stage where we should be bothering ourselves who is from where. It should be who is living where, acting and doing what. I do believe that President Goodluck needs more than the support of the South-South, because the South-South alone cannot make him president.

All Nigerians must come together to support a man who has values that are clearly identified and progressive for the growth of Nigeria. One because he’s not desperate for power, he’s humble and hardworking. I know that some of the limiting factors of the growth are gradually being pulled off.

So, what is the truth and the real roadmap to solve the situation?

The truth is development. Development that the people feel they’ve been denied. The people genuinely see that they have been denied. It has to be properly delineated in a way that you can solve each problem on the way.

And if you ask me from the South-South chambers, the issue of the Niger-Delta is not a political problem. It is an economic problem which must be tackled with expertise. Though political will must be there to deliberately enforce the economic road-map that could generate the result, it is not about giving a hundred thousand to an individual.

It is about de-briefing the youth, it is about educating the youth, it is about showing them a picture that is achievable and that can keep them focused on future. The mentality that has been sold to them will not even allow it, and that is why we are calling on al the stakeholders to work with the South-South Chambers of Commerce on this issue of the Niger Delta.

The Niger delta issue can only be tackled with the effective collaboration of the private sector which is being represented by the South-South Chambers of Commerce and the city chambers in that village, with other organization like MAN, NECA who will look at the problem from an economic blue print. There is no other way we can do it. We can only make progress by ensuring that an economic value will only guarantee the future of the area.

Yes, that is a long-term measure….

(Cuts in). That is why you cannot nail it on the head, what is possible is that the palliatives that have been given so far, are in the nomenclature of the amnesty which I don’t agree, because I don’t even see what is amnesty in this situation.

It is a nomenclature that Nigerian state and citizens have adopted and is working for us. I want to overlook that, but I want the plan and programme to be successful for the economic stability fo Nigeria.

Everything that affects the area affects Nigeria and everything that affects Nigeria affects West Africa, affects the Gulf of Guinea and the oil and gas industry in the whole world. As small as it is, the Niger Delta issue impacts positively or negatively on the global economy. So, it is time for the government, president, governors, local government chairman to discuss with the private sectors. We want a scenario now where this must work.

When businessmen get into a situation, why does a businessman start a business with N2,000 and end up having N2 billion? Because he plans, and he is meticulous. People in government are spending money they don’t know how it came about. They’re careless about the way it works. This is serious. if you know the value of oil, you will utilise it to grow. They only know that there is money in the reserve and they have to spend it.
But a businessman is not like that. So, the businessmen can proffer a genuine solution.

What is your view of the NDDC then?

I believe in the NDDC but the body itself is being directed and works in a way that makes it inefficient. What NDDC is supposed to do as an intervention is to actually implement the idea. the ideas are there but why are they not implementing it.

Those who are giving the ideas are part of the system. They don’t understand you can use N2,000 to grow a business, so what they need is actually business men. For instance, if I’m the head of the NDDC, all the quarrel going on between the head and the directors will not be there. You’re there to deliver a job and you’ve a time-frame, we don’t have time to start picking on ourselves.

They are not expediently handling it because of their background. The appointing authorities should consider that and not because he is my brother or my friend. As much as I believe in the NDDC, it is not performing and cannot perform because they are not well structured or educated enough to know the realisation to make them work.

Therefore, they must change. We’re not saying remove the NDDC MD, the process has already been made, but put the private sector to work with them, and with that political will, give them the authority to be an oversight factor. We need a scenario where when an American Chamber of Commerce calls on the President that they are going to visit, it is not a tea-party, it is issue about how to grow the economy because the economy is the baseline. if the economy is stable our polity will be stable.