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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LAGOS 000249 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - HANDLE ACCORDINGLY 
SIPDIS 
 
DOE FOR GPERSON, CHAYLOCK 
TREASURY FOR DFIELDS, AIERONIMO, RHALL 
DOC FOR 3317/ITA/OA/KBURRESS 
STATE PASS USTR FOR AGAMA 
STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SENV EPET ECON NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: DELTA STATE NDDC & NATIONAL OIL SPILL 
AGENCY DISCUSS CHALLENGES, SUCCESS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; HANDLE ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: A Delta State Niger Delta Development 
Commission (NDDC) representative told Poloff on May 6 that 
state NDDC offices are now empowered to create a due process 
mechanism similar to that adopted by the national office in 
Port Harcourt.  Delta State's three large road construction 
projects are useful, but smaller school, road, and 
canalization projects are most needed by communities at the 
present time.  National Oil Spill Detection and Response 
Agency (NOSDRA) representatives told Poloffs on May 6 that 
their organization works closely with international oil 
companies and communities to assess and advise on the clean 
up of oil spills in the Niger Delta, and plans to work with 
state oil producing area development commissions (OPADECS). 
End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Delta NDDC "Succeeds" at Small Projects 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Dr. Evelyn Urhobo, the Delta State Niger Delta 
Development Commission (NDDC) coordinator, told Poloffs on 
May 6 that she was exasperated by NDDC critics' claim that 
the Commission's budget is a secret; she said incoming funds 
and project information is published. (Note: Upon request we 
received a list of over 349 projects in Delta State which 
shows each project's contract sum, contractor, project 
description, duration, and current status. End Note.)  Urhobo 
said 245 billion naira (USD 2 billion) has been withheld from 
the NDDC by the GON; the authorization for the funds has now 
expired, and the Federal Government can no longer issue them 
to the NDDC.  The national NDDC office based in Port 
Harcourt, Rivers State, created a due process office last 
year, Urhobo said, and individual state NDDC offices can now 
do so as well. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Although the NDDC has been criticized for having 
failed to complete many large projects, Urhobo said, it is 
important to remember that until a year ago, the NDDC had no 
master plan from which to work.  As a result, the NDDC 
completed an assortment of uncoordinated projects.  The 
master plan now clearly maps out the projects which will be 
undertaken.  Urhobo said the Delta State NDDC commissioned 
over thirty projects in early May. Among these were road and 
canalization projects in the riverine areas as well as rural 
electrification, for which NDDC will use generators until 
these communities can be linked to the national grid.  The 
communities have trouble affording the fuel to run the 
generators, Urhobo admitted, but local governments, which are 
responsible for electrification, must begin to assume 
responsibility in this area. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  The NDDC has a poor track record at finding potable 
water through its borehole projects.  Drilling has been 
either too deep or too shallow to find the water bed.  In 
those cases when the water table has been found, oil and salt 
water have infiltrated the water supply, damaging the source. 
 The national NDDC office has appointed a special committee 
of experts to look into the problem and determine how better 
to deliver water to the communities.  The NDDC may consider 
treating water at borehole sites, Urhobo said, but this was 
an expensive solution that the communities find it difficult 
to maintain. (Note:  Once drilled, boreholes become the 
responsibility of the community to maintain.  End Note) 
 
¶5. (SBU) Urhobo detailed three large road projects in various 
states of planning or completion.  One is the 60 billion 
naira (USD 500 million) Koko-Ogheya road crossing northern 
Delta state and connecting inland areas to the sea; the NDDC 
and Delta State Government are discussing sharing the cost of 
this project.  The second project is the Amadino-Escravos 
road, a USD 300 million naira project and the third is the 
Bomadi extension road to Forcados which is partially 
completed.  The Koko-Ogheya road, she noted, will link oil 
producing states and provide an alternate access road to 
 
LAGOS 00000249  002 OF 003 
 
 
Lagos; planning these linkages was one of the great 
achievements of the Niger Delta Master Plan.  Delta State 
Governor Uduaghan reportedly approached the NDDC in early May 
to express his interest in beginning an NDDC governors 
council to help synchronize other projects that affect more 
than one State. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Delta State NDDC's crowning achievement, in 
Urhobo's opinion, was the construction of a road between two 
riverine communities that had never before had access to one 
another.  Even if people can't afford vehicles, the road 
makes it easier to hike between the two communities, she 
said.  Urhobo also applauded the Commission's classroom 
projects because they directly affect communities and draw 
many children back to school.  She thought schools were a 
better investment and more immediately met the needs of a 
community than road construction projects. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Urhobo described the NDDC as an interventionist 
agency that builds roads and structures (schools, hospitals, 
etc.) and then turns them over to the state government, which 
is responsible for employing workers and providing 
maintenance for the facility.  She admitted the NDDC has not 
followed up to assess whether the state government has 
carried out its responsibilities. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶8. (SBU) On May 6 Poloffs also met Benjamin Akindele, 
Assistant Director of the Warri Zonal Office of the National 
Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) which covers 
Edo, Ondo and Delta states. (Note: NOSDRA's eastern zonal 
office in Port Harcourt covers Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom 
states. End Note.)  Akindele said NOSDRA is responsible for 
preventing, detecting and responding to oil spills.  Akindele 
explained that NOSDRA is most often first notified of oil 
spills by international oil companies (IOCs), who contain the 
spill, until NOSDRA conducts a joint investigation with 
communities. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Director noted that more than 90 percent of 
spills are caused by communities.  Therefore it is imperative 
communities learn to respect their environment instead of 
willfully damaging pipelines for economic gain, he said.  He 
noted that the IOC's historical practice of compensating 
communities for oil spills has taught communities that the 
larger the spill, the greater the compensation.  However, now 
it is NOSDRA that determines the cause of the spill and who 
was responsible (equipment failure, accident, community 
bunkering, etc.) and then develops an appropriate response. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The Director criticized the Ondo, Edo, and Delta 
State oil producing area development commissions (OPADECs) 
for failing to stop or even to try to change community 
opinions towards pipeline damage.  The Director said he hopes 
to work with the OPADECS in the future.  Illegal oil 
bunkering offers financial incentives to the region's 
indigenes and youth who otherwise have no source of income. 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) NOSDRA's overall assessment of the region was that 
the health of Niger Delta citizens is worsening because of 
the increasing frequency of oil spills.  He noted that youth 
are eager to be employed during cleanup projects.  If 
additional employment opportunities are offered them, there 
are likely to be fewer spills, he said. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Comment:  That NDDC has had funds withheld is only 
a partial explanation for the agency's failure to develop the 
Niger Delta.  However, historically, the institution has been 
rife with corruption and problems with incomplete projects. 
Although some of the effort to improve NDDC is noteworthy, 
the organization needs more transparency and oversight.  On 
the plus side, NOSDRA's desire to work more closely with oil 
 
LAGOS 00000249  003 OF 003 
 
 
producing development commissions may help improve 
cooperation between the myriad of government agencies 
operating in the Delta.  End Comment. 
 
¶13. (U) This cable has been cleared by Embassy Abuja. 
BLAIR