Dear Niger Delta Avengers, Caveat: Another Very Long Piece
All though I hate to be a constant motif in Nigerian debates, but I am writing you this treatise having read your letter dated Sunday, April 17, 2016 that you have all “SWORN TO DO WHATEVER IS NECESSARY TO PROTECT THE INTEREST OF THE NIGER DELTA PEOPLE”. First of, may I start by congratulating you on your recent bombings without killing any expatriate or kidnapping any foreigner or Nigerian in the process. You know where these installations are and you did your jobs professionally unlike before.
Second of all, I am glad that for the first time, a group like yours in the Niger Delta can make sane demands beyond asking for ‘amu-nesty (ask the Igbos what that means) also known as Amnesty’. Perhaps you are all reacting to that imagined but shattered “Shangri-La” you want the Niger Delta to become. That utopian picture of the Niger Delta in the mind of the average Niger Deltan that is now thrown in the bin by the greed and recklessness of our politicians and the Nigerian State.
James Hilton, a British writer described “Shangri-La” as a fictional place in his 1933 novel, ‘Lost Horizon’. Shangri-La is a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a fictional utopian lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Simply put; ‘Shangri-La’ is an envisioned or imagined paradise on earth.
Over the years we have had several groups from the region doing one thing or the other, threatening the Nigerian Government on this and that. Spitting fire and brimstone, but none has ever articulated their demands as sane as you guys have just done. The thing is, anyone can be an ‘Avenger’ avenging his Grandfather’s stolen farmland or avenging the non-inclusion of his people in the scheme of things. Or better still, avenging the rape of our resources and killing of our people by the Nigerian Government. But the ugly trend now is; some people are being celebrated for kidnapping, intimidating others and killing and getting paid in the name of receiving “Amu-nesty” and the rests of us are still standing akimbo watching them collect and collect while we salivate and gnash our teeth like we are zombies.
To crown it all, the Nigerian government instead of solving the Niger Delta issue once and for all, would always play politics with the needs of the region. They would rather give bait in the form of a pacifier (amnesty) just to drill the Oil. Nothing fundamental has happened in the region with the deceitful “Amu-nesty aka Amnesty”. Instead, the international Oil Companies (IOCs) and the indigenous Oil Companies continually cause more despoliation of the land and they have refused to explore the Oil at an internationally acceptable manner, they have also refused to employ/positively engage the Young people in the region. Gas flaring is practiced by the IOCs in the Niger Delta even when internationally a better model is advised. The Niger Delta is like a receptacle site for the IOCs where all the rubbish of Nigeria is dumped, yet the region solely contributes to the mainstay of the economy. Sometimes I am forced to think if the people of the Niger Delta region are mad, foolish and semi-humans. Is that true?
It is either the Government is planning on reducing the allocation to the Amnesty office or some politicians in the region would plan with some groups to blow up pipelines and call for Government’s negotiation with them. In the process, these politicians make themselves demigods and hijack the process to enrich their lots. The best they will negotiate/dialogue is to further enlarge their economies having used the boys to cause mayhem. In the end we are all back to ground zero leaving our region more contaminated and toxic for human living. Then again, in the end, we are left with a Niger Delta more polarised and predominant with very poor households. No Schools, no potable drinking water, no functional hospitals. No roads, no infrastructures to show that we belong to a Country that cares, nothing to show. The question now is; whose fault? Who do we blame after all?
Truth is, over the years we have been unfortunate to have merchants, crooks and daylight robbers that flooded the political scene of the Niger Delta region. We have had politicians that for the love of money and sheer fame sell the region for peanut. On the other hand, our traditional institutions have been desecrated and most of our traditional rulers have also become traitors in the name of wanting to get rich and remain relevant. The Youth groups and NGOs are at best, worse of. It is either they are a wash-wash group or they have formed an NGO as the last resort to make money away from wanting to develop themselves and the region. Therefore, wicked and insensitive States like Nigeria is presented with no other choice than taking advantage at our greed, disunity and disorganisation. We all know our leaders and what they are capable of. If they say run, it means nothing is happening that warrants your flight, we cannot trust them. 99.99% of our so-called leaders are crooks, liars and political jobbers. It is quite unfortunate that the Niger Delta region is so blessed both intellectually and with natural resources but we are so cursed with the worse sets of politicians. They are not just greedy and most times foolish, they are directionless and most of them have the slave mentality when they get to Abuja.
