WAR IN THE NIGER DELTA
After the renewed outbreak of series of the trio-ethnic communal conflicts
in Warri in 1997 leading to the mindless killing of innocent citizens and
the senseless burning of houses and properties, peace has continued to
elude the Niger Delta, and the situation has unabatedly assumed a
dangerous dimension.
The government at each occasion of these unfortunate events usually
imposed a dusk to dawn curfew amidst the deployment of troops of military
presence to the conflict areas primarily to douse off tension, whereas
leaving unresolved the root causes of the conflicts.
Unfortunately, these unresolved problems have lingered on and the
activities in the Niger Delta has assumed the devastating magnitude of the
provocative explosion of oil pipelines, illegal bunkering, piracy,
kidnapping, hostage taking, and the incessant disruptions of oil services
and operations.
Each passing day, reports of violence and criminal acts being perpetuated
by persons who seemed to be angry with the society and government has
risen in crescendo and the resultant casualties and social dislocations
give the impression that the Niger Delta is declining to a state of anomie
and anarchy.
In the Niger Delta, there are perceived agitations by the people for the
long exploitation and exploration of oil in their lands. There are also
cries of injustice and deliberate misapplication of the rules, and this
has continued from one successive government to another.
The continued perverse collusion of the multi-national oil merchants with
the federal government, and the naked denial of oil producing communities
of their rights and privileges as host communities, despite repeated
assurances has remained issues in the Niger Delta struggle, and the
situation has not changed for the better.
The carefree attitude usually exhibited by multi-national oil companies
like SHELL towards the unfortunate effects of pollution on green
vegetations and aquatic lives, and the mindless destruction of their sole
agrarian means of livelihood are other salient issues bothering on the
Niger Delta struggle.
The overriding effects of all these misnomers and the general
environmental hazards this portend to the neighbourhood without adequate
compensation make up some of the vexed issues bothering on the Niger Delta
struggle and the federal government have been consistently accused of only
paying lip-service to the deluge of problems adduced.
Even in the light of the hues and cries emanating from the region for
gross underdevelopment, deprivation and reckless abandoned, a whooping
N224bn was returned as unspent money to the federal government, supposedly
meant for the development of the Niger Delta through the Niger Delta
Development Commission, an agency of the same federal government, This is
shocking and revealing.
Yet, the 2008 budget earmarked N581bn for security operation in the Niger
Delta, rather than commit such funds to the development of the region,
thus leaving the military and the militants in a gun duel.
From the ideological time of Isaac Boro to the hanging of Ken Saro Wiwa
and the Ogoni eight the battle rages on. And the Niger Delta struggle has
continued from intellectual radicalism to practical confrontation of the
government and the exchange of gunfire and artilleries.
The militants who seemed to be championing the Niger Delta course,
believed in the fervent and radical struggle for resource control and true
federalism attributing their resort to militancy to the lack of sincerity
of purpose in dialoging with the federal government.
At the last count, MEND – the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger
Delta, the self-acclaimed umbrella body of the militants proclaimed
responsibility for an early morning attack of Thursday, June 19, 2008 on
the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) operated
Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel leading to
the shut-in of 225,000 per day crude oil output.
The Bonga FPSO is located at about 120 nautical miles off the coastal
waters of Warri in Delta State. It is approximately 120 minutes flight
time from Lagos. The field’s facilities include one of the world’s
largest FPSO vessels and deepwater sub sea infrastructure. Until the
recent disruption by MEND, production at the Bonga field has remained
uninterrupted since November 2005 when it started production, and the
facility had been considered out of the reach of the militants due to its
location offshore. But, the militants proved the Nigerian military wrong.
The Chevron Nigeria Limited also suffered another setback in the hands of
the militants in which its pipeline was blown and about 120,000 barrels
per day have been shut-in from last Friday, June 20, 2008. The two
separate attacks have forced down the production capacity by 345,000
barrels per day.
Consequently, Nigeria’s production capacity prior to 2006 which stood at
2.7 million barrels per day has drastically reduced to less than
1.35million barrels per day and the prices of oil in the international
market have skyrocketed as a result.
The Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG) has described the attack on Bonga Oil
Platform as the handiwork of Ijaw god of war (Egbesu). Comrade Joseph Evah
who is the National Coordinator of the IMG said the attack was long
overdue, given what he described as the “senseless neglect and
development of the people of the Niger Delta”.
Conscience, they say, is an open wound that only truth can heal. I dare
say that until the root causes of the problems in the Niger Delta are
fundamentally and conscientiously addressed, the region will continue to
experience instability as there are tendencies of a reoccurrence at the
slightest provocation.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Navy is said to have deployed two warships in the
Niger Delta – NNS Nwamba and NNS Ologbo with full compliment of
personnel and warfare equipment in compliance with the directive by
President Umaru Musa Yar-Adua to the military to fish out the militants
that attacked the Bonga oil fields.
The joint security Task Force codenamed Operation Restore Hope which was
set-up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to secure oil installations
since 2003 have remained in the Niger Delta and are being fed fat from the
revenues derivable from the region, whereas the nauseating problems
spurring the people to militancy remained unattended to.
