An economist and labour leader, Chika Onuegbu has said that the 2019 Budget Proposal presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Joint Session of the National Assembly may not usher in the needed development in the Niger Delta region next year.
Onuegbu, made the observation when he appeared as a guest during a Radio programme in Port Harcourt which The Tide monitored.
Onuegbu who is former Chairman, Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Rivers State noted that aside the N65 billion in the budget for the Niger Delta Amnesty programme, there was nothing else in the budget for the region.
The labour leader further said that since 2016, the national budget presented by President Buhari had not shown that he loved the Niger Delta, especially as the entire budget was premised on oil revenue accruing from the region.
According to him, “I expected the President to tell us when the East West Road will be completed. I expected the President to tell us the projects that were lined up for the Niger Delta region to enable them sustain the peace that will enable the rest of the country get the whole of this revenue.
“If the truth must be told, the President has not done much for the Niger Delta region. That is disheartening because as the region that lays the golden egg one expects that Niger Delta infrastructure should be top priority in the budget of Mr President.
“But that is not what is happening. The budget of Mr President from 2016 to date, if we judge Mr President in terms of his love for the Niger Delta based on the budget, I do not think that we will say he is doing well for us,” he said.
Dennis Naku