Former President Goodluck Jonathan has attributed the Niger Delta’s persistent underdevelopment to the failure of regional leaders to demonstrate the political will needed to implement major economic and infrastructural initiatives.

Speaking in Abuja at the public presentation of The Hidden Treasures, a book by former Delta governorship aspirant Chris Iyovwaye, Jonathan represented by his Chief of Staff, Mike Oghiadomhe said political rivalry, personal ambition, and power struggles have repeatedly stalled progress.

Jonathan recalled several transformative regional plans that never advanced beyond discussions because stakeholders could not agree on leadership roles. He said he witnessed similar failures during his time as deputy governor, especially in the years following the Obasanjo administration, when the scramble for federal appointments overshadowed development priorities.

He warned that despite the region’s vast natural resources, nothing would change without decisive action.
“The Niger Delta is supposed to be the economic hub of this country… There is a need to harness our resources at this point in time for proper and physical development,” he said.

Jonathan urged South-South governors to pair renewed regional meetings with concrete steps, backed by a functional development vehicle capable of identifying and marketing investment opportunities.

At the event, former SDP presidential candidate Adewole Adebayo said the region’s abundant natural and human resources make its poverty unacceptable, while former Information Minister Prof Jerry Gana lamented the drift of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from its founding vision, saying it has abandoned large-scale infrastructure for small, fragmented projects.

Despite being Nigeria’s economic backbone, the Niger Delta continues to battle environmental degradation, poor infrastructure, abandoned projects, unemployment, and weak governance problems Jonathan and other speakers linked to persistent leadership shortcomings.