Governance and Development in the Niger Delta Region: An Overview Mediayanose Osezua Ehiyamen1, Oshilim Nkogbu Godfrey2,* 1Associate Professor, Head of the Department Department of Public Administration, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria, osezuaomo2002@yahoo.com 2Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Public Administration, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria *Corresponding author email id: nkogbugodfrey@yahoo.com
Online published on 23 November, 2018. Abstract Prior to independence in 1960, the Niger Delta expressed their fear of possible marginalisation and domination in the Nigerian federation in 1958. Accordingly, this expression of fear was the basis for the setting up of Willink Commission in 1958 to examine the minority fear and make recommendations on how to address them. In a bid to develop the Niger Delta Region (NDR), various development boards, commissions and a ministry were established by the Federal Government of Nigeria. The boards, commissions and ministry established for this purpose were Niger Delta Development Board, the Niger Delta River Basin Development Authority, the Presidential Implementation Committee Task Force, the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, the Niger Delta Development Commission and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. It is against this background that this paper examines governance and development in the NDR. The study concludes that the establishment of the various development boards and commissions are pointer to the commitment of the Federal Government of Nigeria in addressing the development challenges and needs of the NDR. Top Keywords Development, Government, Governance, Niger delta region, Niger delta development commission. Top |