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| Priye S. Torulagha (Ph.D., MHR)
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The Niger Delta: Strategic
Factors and Options
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The Ijaws in particular and the
peoples of the Niger Delta in general, should pay serious attention to what is
going on around them in Nigeria and all over the world. The events seem
unconnected and yet are highly connected. They should realize that as far as oil
is a crucial international commodity, their lives would never fully be in their
control. They must be very vigilant and proactive politically.
In
Nigeria, for instance, President Olusegun Obasanjo seems to be dancing around in
circles concerning the issue of oil control, particularly, the off-shore/onshore
oil dichotomy bill. It is not surprising that the president has not signed the
bill. More than any other Nigerian leader, President Obasanjo has been
particularly responsible for nationalizing both the ownership of the oil and the
revenue accruing from it. He has also been responsible for depriving the
peoples of the Niger Delta the benefit of using the revenue accruing from oil to
develop their territories. He authored the Land Use Decrees which took away
the right of derivation from the oil producing communities. He hesitated to
restore the 13% derivation to the states, even after the 1999 constitution had
legally authorized payments. He vetoed the bill that established the Niger
Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and had to be overridden by the National
assembly (Abugu, 2002, December 4). He sent the military to destroy Odi and
other Ijaw towns and villages. He rushed to the Supreme Court to file and seek
a ruling concerning the ownership of offshore oil revenue. He went to Odi and
insulted them. He recently went to Uyo to insult the Peoples of the Oil
Producing Areas. Since the beginning of his presidency, he has focused entirely
on building, rebuilding , and dualizing major highways in other parts of the
country while totally ignoring the Niger Delta, particularly the East/West
artery that connects the oil producing states. No wonder, “The poverty level in
the Niger Delta is the worst anywhere in the continent of Africa” (Ibid.
Quoting from Heiner Woller).
Why does the President
blatantly seem to ignore the Niger Delta?
1. He is able to
ignore and to treat the indigenes of the Niger Delta disrespectfully because
they are mostly minority ethnic groups. He probably might have rationalized
that the political impact of the Niger Delta minorities on the national
political landscape is very minimal. He strongly believes that the three major
ethnic groups constitute Nigeria while the minority groups are a mere political
nuisance. He can afford to play politics with the minority groups as far as he
is able to muster the support of the three major groups. The fact that the
three major ethnic groups are not sufficiently pressuring him to resolve the oil
dichotomy issue raises the suspicion that the big three might have quietly
signed a diplomatic deal to put the minority groups in the Niger Delta in their
place. Recently, the Oduua Peoples Congress, the Igbo People’s Congress, and
the Arewa Youth Consultation Forum pledged to “shun ethnic conflicts and work
for unity. At a joint conference in Lagos, the three groups vowed to stop
violence and rely on dialogue in resolving conflicts”(Allafrica.com, 2003,
February21). Ordinarily, the compact signed by the three groups to stop
violence is a very positive step in the democratization of the country.
However, the fact that the negotiation and agreement was reached only by the
three groups which represent the three largest ethnic groups can be worrisome to
minorities. It really would have been more promising and delightful if the
three groups had invited and included minority movements in the negotiation.
The agreement was very Wazobian in nature.
2. The president came to
power through internal and external support. Both groups of supporters have a
confluence of interest to control the oil. They want an undisturbed flow of oil
from the Niger Delta. The internal elements (Nigerian leaders, high government
officials and business people) get most of the revenue while the external
supporters get the oil to fuel their economies. It is the responsibility of the
president to ensure that his internal and external supporters are rewarded for
their support. Mr. Binaebi Benatari (2003, February 25) provided an extensive
information on President Obasanjo’s relationship with the external elements in
an article titled “Obasanjo from the past.” This is why the oil companies are
working with Nigeria’s security forces to contain any threat to the flow of
oil. The president does not seem to consider the citizens of the Niger Delta
as important Nigerian constituents since they are not part of the critical
elements that exercise power in the country.
3. The support,
especially from the outside oil interests, has made it possible for the
president to continue to rule without critical commentary about his human rights
record. It is not an understatement to say that more Nigerians have died under
this regime than under any other regime after the civil war. The political
killings that have taken place under this regime have surpassed those of Gens.
Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha put together. Yet, the outside oil interests
remain very quiet about the killings. The most plausible explanation for the
quietness is that they consider the current president to be their man. The
late Gen. Abacha was not considered their man, hence, the strident attacks
against him when he was in power.
4. The above statement is not
farfetched. All over the world, countries which possess critical minerals are
always led by leaders who got into power through the support of outside
interests. The outside interests often connive with the local power-wielding
plutocrats to put a controllable leader in power. It happened in Iran, Iraq,
Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria etc. It is happening in
Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Nigeria, DMC, etc. On the other hand, when a
leader becomes too smart and refuses to play along, efforts are made to remove
him or her from power-- Patrice Lumumba in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, President Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, Gen. Murtalla Mohammed in Nigeria, Dr.
Salvador Allende in Chile, President Mossadegh in Iran and the ongoing struggle
against President Hugo Chavez in Venezuala etc. When President Saddam Hussein
was a good friend of the major oil interests, his use of biochemical weapons in
the 1980s was not considered dangerous but now that he no longer plays along, he
is about to be kicked out of power. He will be replaced by another
controllable leader, just as some of the leaders in the oil-producing Middle
Eastern countries.
5. Leaders who cooperate with the international
players are protected even when their human right records are actually worse
than those who are considered to be the worst offenders. Turkish policy towards
the Kurds are as vicious as Iraqi’s policy toward the Kurds, yet, Turkish
transgressions are treated as acceptable behavior while Iraqi behavior is
considered unacceptable. Human rights violations, assassinations, embezzlement,
and corruption continue undisturbed in Nigeria, yet, the international actors
remain very quiet. There is not a single international oil actor who has spoken
openly about the situation in the Niger Delta. The Niger Delta is off the news
and is kept as a hidden fact. It does not even appear on the evening news in
any of the major oil-consuming capitals of the world. The only time news about
the Niger Delta is reported internationally is when an oil company worker is
kidnapped or when an oil flow station is blockaded by youth groups.
Likewise, all over the world, indigenes of regions with critical
mineral resources are always the poorest and the most marginalized even though
their territories produced the wealth of the nations. The Kurds and the
Shiites in Iraq, the Shiites in Saudi Arabia, the Karangs in Myanmar, the Native
Americans in the Andean and Amazonian regions of Latin America, the Cabinda
region of Angola, the indigenes of the Niger Delta, the Congolese, the Southern
Sudanese etc. are typical examples of the marginalized groups whose territories
provide the economic bounties of various governments in the world. This is
done to render them powerless so that mineral resources can be exploited without
challenge. The Niger Delta is subjected to pauperization and marginalization so
that oil can be exploited without much resistance. The international oil actors
prefer to do business this way in order to control cost and increase their
operational profits. The above statement has been stated before in previous
articles. It is restated here to emphasize the inequality of power.
6.
The Oil dichotomy fiasco was intentionally created as a political ploy to divide
the country into two: between the Oil Producing States and the Non-oil
Producing States. The goal is to ensure that the Non-oil Producing states vote
for President Obasanjo during the 2003 presidential elections. The president
and his advisers know that there are more Non-oil Producing States than the
Oil-Producing States. Thus, in an election, he believes that he can win the
majority votes from the Non-Oil Producing regions of the country to overwhelm
the protest votes of the Oil Producing States. The president is sending a
message to the Non-oil Producing States that he is putting the Oil Producing
States in their place and that they should vote for him.
7. As a result
of this strategy, the president has been waging a psychological war against the
indigenes of the Niger Delta. He talks to the people of the region as if they
are children. In his recent visit to Uyo, he referred to the citizens of the
region as being lazy for demanding a higher revenue share from oil that is
pumped from their territory. (Reuters, 2003, March 11). Well, if the citizens
of the Niger Delta are lazy, what about other Nigerians? Nigeria has depended
solely on oil as a major source of revenue for over 30 years. If Nigerian
leaders and high government officials were not “lazy”, using the president’s
terminology, Nigeria would have diversified economically and become highly
prosperous. For more than thirty years, wealth has primarily been accumulated
through looting of the public treasury and inflated contracts. President
Obasanjo has had an opportunity to rule Nigeria twice. He has not diversified
the economy even though diversification serves the national interest. He has
relied exclusively on oil to fuel his regimes. The failure on his part to
diversify constitutes “LAZINESS.” Moreover, since May 29, 1999, the president
has been very ineffective in solving any of the major political problems in the
country: Warri, Benue, Sharia, Ife-Modakeke, Ilorin, Jos, religious, political
killings etc. The failure on the part of the president to solve any of the
political conflicts constitutes laziness, if name calling has become a way of
solving problems.