WHY I CONGRATULATED YOU
Some may be wondering why I congratulated you guys earlier. Well let me “KISS” (Keeping it simple and short). I know your bombings even though lives was not lost in the process; your activities further contaminates our land and we are still at the receiving end after all. But, I have this to say; what moral right does the Federal Government have to criticise you when they have blatantly neglected the Niger Delta master plan, but they did not forget to constantly drill the Niger Delta Oil? What temerity and justification can the Nigerian Government give for not cleaning up the entire Niger Delta not just the Ogoni area? Why would they accuse the Niger Delta Avengers for blowing up pipelines when the Amnesty Programme has failed and currently being intentionally underfunded by the present administration? To make matters worse, I recently read in the news where one of the failed Niger Delta Governors who have not attracted the least Lebanese or an Indian or even a Congolese to his state for investment in his almost five years of being Governor, have the impetus to castigate you guys that your activities scares investors away from the area. Where is that coming from? I am still wondering the brand of weed that Governor smoked before saying that gibberish. Be rest assured that, I have decided to take the hard stance of not trying to pretend like some would do. I do not support and like your approach of causing more damage to our land via bombing, but I like what you are fighting for and I wholeheartedly support your course. But this time, it should be beyond seeking for the yeye “Amu-nesty abi na Amnesty” for a microscopic few.
Let all this bombings and agitations not end up to be about increasing the allocation of the already dwindling Presidential Amnesty or about extending the programme beyond this month or next month, next year or even up to 2019. The Niger Delta issue is not about extending the Presidential Amnesty Programme or giving some select few a monthly paltry sum of N65,000 deceitful bait that makes them very lazy, keeps them unemployed, unproductive and gagging them with it. To my mind, Amnesty is deceitful and inhumane; it has no value on the average Niger Deltan or on the economy of the region other than it being a deceitful pacifier that allows the spoilers to continuously drill the Niger Delta Oil at the detriment of the region. It does not develop the region. It has not answered the Niger Delta question and it never will even if it is extended to another 20years. Don’t be deceived with amnesty. Amnesty is a sin and renders the Niger Delta region useless and handicapped, it keeps us underdeveloped and gags the region.
MY SUGGESTION
We all know there is no human like Jomo Gbomo, no one like Synthea abi na Cynthia Whyte etc. All these were trade names that serve as the spokesperson for any group that comes up for ‘undisclosed’ identity sake. Therefore, we all know Col.Mudoch Agbinibo may be a man, woman, pastor, imam, doctor or an engineer or even a lawyer or a bricklayer. This is not the point. For the records, I am one of those who also agree that former President GEJ did not fully understand the politics of OIL Governance played in Nigeria when he was Mr.President. He forgot Nigeria is successfully run by ‘sentiment’ and you are only celebrated when you are a tribal jingo or a regional leader. GEJ failed in this area, he blatantly refused to focus only on the Niger Delta region, but Nigeria. This is one area his predecessor is doing perfectly well today.
I have also not forgotten sometimes in 2010 when I was privileged to be one of the Young people that joined former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi to commission/inspect some projects in Rivers State. When we got to one of the superb Secondary Schools built in Eleme Local Government. On getting there, I’d thought it was a University campus given the magnificent structures therein, then I asked the Governor,; please sir, how many of this do we have in the State? He replied “24”, then I asked again; why 24 when we have just 23 LGAs in Rivers State? He said this; “I am building one of this in every LGA of the State which is 23, but the Ikwerre LGA where I come will have two because I am building one in my village (Ubima) and the other at Isiokpo the LGA capital so that when I leave office as Governor, should my people ask me what I did for them as Governor I will quickly point at the School at least”. Whichever way you look at this honest reply from Gov.Amaechi to me in 2010, I respect the gentleman for being visionary giving the regional/tribal sentiment that reeks in the political sphere of this Country. In case you do not know, in the 2016 National Budget President Buhari has also carefully earmarked the following for the development of his region for the benefit of his people. They are;
Adamawa State – N100.89billion
Bauchi State - N102billion
Borno State – N155billion
Gombe State - N76.5billion
Jigawa State – N137.2billion
Kaduna State – N171.7billion
Kano State – N275billion
Katsina State – N110billion
Kebbi State – N107billion
Nasarawa State – N77.9billion
Niger State – N74.7billion.
Now, where will the money come from to fund these states if not from the Niger Delta OIL from the Niger Delta region? Again, I would say this is another very smart and honest move by President Buhari to further develop his people whether you complain or not, whether you like it or not, he has done it as Mr.President. He has also further given about 93-96% of his appointment to his people.
In all honesty and sincerity, I fully support President Buhari for not short-changing his own people for the sake of ‘One Nigeria’. To him this is another opportunity for his people; he will use it well and for the good of his own, before Niger. Like late Obafemi Awolowo, after all President Muhammadu Buhari is first an Hausa/Fulani man before being a Nigerian.
So my dear Brothers and Sisters (the Avengers), much as I am not being pessimistic about the Niger Delta Republic you asked for, as a realist I have decided to suggest the following to spice up your sane demands that, there should be the following and not limited to;
1. OIL Spill victims Bill that should include; punitive law(s) for polluters to pay for spills.
2. Resource Control & Ownership so that the people (the Niger Delta people) can decide whether to drink their OIL or choose by themselves who they so which to sell the OIL Blocs to whilst a certain percentage will be paid to the federation account by the host Communities. It is better we donate our OIL Blocs (for even free) to ISIS than forcefully bequeathing it to an insane people like Mohammadu Indimi who insults us after stealing from us.
