Contrary to the warped claim in a section of the media, the resignation of the Rivers State Works Commissioner, George-Kelly D. Alabo, from the cabinet of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, has nothing to do with the political crisis that rocked the state last October.
The ex-commissioner who is joining his political ally, Nyesom Wike, the Federal Capital Territory Minister in Abuja, is saddled with the herculean task of providing infrastructural development to border communities.
He resigned from his commissioner position following his appointment by President Bola Tinubu as the Director-General of the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA).
He served Wike as works commissioner, and was reappointed by Fubara. He, however, remained one of the public functionaries from Rivers loyal to Wike, a combative politician.
During the political face-off in the state in 2023, George-Kelly resigned from his commissioner position, and later returned following the ‘Peace Accord’ by President Tinubu.
In an official communication to Fubara, the former commissioner cited President Tinubu’s recent appointment as his reason for resigning, and appreciated the governor for the opportunity to serve the people of Rivers in his administration.
President Tinubu, in a statement on Thursday through his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, announced the appointment of George-Kelly as the BCDA chief.
Ngelale in the statement said, “the President expects that the new Director-General will discharge his duties with integrity, diligence, and dedication for the effective administration of the agency, and the management of critical policies and programmes in line with the objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda for border community development.”
By virtue of their location, a lot of border communities are far from city centers and are almost inaccessible due to bad roads, broken down bridges among others. This implies that development is absent or nonexistent in those areas making their situation very pathetic.
Nigeria shares international land borders with Benin Republic (773 Km), Niger Republic (1,497Km), Chad Republic (87 km), and the Republic of Cameroon (1690 km)
This stretches over a total land distance of approximately 3,053 km from the Gulf of Guinea to Lake Chad, Borno to Sokoto and Sokoto to Lagos. This is quite apart from the maritime (coastal) boundaries in Western Nigeria to the South–South zone.
BCDA is however, a development agency of the Nigerian government with the mandate to ensure the sustainable social, economic and infrastructural development of border communities in the country.
It was established in 2003 by an Act of the National Assembly known as the Border Communities Development Agency Act, 2003 (as amended in 2006). The formal inauguration of the Governing Board of the agency to supervise its activities was done on December 10, 2009.
In order to achieve the mission and vision statements, the agency has two levers of decision making. The first is the Governing Board which is composed of very eminent representatives from the six geo-political zones, ministers in charge of federal ministries that are empowered to provide development interventions across the country, an executive secretary that doubles as the chief executive officer of the agency and secretary to the Board.
The governing board is responsible for providing the general policy guidelines for the day-to-day administration of the agency.
The second lever of decision making is the Management committee responsible for the implementation of the decisions of the governing board. The Executive Secretary, now Director-General is the head of the management committee and is supported by the various heads of department which include Administration, Finance and Accounts, Project Development and Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Planning and Intergovernmental Relations.
The combination of the governing board and the management committee is expected to steer the ship of the agency to actualise its mandate.
BCDA hopes to develop a long term strategy document in the form of a Five Year Master-Plan that will aid the agency in the systematic and structured development of border communities.
The master-plan is expected to align with the vision of the government as encapsulated in the Renewed Hope Agenda and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) target of the Tinubu administration.
The agency has been serving as the secretariat of the Presidential Committee on the security situation in the Bakassi Peninsula. The committee is mandated to ensure that the security and welfare of Nigerian citizens in the Bakassi Peninsula that was ceded to Cameroon is guaranteed.
BCDA also inherited the Bakassi Returnees project which is aimed at ensuring that Bakassi returnees to Nigeria settle down and engage in their primary occupation of fishing along the coastal communities.
Though the agency is located at 4 Augustus Aikhomu Street, Utako, Abuja, by virtue of the BCDA Act, there are over 2000 border communities located in 105 local government areas in 21 states of the federation.
These states share international boundaries with Nigeria’s neighbours, and for proper administration, communities lying between 15 kilometers to the international borders in the border states and 25 kilometers in Oyo State are classified as border communities.
Insiders say because of the identifiable challenges and in recognition of the strategic importance of these communities, Abuja set up BCDA with the aim of addressing the lapses of the three tiers of government in providing socio-economic infrastructure to the communities.
BCDA is therefore an interventionist agency set up principally to provide the much needed infrastructure in these areas thereby bringing development to the people and making their lives more meaningful.
Notably, poverty, illiteracy, disease, unemployment and violence are rife in these areas, there is an apparent lack of most of the basic socio-economic infrastructure such as potable water, hospitals, schools, security posts etc.