8. Increasingly, the State Security Service and the
police forces are being used to harass the indigenes of the Niger Delta. Chief
E. K. Clark and six members of the South/South Peoples Conference were queried
in early January (Adebayo, 2003,January 3). Mr. Festus Keyamo was detained in
December 2002 without trial. The detention sparked a counter legal action when
Mr. Keyamo filed a suit at the Lagos High Court to challenge his detention
(Anaba, 2003,January 8). Chief Gani Fawehinmi even threatened to take the
president to the United Nations Human Rights Commssion if Mr. Keyamo were not
released (Ozoemena, 2003, January 23). The leader of the Central Zone of the
Ijaw Youth Council , was summarily executed in Port Harcourt by the police. The
Odi Boys are still waiting the final resolution of their case. They have been
held since November 1999. Mr. Nnengi James was rushed to Abuja to answer
questions. The police in the Rivers State spends more time harassing members
of the opposition while allowing government officials to run wild. The Late Dr.
Marshall Harry described how the police tried to arrest members of the
opposition when he sent a letter to the police authorities. The Information
Officer of MOSOP, Mr. Bari-ara Kpalap corroborated Dr. Harry’s concerns when he
said “The police must show they are capable of operating without political
interference or favour and that protection in Rivers State is not just for those
in government…We look for an immediate and concrete response which recognizes
that there are numerous people of good character who have been threatened and
attacked in Rivers State in recent months” (MOSOP Press Statement, 2003, March
22).
It is very strange, in a democracy, for the police to constantly
harass, arrest and detain citizens. It should be recalled that after President
Obasanjo was released from detention, he promised never to detain any Nigerian
without trial if he becomes the president. Well, Chief Obasanjo is now the
president and Nigerians are still being threatened, harassed, detained and
killed. The president either is not aware that Nigerians are being harassed
for expressing certain opinions or he is fully aware of the situation. Gen.
Abacha too either did not know that state security agencies were harassing,
detaining, and killing Nigerians or he was fully aware of the situation. The
similarity of purpose, operational style, and objectives between the military
dictatorship of Gen. Abacha and the democratic regime of President Obasanjo are
incredulous, yet, true. Strong-arm political tactic is the primary means of
communication by this regime, instead of reasoned persuasion.
9. It is
not a coincident that the Warri political situation remains unresolved. It
appears that Warri is intentionally being used to divide the three ethnic groups
(Ijaw, Itsekiri, and Urhobo) and prevent them from ever uniting to confront the
oil issue. If the federal government were seriously committed to peace and
stability, the president would have been more involved in finding a lasting
solution to the matter. The Warri crises began in 1998, yet, the federal
government still does not have a decisive plan to quench the conflict.
Therefore, it is inferable that Warri is strategically being set ablaze since it
is the weakest link in the Niger Delta effort to establish a political bloc.
For instance, someone attempted to rig the election in Warri South-West Council
during the voter registration exercise in September 2002. It is alleged by the
residents of the area that men of the Police Fire for Fire squad removed
registration materials from the Ogbe-Ijoh headquarters of the Warri South-West
Council on that day and took the materials to Okpe Local Government Area.
Efforts by the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) to resolve the
voter registration issue by appealing to the authorities have met with
unresponsiveness(Federated Niger-Delta Ijaw Communities. (2003, March 15). Why
was the registration process interfered with? Who ordered the police to divert
the registration materials? Who wanted to interfere with the democratic process
in Warri? The lack of political action compelled the president of the Ijaw
Students Association, Mr. Clarkson Aribogha to say that peace will never return
to Warri until all the recommendations that have been made by various judicial
committees and elders’ council are implemented (Amaize, 2003,
February).