All the funds being wasted on war ships and sustaining the military
personnel in the Niger Delta could have been put to developmental
projects, yet the people continue to be unjustly hunted, invaded and
massacred indiscriminately at the mercy of acute environmental
degradation, pollution, impoverishment and abject penury.
As events now turn out, the Joint Task Force alone cannot do the magic in
the Niger Delta else it may just be a vicious circle. The Task Force may
seem to have achieved some results, but cannot put a final stop to the
criminal activities in the region until the fundamental issues emanating
from the Niger Delta struggle are conscientiously addressed to rekindle
dashed hopes and restore a befitting glory to the region.
With the emerging events, the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria
appears to be the West Africa equivalent of the Middle East because of the
impression created by the incessant youth unrest and related disturbances
that have been experienced in the region. Dare-devils acts, including
hijacking and use of explosives, have turned the oil-rich Niger Delta to a
veritable theatre of tribulations and agony.
The international community perceives these developments as manifestations
of global terrorism which must be nipped in the bud. But, the world needs
to be reminded also that criminality sprouts from injustice and until that
injustice is seen to be addressed it will remain a thorn in our collective
flesh as one indivisible entity.
The genesis of the rage of crime and violence in the Niger Delta is rooted
to the situation of unfulfilled aspirations of the people despite the long
years of oil exploitation and exploration. Many people are deprived and
impoverished thereby subjecting them to abject poverty and criminal
intent.
Poverty, coupled with an idol mind drive these youths into militancy
resorting to violence and crimes. There is therefore the urgent need to
develop the region so that it can provide opportunities for the people who
are without sustainable means of livelihood, income and security as a
direct consequence of pollution and destruction of the neighbourhood by
the activities of the multi-national oil companies.
In a paper delivered by the then Governor of Delta State, His Excellency,
Chief James Onanefe Ibori on the Security Summit on Juvenile Delinquency,
Crime and Prospects at Abuja organized by the Office of the Speaker, House
of Representatives of the Republic of Nigeria in August 2004, titled:
Ethnic Militia: Causes and Strategies for Action in Crime Reduction
Programme, James Ibori averred that “the crisis of criminality and
youth-communal unrest constitutes a veritable threat to the aspirations of
Nigerians to develop a free, stable and sovereign nation”.
Chief Ibori observed “that these are criminally-minded persons who
camouflage as ethnic militia to harass and intimidate peace-loving people
in the region. The prime targets of these gangs are the oil companies from
whom ransom and other mercenary demands are made.”
The then Governor noted that “in view of the difficulty of the terrain
and the inadequacy of policing measures, these miscreants and delinquents
often operate as if they are a law unto themselves.”
As a matter of proactive approach, there are larger political and
ideological issues that must be tackled to safeguard Nigeria from
destructive crime and violence. Yet, the long period of military
dictatorship have damaged the fabrics of true democratic governance which
our early nationalists consolidated for our multi-ethnic society. One
consequence of this disruption is the alienation of resources from areas
where national wealth is generated. The Niger Delta is a major victim of
this injustice.
Our democratic system will continue to witness threats until we reorganize
the polity to promote economic justice and fair representation. These twin
issues are what is referred to as resource control and true federalism.
The most effective way to reduce crime and violence in the Niger Delta is
to restore a functional and just federal system in the country so that
each unit of the country can exploit its abundant resource endowments to
provide for the welfare of the majority of the people and the larger
nation.
The federal government should as a matter of urgency wake up from its
slumber and come to the early realization that the Joint Task Force alone
cannot do the magic of effectively securing the pipelines and safeguard
lives and properties while the Niger Delta people continue to be maligned,
deprived and impoverished.
The government must as a matter of fact have sincerity of purpose in
dialoging and there must also be a pragmatic approach towards the
developments of the region and masterplan to ensure better life for the
people.
Regardless of whatever appellations the militants may be known, militias
are illegal bodies in any society whose activities should not be condoned
in a legal setting as it is the responsibility of any government to
prevent the dissidents from the continued perpetuation of their nefarious
acts.
As it now stand, the country is losing an additional 345,000 bpd to the
wreck of damage already caused the is nation, yet the federal government
is still blindly wasting its limited resources deploying war ships and
personnel to the region instead of committing such revenues to the
development of the people.
To secure a safe haven in the Niger Delta, it is important to seek
solutions by looking at the root causes of the widespread criminality in
the region. Whatever the situation or cause advocated, dialogue and
tolerance are best means of achieving results in any civilized society.
All stakeholders in the Niger Delta course should abide by the universal
principles of democratic governance so that political crisis and violent
crimes can be curtained in the country.
One wonders how it may have seemed, if government were to well informed,
and took dialoguing more seriously, and all the monies being wasted to
procure war ships, arms and equipments to restore peace in the Niger Delta
was combined to the revenues derivable from the supposedly disrupted oil
pipelines and operations and plunged into the development of the region
and the people, to my mind many souls may have been saved, as job creation
and empowerment may have also rekindled dashed hopes to a renewed
consciousness in the people.
Edoreh F. Edoreh
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