Regardless of the military of million greenback wage earning crises managers and PR executives within the employment of the oil firms working within the oil-rich Niger Delta area of Nigeria, It’s nonetheless baffling that the oil firms didn’t see the present crises coming. In the event that they did, it’s both they underestimated the facility and would possibly of the Ijaws in having the ability to take their future into their very own arms, or the shylock executives of Shell, Chevron, Agip, ExxonMobil and the remainder of the grasping international oil exploration firms working within the area have additionally been heeding the counsel of false oracles.
Now the battle is threatening to spill out of proportions identical to the oil and flames spewing forth from the numerous burst oil pipelines and wells scattered across the Niger Delta area. The story and plight of the Ijaws in addition to the opposite indigenes of Nigeria’s oil producing communities shouldn’t be new to the world, however the world appeared to have taken solely a scathing and perfunctory discover when Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight members of his Motion for the Survival of Ogoni Individuals (MOSOP) paid the last word value in 1995.
Maybe Saro-Wiwa’s struggles and demise ought to have been a wake-up name for all who’ve been milking the cow to demise, and feasting alongside the vultures within the area of demise however avarice appeared to have taken the higher hand. The judgements of the Nigerian governments ranging from the federal and state governments to the native governments had been beclouded, they refused to pay attention.
Of significant concern is the way in which the Nigerian authorities have gone about managing the crises, there was an virtually befuddling passivity on its half with reference to the Niger Delta crises. To assume that the federal government has not but thought of a constructive Marshal Plan to resolving the crises which is threatening Nigeria’s chief income, and which might doubtlessly undermine the present socio-economic reforms in place makes one to marvel what the members of the federal govt council talk about at their weekly conferences. Whereas flagging off the election marketing campaign for the ruling Peoples Democratic Celebration (PDP) in Port Harcourt lately, President Obasanjo admitted the neglect of the area by successive governments, in accordance with him “Allow us to say the reality; there had been neglect of this area up to now. Neglect on the neighborhood, native, State and Federal ranges. There have been neglect on the oil company ranges, do not allow us to deceive ourselves”. To the frustration of his listeners, there was no define of deliberate options and methods in the direction of a decision.
From footage beamed across the globe by publications because the Nationwide Geographic and stories by organisations such because the ‘Chop Fine report’ by Human Rights Watch, one might simply see that the Motion for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta Individuals (MEND), the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Drive (NDPVF) and the a number of different militia teams working within the area have a case, they usually certain imply enterprise. When footage of the balaclava clad, A-Ok 47 totting militia men first emerged in 2005 alongside the images of the primary set of kidnapped oil staff, Nigerians and a few members of the worldwide neighborhood scoffed on the boys and rubbished their antics, some others merely went about their enterprise within the anticipation that it was a one-off incident and sick wind that will finally blow away. Nonetheless, we at the moment are into the second yr and the kidnappings somewhat than abating have elevated in depth. The militia men have grow to be extra daring serving the world media each day doses of their kidnapping exploits. Lending his views to the Niger Delta battle, Sabella Ogbobode Abidde, A distinguished Ijaw indigene and Washington based mostly public analyst referred to as on all Nigerians particularly Niger Deltans to accentuate their protests towards the injustice within the area, quoting Elie Wiesel, Mr Abidde stated that “there could also be occasions after we are powerless to forestall injustice, however there mustn’t ever be a time after we fail to protest”. “The time to vigorously protest this blatant injustice is now. The time has come” he concluded. Echoing comparable views, Victor Dike, creator of Democracy and Political Life in Nigeria warned that “with out social justice there could also be no peace within the Niger Delta and financial development and development will proceed to elude the area. He charged political leaders to work more durable for peace within the Niger Delta as a result of “with out peace, development is inconceivable.”