10. Instead of finding an acceptable political solution, the
federal government sent jetfighters to fly over the city following the clash
between the Itsekiris and the Urhobos in which fifteen people died (Nzeshi,
2003, February 1). Three weeks after the Itsekiri and Urhobo clash, the Ijaws
and the Itsekiris clashed over the registration material diversion and the
military blockafe of the waterways. Already, over fifteen people are reported
to have died, including military personnel (Omonobi, Ughegbe & Ogwuda, 2003,
March21).
The media have not been very helpful in clarifying the
situation. One version of the story seems to imply that Ijaw youths are reacting
militantly to enforce a blockade of the Warri/Escravos River after a seven-day
ultimatum given to the federal government to ameliorate the voter registration
materials issue in Warri South-West Council had expired. In an attempt to
enforce the embargo, a shoot-out ensued resulting in the death of some youths
and soldiers and the kidnapping of some policemen. Feeling that the military
and the police were aligning with the itsekiris, the armed Ijaw youths are also
reported to have attacked Itsekiri communities in the troubled WSWC (Okafor
& Shadare, 2003, March 19). Overall, about ten or more Itsekiri towns and
villages including Ajudaibo, Egbo Egungun, Eghor, Jakpa, Oghere, Ogidigben etc.
are reported to have been attacked. The Nigerain army and navy launched attacks
against Ijaw towns and villages, including Okerenkoko, Seitoruzobor, and
Oburukinan in Gbaramatu Clan of Warri South-West Local Government Area (Adebayo,
2003, March 24). Both Ijaw and Itsekiri indigenes are fleeing their
communities. Ijaw community leaders, including Hon. Bello Oboko, Hon. George
Timinimi, Mr. Kingsley Otuaro, Mr. Dan Ekpebide, and Chief Government Ekpemupolo
view this version of the story as being fallacious and entirely misleading.
According to them, the Ijaw youths did not block any waterway as was reported by
the press. Instead, it was the military which did so and thereby prevented the
flow of traffic. The ijaw youths reacted to the military attack on their
communities (Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communties, 2004, March 19). The other
version of the story is that Ijaw youths who worked for an oil bunkering tycoon
attacked members of the security forces, killing more than four security
personnel and kidnapping three police officers in the process. (Nzeshi, 2003,
March 17). This version seems like a set up since the attackers were believed
to have worn new Mobile Police uniforms. No body is really sure who the
attackers were.
The oil bunkering episode is a criminal enterprise and
should be stopped. Those involved in the killing of the security personnel
while being involved in the bunkering activity should be prosecuted. On the
other hand, the Ijaw youths who are reacting over the Warri South-West Council
voter registration fraud should be released. Likewise, the voter registration
fraud should be investigated. Federal and Delta State officials should not take
sides or try to make one of the ethnic groups the most predominant political
force in Warri. The Ijaw and the Urhobo have persistently complained about
political marginalization and government authorities have tended to ignore or
take sides. For example, if the Ijaws had not reacted militantly, the removal
of the Warri South-West Local Council’s headquarter from Ogbe-Ijoh to Ogidigben
would have remained permanent two years ago. When Delta State officials
realized that the Ijaws would not take the removal of the headquarter from
Ogbe-Ijoh to Ogidigben lying down, the governor transferred the local government
capital back to Ogbe-Ijoh. Warri politics is like politics in Rwanda where the
minority (Tutsi) is trying to impose its authority over the majority (Hutu).
The Ijaws and the Urhobos are reacting furiously to the Rwandanization of Warri,
just like the Hutus are reacting to the Tutsi effort to dominate
them.
11. Generally, when the Ijaws complain, the complaint is never
ever taken seriously, both by the government and the media. When the Ijaws
react militantly to express their frustrations and anger, the government and the
media would immediately paint the reaction as “troublemaking.” For example,
the Ijaws of the Warri South-West Council area started complaining about the
police involvement in the removal of the registration materials during the voter
registration exercise, neither the Delta State nor the federal government
responded to the Ijaw allegations or concerns. The authorities did not even
make any effort to investigate whether the police were involved or not. The
media slept and pretended not to hear about the alleged voter fraud. Now that
the Ijaws are reacting, the media are coming up with stories that are very
contradictory and inciteful to military action against the Ijaws while ignoring
the political problem that is the cause of Ijaw and Urhobo anger over political
power distribution in Warri. The president, the chiefs of various services,
the governor of Delta State, and the Inspector General of Police are pretending
not to know that the distribution of political power is a major problem in
Warri. They assume that they can use the armed forces and the police to wish
away the issue.
