A 'summit' or, if you like, 'dialogue' on the Niger Delta is necessary, former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Victor Attah, has argued; but he said it should be in three stages, noting that living conditions in the region has got worse and worse.

As he made the case at the weekend, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)Governor, Chukuwuma Soludo, also decried the crippling poverty in the North, describing it as bad as the conflict in the Niger Delta which stagnates growth.

The high level of poverty in some Northern states is unacceptable, he stressed, as it has reached mind-boggling proportions - ranging between 60 per cent and 95 per cent.

Worst hit are the North East and North West, Soludo reiterated in Kaduna at a public lecture and the 2008 Arewa Inspirational Leadership Award.

He said it would take the collective effort of every one to reverse the trend.

The ceremony was organised by Northern Development Initiative (NDI), a non-governmental organisation based in Kaduna.

It was chaired by Shehu Malami, who represented former President Shehu Shagari who is abroad on holiday.

Soludo - who received an Inspirational Leadership Award along with former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, and the leader of Ijaw Council of Elders, Edwin Clark - noted the low level of education in the North as well as its attendant poverty level in the 21st century, and argued that the quest by Nigeria to be among the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020 will remain a mirage unless these issues are tackled.

"Poverty is unacceptably high in Nigeria," he warned; "in fact more so that high and persistent levels of poverty in Nigeria happens to be essentially a Northern phenomenon.

"In the North, there is no state with poverty less than 60 per cent; the lowest is in the upper 60s; and it ranges from the upper 60s to 95 per cent in a state in the North.

"And if you put them by geo-political zones, the North East and the North West have 70s on the average; and there are several states with 80-something per cent poverty incident, and it stretches to one with about 95 per cent.

"For this economy to move forward, and for us to continue to claim 2020, we need to have an inclusive development."

Tinubu advocated a true federal structure to realise the Nigerian Project.

"It is pertinent to stress that the only durable and pivotal strategy for an enhanced effective and efficient urban development in Nigeria is fiscal federalism whereby every state will select a growth/development path consistent with the yearnings and aspirations of the people and democratic federalism," he said.

Attah made his own views known in a document he wrote on the proposed Niger Delta parley and sent to Sunday Independent after he was contacted to comment on the matter.

"The programme that would emerge from the summit must be given the full force of law so that it becomes a binding contract between the Federal Government and the Niger Delta peoples," said Attah, who has been away from the public glare since he handed over to Governor Godswill Akpabio on May 29 last year.

"Such a contract would be immutable and binding, not only on the present government of President Umaru Yar'Adua, but on all future governments.

"To correct the wrongs in the Niger Delta will go well beyond the life of this government, and indeed the next. Therefore to be impatient with the start of this programme smacks of the legend of the tortoise in the pit latrine."

Attah stressed that only the summit can attempt to correct all existing bad laws, spell out what development and environmental programmes the Niger Delta needs, define how best host states and communities can fully participate in oil and gas exploration for greater benefits.

He outlined the needs of the Niger Delta as infrastructure and human development, greater employment opportunities, and restoration of human dignity.

To him, the discovery of oil has brought hardship to the South South states of Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Edo, and Delta.

So, in his view, the first stage of the summit should be the distillation and collation of disparate views as well as inviting additional views and memoranda from interest and ethnic groups in the region.

A compilation of reports and submissions by a Steering Committee of experts will form the working paper for the dialogue.

"It is my strong recommendation that Niger Deltans should have the opportunity to discuss exclusively among themselves and come up with a Niger Delta Agenda for the Niger Delta. This will be the second stage of the summit."

Attah advised against hasty implementation of the document of the summit, since "rushing into implementation without a carefully thought-out plan of action is bound to fail.

"That is why we have so many abandoned projects and cases of collapsed buildings. This is not to say that the Federal Government, meanwhile, should not show good faith by continuing with such programmes as the East-West Road, the establishment of an environmental laboratory for monitoring oil spillage, manpower training, and a few others that have already been agreed upon."

He stressed the need to internationalise the summit, because Niger Deltans are a part of a larger country and they cannot pretend that whatever they want is what they will get.

He said the third stage should witness participation by other Nigerians and the international community.

"Would it not have been ironic, indeed a beneficial irony, if Ibrahim Gambari, a United Nations Under Secretary, as the Chairman of the Steering Committee (as distinct from the Chairman of the Summit)had turned out to be the one to bring our struggle to the full attention of the United Nations?"

Taking a cue, the Niger Delta Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee on Friday submitted to Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, its recommendations which include demobilisation and rehabilitation of Niger Delta militants and creating a fund for infrastructure.

If implemented, these would help douse tension in region, the Committee Chairman, David Briggidi, told reporters at the Villa in Abuja.

His words: "We were opportune to visit almost 90 per cent of the militants' camps and we assessed the situation. There is a critical aspect of this problem that we have not addressed and it is a generational factor. Generally, the entire region is losing a generation to arms struggle; the region is losing a generation to violence. The spate of the violence in the region presently requires a major reorientation."