By Charles Kumolu
RIGHTS activist, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, has said that there is nothing new in the 16-point demands by leaders of the Niger Delta region to President Muhammadu Buhari, to achieve peace in the zone, saying without prudent management of funds budgeted for the region, underdevelopment will still be an issue.

She also demanded the creation of an elders’ committee to monitor the activities of development agencies in the region to put an end to the perceived absence of accountability in the management of development funds.

Lori-Ogbebor, who argued that most of the latest proposals were similar to those she and other leaders presented to then President Olusegun Obasanjo, noted that Niger Delta leaders should prioritise the enthronement of accountability among interventionist agencies and Niger Delta Ministry.

IN SEARCH OF PEACE—From left: Amanyanabo of Twon-Brass, His Royal Highness, Alfred Diete-Spiff; Co-Chairman, Obong Victor Attah; Chief Convener, Chief Edwin Clark and former Presidential Adviser on Legislative Matters, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, during the Pan Niger Delta stakeholders meeting for a lasting peace initiative in the region, hosted by Clark at his residence in Asokoro, Abuja, weekend. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

Briefing newsmen  yesterday in Lagos, the Niger Delta leader  said: “None of these demands is urgently affecting our lives. To whom would the oil blocks be distributed and how would it be done? I agree that a lot of people have gained from the resources from our land at the expense of our land and it hurts. But that is not why we have poverty and underdevelopment in the region. That matter should not be said in a way that trivializes the real issues affecting the ordinary Niger Delta person.”

They are right on that, but that is not why people are suffering from poverty, deprivation, and diseases in the region. The presence of the military is because of our people are bombing. We should ask ourselves what they have done with all the funds allocated to the region in the past. The truth is that money is still being funneled to the region for the funding of the agencies. The federal government has not stopped doing that.

‘’What I am saying is that we have made some of these demands in the past and some had been met by the federal government. If they had made judicious use of the funds accruable to the region, we would not be where we are today. However, if the monies being given to the region are still being mismanaged, development will still elude the region. I was at the forefront of this agitation many years ago to the extent that I was singled out by then President Olusegun Obasanjo as a trouble maker. It was even because of the demands that we were making for our people that made him think I was a trouble maker. Now, how can they be making what could pass as similar demands of the past. As far as I am concerned, what they took to Abuja was vague and they should also expect vague response”