12. Nigeria’s military and police establishments
continue to make the same kinds of mistakes that their predecessors made. It
should be recalled that Maj. Chukwuma K. Nzeogwu and his colleagues staged the
first coup in January 1966 because the higher echelons of the military and the
police did not do anything to stop the politicians from tearing down the
country. It is obvious that the higher echelons of the military and the police
authorities continue to remain quiet and allow the politicians to tear down the
country today. It is the responsibility of the higher ups in the military and
the police to properly advise the political leadership about the political and
security situations in the country. Therefore, the Chiefs of the Services, the
Inspector General of the Police, the Commander of the NNS Umalokun, and the
Commissioner of Police in Delta State need to tell the president that the ward
situation in Warri is a source of perpetual conflict if it is not corrected. So
far, these officers are allowing themselves to be used as pawns to further
destabilize the country by taking sides. If the Ijaws feel that the armed
forces and the police are being used to destroy them, they would not hesitate to
literally put an end to oil activities in their territory, regardless of
military occupation.
13. President Obasanjo can afford to treat the
minorities in Nigeria as if they are a third class citizens. He does not
hesitate to send the military to teach minorities a lesson but he has never sent
the military to teach members of the majority groups a lesson when they
misbehave. There have been more killings in the Islamic North than in the Niger
Delta. Yet, the military is often ordered to shoot in the Niger Delta while the
military is told to maintain peace and order in the majority areas of the North
and the West. The president understands that his internal and external
supporters want him to control the Niger Delta so that oil production is not
impeded by the indigenes of the region. The Ijaws are particularly considered
to be a threat to the flow of oil, hence, the directed attacks against
them.
Steps Needed to Change the Situation
Around
1. The Ijaws should watch the situation very carefully,
especially the manner in which the media report the issues. It should be
recalled that the media have persistently attempted to paint the Ijaws as
“troublemakers,” in an attempt to encourage the federal government to send the
military to attack the Ijaws. It should be recalled that the media failed to
report the full story about what led to the attack on the police officers around
Odi. The media actually incited a violent anti-Ijaw reaction when they listed
the ethnic groups from which the police victims came from. One could also
recalled that the Ogonis even wanted to send a fighting team to avenge the death
of an Ogoni policeman. Luckily, there was a change of mind. However, it should
not be surprising to the Ijaws that the lawyer who was defending the Odi youths
was killed sometime last year. The media, in a previous Ijaw/Itsekiri
confrontation, reported the crisis in a manner as to create the impression that
the Ijaws needed to be dealt with militarily. The Vanguard seems to be the most
subjective instigator of governmental action against the Ijaws.. Its headlines
are always designed to incite the fear of the Ijaws. Nationally, the media have
never taken the time to report all the facts about the Warri situation. One
could also recalled that the media helped to instigate the Nigerian Civil War in
1967.
2. The Ijaws can reverse the journalistic imbalance by
sponsoring Ijaw media outlets. In other words, the Ijaws, including the
government of Bayelsa State, should assist financially and materially existing
media organs so that an Ijaw newpaper or a magazine can assume national and
international prominence. Currently, there is not a single Ijaw newspaper that
has an extensive national and international impact. Consequently, news coverage
of the ethnic group tends to be manipulated to create a negative impression of
the political efforts of the group members.
3. The Warri crisis is
no longer a localized issue. Therefore, it is now time for the national
leadership of Ijawland to become proactively involved in pressuring the federal
government to settle the conflict. The Ijaws, Itsekiris, and the Urhobos can
only have peace if the situation is resolved equitably. If the Delta State and
the federal government remain passive or take sides, they are only going to
prolong the agony of Warri for every Nigerian resident of that city. As the
citizens of these ethnic groups become even more angry and frustrated due to
lack of a solution, they can physically prevent the flow of oil from their
territories. No amount of troop deployment would be able to secure the Niger
Delta for the oil companies to operate unhindered.
4. The Ijaws
also need to pressure the federal government to create another Ijaw state.
Thus, the territorial boundaries of Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, and Rivers State can
be adjusted for that purpose. It is very critical to have another Ijaw state in
order to reduce the pressure on Bayelsa State.
