thisday0518

THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015
23
PERSPECTIVE
The Next Steps for the Niger Delta
Tonbofa Ashimi sets an agenda for the Niger Delta in the emerging
dispensation
Many Nigerians believe that
the cry from the Niger Delta
should be muted since the
Niger Delta was given the
chance to rule Nigeria. They are right to
the extent that the Niger Delta indigenes
should now be first partakers in investing
in developing the region. But they must
understand that the cry is even louder
now than before and must be dealt with
by Nigeria wholly.
The cry is from the little children
that innocently bathe in oil blackened
pools of water that surround their small
islands. Their parents fish from these
waters ignorant of the health hazards this
exposure brings to them. Environmental
pollution has risen with the activities of
illegal oil refineries in the creeks, added
to those of the operators of OMLs. The
urgency for justice in the Niger Delta has
increased.
The battle for justice started formally
with the Movement of the Survival of the
Ogoni People (MOSOP) and then came
the Kaima Declaration, which encouraged
non-violent fighting for environmental
rights of the Niger Delta, some measure
of control over the oil resources, as well
as general recognition as a vital minority
Nigerian tribe.
This was the cause for which the likes
of the late Ken Saro Wiwa and Oronto
Douglas fought. With the execution of
Saro Wiwa and the deepening of poverty
levels in the region whilst oil boomed,
some youth members decided to pick up
guns and force the recognition sought.
They ruled over the creeks, which
holds most of the oil in their black green,
waters and prevented the oil operators
from exploiting the oil. They kidnapped
expatriates, enriched themselves from
ransom paid whilst impoverishing
Nigeria. They succeeded where talks
failed, since the federal government
of Nigeria’s dwindling revenue forced
dialogue, culminating in amnesty being
given to the militants.
Then came the intervention of destiny
and the inauguration of President Goodluck
Jonathan (then Vice President of the
FRN) as President upon the demise of
the then President Musa Yar’Adua. This
was certainly more recognition than the
Minister Of Defence, Maj-Gen. Godwin Abbe, Ex-Militant Leader, Government Ekpuomokpolo (Tompolo), Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan And Timi Alaibe
initial fighters foresaw.
This was the chance to right the
environmental injustices – change the
attitude to oil spillages by ensuring
compensation, huge fines and thorough
clean up; ensure adequate community
participation in the OMLs; start training
programmes for the youth in relevant
skills in the energy sector. Five years
down the line and the creeks are more
blackened with oil, environmental laws
still archaic with negligible penalties and
regulators of the oil sector still in bed
with operators. The youth in the creeks
are still disillusioned; the “cause” seemed
to have been forgotten.
Nigerians opted for change in the
2015 elections and the door was shut.
President Goodluck Jonathan saved the
country of the anticipated anarchy by
conceding to defeat, ever so graciously,
even as the Orubebes started frothing.
Niger Deltans, it’s time to return to the
drawing board and understand what the
cause was about!
It was about saving the future of our
children. It was about bringing fresh
fish, prawns back to the waterside. It was
about ensuring corporate responsibility
of international standard that global oil
operators adhere to in developed worlds
that the likes of President Obama impose
huge fines to ensure. It was about
encouraging our youths to work, learn
the skills to be relevant in the energy
sector.
As the “resource control hats” that
benefitted from the FCT vacate the
centre, they should head back to the
Niger Delta. They should invest in good
private schools, in businesses that will
create employment, generally start to put
the money earned where our mouths
have been and take the first steps to
developing the region.
We also call on the new government to
make the laws stricter to discourage pollution
and generally adopt an approach
of aggressive enforcement against oil and
gas pollution, to fight illegal refineries, to
involve communities in oil mining leases.
This is the change we look forward to in
the Niger Delta. This is the next step for
the Niger Delta.
-Tonbofa is Managing Partner, Edward
Ekiyor and Co. She was also the Director
General, Due Process and e-Governance for
Bayelsa State
PLATEAU’S PEACE OF THE GRAVEYARD
statesmen from all the various tribes and
groups in the state, to put heads together
to ensure that peace is given a chance.
On his part, Buhari, though a Fulani is
expected to ensure that justice is done
to every tribe and making sure that the
unabated attacks and clashes between his
Fulani kinsmen and the native Berom farmers
in the state are brought to an end.
There is also no gain-saying the fact that
the promotion of good governance at all
levels of governmental authority remains
the greatest antidote to the problems of
democratic sustenance. In the absence of
good governance, the ruling elite recourse to
ethnic, religious and regional appeals thereby
inflaming primordial identities of the masses.
As such, only a transparent and accountable
leadership that rises above primordial
considerations will be able to enhance the
peaceful co-existence of autochthons and
settlers in Jos.
The inefficiency and ineffectiveness of
security institutions in Jos generally is
underscored by the scope, magnitude and
persistence of violent identity conflicts in
the state.
Strengthening security forces capacity of
proactively detecting early warning signs as
well as respond to inter-communal tension
can help to contain better the outbreaks of
violence. This will require capacity building
and efficient intelligence gathering mechanisms,
including the provision of state of
the art weaponry, necessary for combating
unrest in the 21st century.
In doing this, means for investigating
allegations of security sector complicity in
ethnic and religious violence are required
to ensure accountability. Also, measures that
prevent political elites from manipulating
security personnel for parochial aggrandisement
should be put in place.
Much of the violence on the state has
resulted largely from ignorance and illiteracy.
The fact is that a substantial population of
Nigerians are still illiterate, which makes them
easy vessels of manipulation by unpatriotic
elites. This is very much the case in Jos.
It is therefore necessary to promote and
encourage education by way of making it
mandatory and free, especially at primary and
secondary school levels, including Nomadic
Education for the Fulani. This will help groom
a new breed of citizens that are conscious
of the implications of the manipulation of
primordial identities or mutual co-existence
and development. Through education, people
can be exposed to the several other peaceful
means for resolving conflicts, rather than
resorting to violence.
The fact that poverty and socio-economic
Buhari...will he change anything.
marginalisation often lead to aggressive and
erratic behaviour with ethnic and or religious
connotations cannot be over-emphasised.
Members of some ethnic groups that feel
alienated or deprived often rationalise their
hardship as resulting from the control of
politics and society by members of rival
ethnic groups.
This scenario has whipped up primordial
sentiments which have often resulted in
violent conflicts. It is therefore imperative
that government and other relevant institutions
design poverty reduction schemes that will
be inclusive of all identities and help reduce
the level and scope of poverty as well as
inequality that are often the real causes of
crisis in the state.
Although the Jos situation has transcended
a local affair, it is important that the Buhari
administration takes it more serious, especially
that its selling point is hinged on security.
The killing and madness in Jos cannot go
on unchecked because of its larger implications
for the polity. It is for this reason that
the presidency must take charge of the Jos
situation, and making it an example of the
change it has so much talked about. There
is need for respite in Jos as do other parts
of the country and this Buhari must take
seriously without prejudice to religion and
ethnicity.