While I absolutely agree with Mr. Agekameh’s view in the Nation newspaper that the country will continue to spin aimlessly unless priorities are put in order, I find it hard to make the connection with the MEND attack on Atlas Cove. If anything, and as the author himself admits, their actions sent Yar’Adua into a tizzy to reorganize his Defence Ministry after the attack. Power concedes nothing without a demand. MEND understand this and use it to their advantage.
The central argument in Mr. Agekameh’s article is that the MEND overstepped their boundaries by leaving the confines of the Niger Delta to carryout their attack on Atlas Cove. He goes on to argue that this act could “only be borne out of chauvinism and an open declaration of war on the rest of Nigeria.” If that were the purpose of the attack, why then did these same militants declare a ceasefire the very next day? The MEND has a well-known strategy of attacking oil installations and companies, and Atlas Cove hosts the hub of NNPC, making it a high-value target. The fact that it is located in Lagos is irrelevant.
In fact, the issue of geography is well understood by the MEND and others in the Niger Delta. This is the geography of uneven development so evident when you compare Abuja to the creeks of the Delta. Although it is a bitter pill to swallow for Nigerians outside of the Delta, perhaps an acquaintance with the chaos here will make them push their legislators towards true fiscal federalism, and further on to proper, honest governance.
It is simple to understand why MEND attacked Atlas Cove, and even simpler to understand how the attack was a logical outgrowth of their movement for redress, rather than an affront to the good people of Lagos in any way.
I concede that “the thinking in the militants’ camp was to use the attack to inflict maximum pain on the Nigerian nation.” But we need to separate the concept of the nation from that of the people. An illegitimate and corrupt government, as the one we have here, deserves to be embarrassed and have its purse lightened every once in a while. Meanwhile, as a result of ongoing government ineptitude, and not as a result of any attacks, everyday Nigerians are forced to queue for kilometres just to fill up on petrol.
The MEND remains a secretive, shadowy and violent force, and their existence raises serious security concerns for the Nigerian nation. But let us not allow so-called opinion leaders like Mr. Agekameh to incite us common folk into a conflict that does not exist. The author’s claim that “such an attack could precipitate large-scale inter-ethnic bloodletting” feels more like an incitement than a prognostication.
Ammoch Flores write from Port Harcourt
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