3. Implementation of the Brass LNG
4. Passage of the PIB with favourable terms to the Niger Delta region.
5. Relocation of the headquarters of all IOCs, the NNPC and other Petrochemical/Fertilizer companies to the Niger Delta area.
6. Full implementation of the Niger Delta master plan.
7. Complete Clean up of the entire Niger Delta region not just Ogoni.
8. Creation of more States from Rivers, Delta, Cross River, Akwa-Ibom, Edo, etc.
OTHER PEOPLE TO AVENGE BEYOND BUHARI AND THE PIPELINES
Another area I would love to draw your attention to is; whilst the Lagos State Government is proudly kick-starting the process of building a “Fourth Mainland Bridge”, the Yorubas for successfully cowing us with the mantra to have discovered ‘maybe’ a bottle or cup of OIL in Lagos State and now making Lagos State an OIL-Producing State.
Whilst all the OIL Companies are resident in Lagos and developing the State alongside the FG, most of our very inane Niger Delta Governors are busy spending N1.4million on a bottle of champagne in nightclubs and travelling to Spain, England and other parts of Europe just to watch Champions league matches. So, I will suggest that this your avenging should also get to all former and current Governors of the Niger Delta region, all former and current NASS members from the region, all former and current LGA Chairmen in the region, all former and current House of Assembly members, all former and current commissioners, all former and current ministers and ambassadors from the region,
Engage the former President (Dr.GEJ), all former and current DGs and heads of Government agencies from the region, all former and current IYC leadership, all former and current INC leadership, all former and current MOSSOP leadership, all former and current Urhobor ethnic Nationality leadership, all former and current Itshekiri ethnic Nationality leadership, all leadership of the ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta region etc. Let the former and current Governors give account of how they used and are using the 13% derivation; let the rest tell us what they have done to further develop the region with their position and allocation(s). Let us all together avenge them.
WHO SHOULD NEGOTIATE FOR YOU…
Here I will state clearly that President Buhari should not be blamed should we fail and not get it right this time. As we speak, some of the so-called Niger Delta commentators whose mission is always to build personal economies for themselves and enlarge their pockets at the detriment of the rest of us are already meeting somewhere in the Niger Delta with the aim to engage you and lure you to allow them negotiate/dialogue with the FG for you.
Most of them were part of the people that wrecked the region with the ‘amnesty’ idea during the President Yar’Adua’s tenure, nothing good can come from such people beyond agitating for the extension of the Presidential Amnesty Programme that will make them rich again. This is not what the Niger Delta region needs at the moment. The Niger Delta master plan should be fully implemented. Every Niger Deltan needs compensation should that be an option, we have all suffered the rot together, and we are all environmentally impacted by the despoliations caused on the land by the OICs and the FG. No one group have suffered more than the rest of us.
So guys, you have a website, you should carefully select non-politicians, sane and articulate Youths and other well respected and ‘can-be-trusted’ Niger Deltans to negotiate for you should you guys agree to negotiate. Avoid those Niger Delta merchants that talks anyhow every now and then, their myopic mind-set is money in their bank accounts, contract seeking and sheer relevance. Better still, do the negotiation yourselves. Trust yourselves only.
Finally, I want to assure you that though some may differ with your bombings due to the environmental hazards it further place on us, but sincerely I like the course you are fighting and I am with you, I support you. However, I will cease to support you the day you start killing, kidnapping or destroying the properties of innocent people. Just professionally and tactically do your bombings. Instead, device a better means to lock the wellheads. Some may call me names, I do not care; some may abuse me for saying this, won’t bulge. But, let it be known that I want President Muhammadu Buhari to succeed. However, one thing should also be certain that even if the ND Avengers blow up all the pipelines in the Niger Delta, it would not stop Buhari’s salaries; it will not stop his allowances or stop him from being President of Nigeria. This is not about Buhari, it is all about the already contaminated and neglected Niger Delta region and the salvation of the people. There is nothing wrong should the activities of the ND Avengers give us another opportunity to dialogue again and get it right this time. As an individual, I want President Buhari to succeed, but the Niger Delta should also succeed as we pray for Buhari’s success. Buhari should seek to quickly implement the Niger Delta mater-plan, he should demobilise the Nigerian army from intimidating the Niger Delta Communities. He should desist from contemplating the use of force like Obasanjo did in the Niger Delta region. Dialogue is best.
Long live the ‘sane’ struggles of the Niger Delta region
Long live the peoples of the Niger Delta region
Long live the Niger Delta region
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It’s me again,
Maobuye Nangi Obu
28/05/2016.
Lagos.
Perception management, writer, blogger, content management, socio-economic political commentator.
@NangiObu