The Nigerian authorities tried to include the crises in 2006 when it introduced that the federal government would spend billions of naira to assemble bridges and flyovers throughout the Niger Delta space. The announcement itself which is a warped PR thought exhibits that the federal government shouldn’t be totally in contact with the realities on the bottom within the Niger Delta area. Though the federal government defended its resolution by claiming that the hassle would assist present native jobs, the announcement hardly addressed the core points on the coronary heart of the Niger Delta crises akin to useful resource management, poor dwelling requirements of the indigenes of the oil producing communities, gasoline flaring, oil spillages and different ecological disasters which have plagued the area on account of the actions of the oil exploration firms. The Nigerian authorities’s proposals to construct bridges and flyovers throughout the Niger delta area stems from a poverty of thought and haven’t strategically addressed the core points therefore the insurgencies and unrests within the area haven’t abated.
Maybe this can be a great time to both overview the modus operandi or scrap completely the 
Niger Delta Development Fee (NDDC). Although arrange with the most effective of intentions, the organisation has nevertheless grow to be a nesting floor for corrupt authorities officers whose penchant for diverting allotted funds meant for the development of the Niger Delta area for personal use has meant that the communities in query more and more marvel the place the billions of naira the fee claims it has invested within the area have gone to. The sleaze tradition within the fee was epitomised by its former chairman, the exiled runaway and billionaire fugitive Professor Eric Opia who took the fee to the cleaners when it was nonetheless referred to as the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Fee (OMPADEC). Its instant previous and present executives have additionally been recognized to be nursing political ambitions, positioned into context in a rustic the place candidates for governorship elections require a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of naira in marketing campaign funding, it might not be troublesome to fathom the sources of the electoral struggle chests of the likes of Onyema Ugochukwu and Mr. Emmanuel Aguariavwodo, each former managing administrators of NDDC. Ugochukwu is the Peoples Democratic Celebration (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in Abia state within the coming April/Could normal elections, whereas Aguariavwodo, the instant previous managing director resigned his appointment to vie for PDP’s gubernatorial ticket in Delta state. The previous Government Director, Finance and Administration of the NDDC, Timi Alaibe has now been confirmed as the brand new managing director taking up from Aguariavwodo, and Alaibe can be recognized to be eying the federal government house of oil-rich Bayelsa state, the home state of impeached governor D.S.P Alamiesegha Do delta 8 edibles get you high?.
The latest remark credited to Nigeria’s Vice President Atiku Abubakar is worrisome, he alleged that the Nigerian authorities has positioned orders for weapons and ammunitions price over $2 billion which it plans to make use of to quell the Niger Delta insurgency. Whereas accepting that the assertion needs to be cautiously acquired contemplating the raging feud between President Obasanjo and the vp, it must be stated nonetheless that ought to this be true, then it have to be worrying news to all those that have been following the Niger Delta crises.
The Obasanjo authorities can be doing itself a disservice if it proposes to make use of violence towards its residents as a result of recollections of the Odi and Zaki Biam massacres are nonetheless recent within the recollections of Nigerians. Such an method will escalate violence within the area as a result of violence begets violence. The federal government ought to nonetheless discover dialogue with all of the stakeholders, an choice that it would not appear to have thought of very a lot up to now. The Nigerian authorities must also understudy America’s state of affairs in Iraq earlier than going forward with its proposals. It’s not at all times the person with superior weapons that win wars. The Niger Delta militia are at home within the creeks of the Niger Delta and wouldn’t be simple prey for the federal troops the federal government is planning to ship into the area. The federal government ought to assume twice earlier than embarking on this street to perdition which spells doom for the harmless residents dwelling in Niger Delta communities, the militants and the federal troops which may be paying with their lives preventing an unjust struggle identical to US troopers in Iraq.
To the credit of the Niger Delta militants, they haven’t launched into giant scale execution of kidnapped oil staff most of whom they finally launch besides in distinctive circumstances. The launched oil staff have additionally come out to their defence sustaining that they had been effectively handled whereas underneath captivity thus displaying the human facet of the militants, a facet that’s amenable to dialogue. It’s this human facet that the Nigerian authorities needs to be exploring except the Obasanjo authorities needs so as to add to its catalogue of human rights abuses and injustices towards the Nigerian folks.
The Lengthy Harmattan Season by the creator is out now on iuniverse.com and amazon.com. February 2007. information@uchenworah.com