5. The indigenes of
the Niger Delta must be very vigilant. The recent killing of Dr. Marshall
Harry is not merely due to electoral politics. It is also connected to the
control of Rivers State and the Niger Delta. Thus, the late Harry is simply an
addition to the list of murdered Niger Delta leaders: Isaac Boro, Dr. Obi Wali,
Prof. Claude Ake, Chief Ken Saro Wiwa, Pa Rewane etc. Chief Alex Ibru narrowly
escaped death. Dr. Ledum Mitee escaped death because he was outside Nigeria.
The assassins attacked his residence in a manner very reminiscent of the attack
on Dr. Marshall Harry. There must be a reason why genuine Rivers State leaders
are being targeted for assassination. Therefore, all Niger Delta leaders must
now be protected by their own trusted citizens. Every patriotic Ijaw leader
must be guarded by Ijaw patriots. It is not a coincident that whenever a Niger
Delta indigene becomes a major national figure, something always happens. It is
a way to ensure that the region does not produce highly respectable leaders who
can single-handedly publicize the plight of the region and or compete nationally
to change existing policies.
6. Likewise, as part of the protective
security system, Niger Delta groups should develop intelligence gathering
capabilities. This is to ensure their security since Nigeria cannot guarantee
their safety. The Ogoni people were brutalized in the early 1990s by state
sponsored killer squads. Culturally, it is not common for the Niger Delta
groups to engage in assassinations, so, there is a hidden agenda. The desire to
control the oil revenue is a great motivational force for all kinds of evil
machinations.
7. The leaders and indigenes of the Niger Delta must
always think fast and deep in order to avoid political traps intentionally set
to derail their efforts to control the oil. The youths should work with the
elders to ensure a commonality of purpose and to avoid militarization of the
region. Remember, the battle is arduous, and tricky. The region is taking
on major national and international players whose financial wherewithal is
intrinsically linked with the flow of oil from the Niger Delta. It should also
be advised that the region is taking on the most industrialized nation-states of
the world. These countries consider oil to be a critical part of their national
security system. In deed, among the myriad theories and ideas about
international political relations, is a growing dogmatic belief by some realists
from the industrialized countries that the major powers have a preemptive right,
if necessary, to use force in order to secure oil to maintain their economies.
Dr. Henry Kissinger, the former U.S Secretary of State, is an exponent of this
view. Consequently, the Iraqi situation appears to be a dramatic activation of
the theory of preemption to secure oil fields. If the Middle East becomes
highly unstable, the major international and national players could use the
right of preemption to encourage Nigeria’s security forces to forcefully occupy
the Niger Delta.
8. Recently, the House of Representatives ordered the
Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to pay the sum of $1.5 billion to the
Ijaws of Bayelsa. There is no doubt that the SPDC would work behind the
limelight to persuade Nigeria’s power-wielders to change their minds over the
payment scheme. The payment issue could turn out to be like the
offshore/onshore dichotomy bill when the powerful SPDC goes with bagful of money
to advise some members of the National Assembly and policymakers about the
implication of paying the Ijaws that kind of money. The SPDC could say, “Look,
if we pay the Ijaws of Bayelsa $1.5 billion, the Eastern and Western Ijaws would
most probably demand their own shares. Then, the Edos, Ibibios, some Igbos,
Isokos, Itsekiris, Ogonis, Urhobos, some Yorubas etc. would eventually demand
their own shares. This would cause irreparable financial damage, including the
possible collapse of the oil companies. If the oil companies were to collapse,
then Nigeria too could suffer severe economic problems.” With that kind of
argument coming from the oil companies, some influential members of the National
Assembly could change their minds. The offshore/onshore dichotomy bill went
through a path similar to the described scenario.
Whether payment is
made or not, the Ijaws and the other Niger Delta groups should continue to use
political and legal means to press on the struggle. Such means are very
constitutional, justifiable, and internationally acceptable. Militancy in an
era of antiterrorism war could be misconstrued as terrorism. The Nigerian
government and the international oil interests would be too eager to paint all
resistant efforts as terrorism.
To avoid disinformation and
misinformation, the Ijaws should assist the Ijaw elders in the Warri area to
find out the true story of the oil bunkering incident and the alleged Ijaw
youths who were involved. It is also important to find out the source of “new
Mobile Police uniforms” as well as the voter registration scandal.