It is a fact that the people do cross over to neighbouring countries to obtain the basic necessities of life. In fact a lot of our children in the border communities speak French because they attend schools in our French speaking neighbouring countries.
The challenge is daunting, the needs are numerous, unfortunately the agency cannot cope with the burden due to paucity of funds.
Interestingly, the agency has been able to provide some infrastructure such as schools, health centers, potable water, hospital equipment etc to a few border communities across the country in spite of paucity of funds
Strategic Potentials of the Border Communities
It is a trend the world over for border communities to provide a strong indication of what obtains in the country in terms of development, infrastructure, trade, economic and commercial activities.
Being the gateways to the country, the communities can be made solid economic bases if legitimate economic activities are encouraged.
International border markets can thrive in those communities where the exchange of various goods and services from various countries can be carried out. Examples are the proposed international market at Okerete, in Oyo State, Banki and Maitagari in Borno State, Imade Dura in Benue State, and Jibia in Katsina State
When economic activities thrive, it will promote the collection of various tariffs, smuggling will be reduced and the people in the area would be gainfully employed. Instead of being sleepy ghost communities, these areas will be transformed into veritable commercial centers thereby boosting their economy and by extension that of the state. When the people are engaged they will be less prone to violent activities.
Foreign Direct Investments (FDI)
Closely linked to the foregoing is the potential for other countries to invest in the economy of the nation. It has been agreed that Nigeria needs FDI to grow its economy. If economic activities thrive and the enabling environment is provided and available, the country can attract FDI necessary to boost its economy.
It must therefore be noted that these investments need not be only in the city centers, rural communities can also attract these investments if the necessary opportunities are available.
Agriculture
The federal government has been in the forefront of the campaign for diversification of the economy of the country and the need to reduce its overdependence on crude oil and its by-products.
An excellent sector where the government can achieve this objective is agriculture. Nigeria can produce enough food to feed its citizens and to export to other countries. This is possible because of the vast area of arable land that is available in the border communities.
With Abuja’s renewed focus on agriculture, a lot of the cash crops that was the mainstay of our economy before the discovery of oil can be resuscitated thereby increasing our economic base and making the country to rank tall amongst the agricultural giants in Africa.
Rural –Urban Drift
For all the foregoing potentials to be translated into reality and made sustainable, the populations’ residents in the areas must be willing and available. If all these potentials are realisable therefore, it will be a strategic indicator in the fight to stem the rural –urban drift of most of the people in the rural communities especially the youths.
In the meantime, last December, the political crisis in Rivers appeared to have taken a new twist when four commissioners in the state resigned from their positions.
The development came after the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor and his Special Duties counterpart, Emeka Woke, resigned.
George-Kelly, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Mrs Inime Chinwenwo-Aguma, were also among those who resigned.
The now BCDA chief, at the time said his resignation was based on his conscience, personal philosophy and professional ethics, adding that the decision was taken after deep introspection.
“My decision to resign is anchored on my conscience, personal philosophy, and professional ethics. This decision was taken after deep introspection”, he said at the time.
In the first week of this March, Governor Fubara, shocked his admirers when he said he was willing to relinquish power for peace to reign in Rivers. He said so while speaking on AIT during an interview.
According to Governor Fubara, there are things he could have done that would have resulted in total chaos, noting that his ability to restrain even when he has the power is maturity.
“No sacrifice will be too big for me to pay for the success of this administration. And the reason is very simple, it’s not political love, it’s not because I want to gain any favour from anybody, my interest and love for our dear state is genuine.
“I’m not trying to say I want to be one man who will be there to decide the fate of all but let Rivers State remain.
“My burden was not the issue of all the drama, it’s the millions of Rivers people who had made sacrifices and it looks as if their hopes are being dashed. They were the ones I was worried about. What will be their fate? It’s not about me.
“If leaving this position is what I need or what is needed to bring more peace to the state, I can even tell you people to come and take it. It’s not about me. People should understand that definitely I will go but Rivers State will still remain.
“I am the governor, no matter what it is, there are things I could have done and there would have been a total crisis. But your ability to restrain in the face of crisis even when you have the power to do things is maturity”, the governor said.
Fubara and his predecessor, Wike, have been having a running battle over the control of power in the big oil and gas state.
Despite President Tinubu’s intervention in the crisis, the bad blood between the two power gladiators appears to be persisting.