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Between Militants and Criminals

September 17, 2008

Some years back, I had the opportunity of visiting a number of communities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. My shock knew no bound when I beheld the degradation and hardship that several decades of oil exploration have brought on the people of the area. I beheld a people in dire lack of the basic necessities of life, in spite of the goodness of the Almighty in bequeathing to them a most valuable natural resource.

Some years back, I had the opportunity of visiting a number of communities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. My shock knew no bound when I beheld the degradation and hardship that several decades of oil exploration have brought on the people of the area. I beheld a people in dire lack of the basic necessities of life, in spite of the goodness of the Almighty in bequeathing to them a most valuable natural resource. I saw a people whose main means of livelihood -fishing and farming, have been callously taken away from them by incessant incidences of oil spillage by oil multinationals operating in the area. I still recollect vividly the argument I had with one of my colleagues over the attitude of the people of the region. He had insisted that they were a naturally peaceful people who would rather bear the brunt of the insensitivity of the nation, and patiently wait for the day when good reason and compassion would prevail, and they would get their deserved attention and compensation from the Nigerian state. My position was that the people were a docile and weak lot, the type of folks who would rather wait on God to come and liberate them instead of taking their destiny in their own hands. I had insisted that I find it incomprehensible that the people could fold their arms in despair and reservation while the other parts of the country, including my own South West, profit and prosper at their destruction and detriment. I had further posited that it was a rather thin and obscure line that separates peaceful disposition from crass docility and in my humble opinion; they had unconsciously slipped from the former to the latter. However, over the past couple of years, the people of the region have thankfully come out of their docility in a rather aggressive and often time destructive manner, as if they were in a hurry to make up for the lost opportunities of the past. Like the proverbial goat, they are now charging back furiously, after being pushed to the wall by the actions and inactions of an uncaring nation. There are now so many militant factions in the area than can be counted on all appendages of the body. There is hardly a day, in the last few years that some form of aggressive action by these militants was not reported in the media. They have gained worldwide attention as a people fighting for their rights. The effects of their agitations have extended far beyond the boundaries of the country. The unanimous views of all credible voices were that the cause they are fighting for is justified considering the several decades of neglect. Though, the approach may not have been the best. Lately however, the struggle has taken a worrisome turn. Sheer criminality has unfortunately crept into the picture. My dilemma is whether the militants who started the struggle have lost focus of their goal, and have sacrificed their worthy aspiration on the altar of cheap materialism; or some criminal minded elements have cashed in on the cause to perpetrate irritable and condemnable criminality. The sympathy which the struggle enjoyed from most objective observers has slowly but steadily waned and one is no longer sure of the mission. A couple of days ago, I found myself in a discussion with a Briton friend about the Niger Delta crisis. In the course of the discussion, it dawned on me that it is no longer reasonably possible to justify the cause. It has turned 180 degree from a worthy aspiration to thoughtless criminality. Recently, Gov. Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State was reported to have said that the state government has over a 100 billion naira in the banks’ vaults. After paying salaries and fulfilling a few other recurrent obligations from the monthly revenue allocation, all the balance ends up in the banks. The government can no longer execute any developmental project because no notable construction company wants to have anything to do with the Niger Delta due to the restiveness in the region. A couple of months back, Julius Berger, the foremost construction company in the country, was forced to pack its bag and flee the region for the safety and well being of their workers. Helpless workers who are busy constructing roads, schools etc are kidnapped in exchange for ransom, how does this advance the cause of the Niger Delta? A friend of mine once narrated his experience in the area, where the company he works for got a contract to construct a hospital in one of the rural communities. The community youth demanded N15 million naira as development levy for a contract worth only N12 million! In addition, they also insisted on supplying 50% of the entire manpower requirement for the project. In frustration, the contract had to be abandoned, and the community is still without any hospital today. Conversely, the same company also got a similar contract in one community somewhere up North. The Emir actually mobilised the youths to help the contractor free of charge. In fact, he said the community was responsible for their accommodation through out the duration of the project. What a contrast! Chasing developmental projects away with some senseless unrealistic demands, how does this advance the cause of the Niger Delta? A convincing confirmation of the drift in the cause manifests in the numerous kidnap cases of helpless toddlers on their way to school; senior citizens who are supposed to be enjoying the latter part of their lives and taking their well deserved rest; pregnant women, etc. These helpless and defenceless citizens, most of them from the same Niger Delta, were kidnapped at gun point and were only released after some ransoms have exchanged hands. The cases confirm clearly that the motive was just to make some easy money, pure and simple! How does this senselessness advance the cause of the Niger Delta? As stated earlier, there are two possible scenarios: its either some crooks are riding on the back of the struggle to perpetrate their criminality; or the militants who started with a worthy aspiration have steadily and unfortunately derailed from their goal in pursuit of some filthy lucre. If the first scenario is the case, I think it is absolutely necessary for the authentic militants to step up and fish out the criminal elements who are riding on their back to taint their commendable struggle with the tar of criminality. That way, they will be saving their face and the credibility of their cause. On the other hand, if the second scenario is the case, then, unfortunately, they have irredeemably lost it. [email protected]

 

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