CRIMINALITY RULES NIGER DELTA! -by Joe Igbokwe

Criminality which has been the order of the day in the Niger Delta has reached the point of no return. A reliable source tells me recently that the underdevelopment we see in Niger Delta today is self inflicted. I was told that major oil companies had in the past mapped out projects to be executed by themselves in the region that worth billions but the leaders preferred to be given just a part of it which they shared among themselves.

This has been the way of the Niger Delta indigenes since the 80s. No wonder the region has remained a war zone and the haven for bandits, gangs, kidnappers, cultists, vandals, assassins, hired killers etc. Criminality has become a culture and tradition in the Niger Delta.

Devaluation: Naira-dollar exchange rate circa from 1984 to 1993 (roughly)

In 1984 the Naira-dollar exchange rate was 2:1 at the end of Shagari;

In 1985 it was 4 or 5:1 (under IMF pressure). Buhari overthrown in August 1985

By the time IBB left (1993) it was 80:1 (under SAP et al).

During Abacha's regime (1993 - 1998) it was circa 85:1. The dynamics of Abdulsalami, Obasanjo (2), UMYA, and GEJ can be tracked carefully as well and context placed in evaluating Buhari (2) since 2015.

Meanwhile the slide continues...., accelerating wildly as international Oil prices have dropped post GEJ - for multiple micro and macro reasons, including infrastructure collapse, criminality, etc...National development plans to position Nigeria for the future have been systematically underperforming since 1975....