9.
Some Ijaws have commented on the lack of serious reaction by Ijaw establishment
political representatives in Abuja. The passivity should be put in
perspective. The current political system is very corrupt. It is designed to
marginalize minorities, especially those from the oil producing communities.
Consequently, the Ijaw representatives are on a tight political rope. If they
overreact, they could be easily branded as antiNigerian and the political
bridges being built to change the oil situation could be destroyed. Thus, the
minority representatives, particularly from Ijawland, have to walk a fine
political line as far as they are in Abuja. Moreover, they are part of a
political party machine which does not encourage members who were sponsored by
the big players to speak their minds. This being the case, it is much
preferable for the Ijaw representatives to work diplomatically to reduce
tension. On the other hand, it is tactically better for those outside the
political system to react more vigorously. In other words, it works better
tactically to have a two-pronged approach, using people inside and outside to
achieve certain objectives.
10. The Ijaws should not hesitate to go to
the African Union and the United Nations to seek protection as a “Special
Territory or Zone” if the federal government of Nigeria cannot guarantee them
safety in their territory. The Ijaws are being treated like the Iraqi Kurds and
Shiites. Meanwhile, petition drives should be directed at countries with oil
companies operating in Ijawland. Likewise, articles and SOS messages should be
sent to major international media outlets like the CNN, CBC, BBC, FOX, WorldLink
etc. in an effort to publicize the plight of the people. It is an encouraging
development to here that a French journalist (Laurent Correau) is interested in
doing a material on Ijaw leaders. However, for security sake, such journalists
must be thoroughly checked out before patriotic Ijaw leaders are exposed to
unknown foreign figures who might have other motives. It should be recalled
that one of the greatest Afghan military generals (Gen. Massud) during the
anti-Soviet war was killed by an alleged Al Qaeda agent who posed as a
photojournalist a week before September 11, 2001.
11. Bayelsa State
should set up an emergency relief program. The program should have both
financial and relief material components. In the event of a crisis anywhere in
Ijawland, the program would be able to provide relief materials to the victims.
There is no doubt that the resource control struggle would lead to frequent
confrontations between the Ijaws and the security forces.
13. The
Ijaws and the other ethnic groups in the Oil Producing Areas should put pressure
on the federal government to invest more on other sectors of the economy, in an
effort to reduce reliance on oil. This is achievable by lobbying the president
and members of the National Assembly to increase the budget for agriculture,
industrialization, and trade. If possible, encourage the federal government to
continue to explore for oil and other minerals in other parts of the country.
This is necessary in order to reduce the pressure on the Niger Delta and save
its environment and the people from total destruction.
References
Abugu, F. (2002, December 4). NDDC and
the challenge of Niger Delta. The Guardian. Online:
http://us.f130.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?Msgld=7228-823170…
12/9/02.
Adebayo, S. (2003, January 3). SSS quizzes Clark, 6 others on
Oil Dichotomy Bill.Vanguard, online.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/202/cover/1203012003.html.
1/3/03.
_______, ( 2003, March 24). Warri war: Ijaws accuse soldiers
of razing their villages- Army confirms 6 soldiers killed. Vanguard. Online:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/cover/1424052003/html.
3.24.03
Akpan, C. (2002, December 19). Keyamolaunches his Niger Delta
Republic. Allafrica.com online.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200212190632.htlm. 12.20/02.
AllAfrica.com.
( 2003, February 21). OPC, IPC, Arewa Youth pledge to shun
conflicts.
Online: http://allafrica.com/stories/200302210300.html.
2/21/03.
Amaize, E. ( 2003, February 20). Ogbe-Ijaw students want
solution to Warri crises.AllAfrica.com. Online:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200302210336.html. 2/21/03
Anaba, I.
(2003, January 8). Keyamo sues SSS. Vanguard, online.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/cover/f308012003.htm.
1/8/03.
Benatari, B. (2003, February 25). Obasanjo – from the past:
part five. Online: Ijawnation@yahoogroups.com. 2/28/03
Federated
Niger-Delta Ijaw Communities. (2003, march 15). Save Our Souls. A petition
sent to the Federal government of Nigeria. Online: Ijawnation@yahoogroups.com.
3/17/03
__________, (2003, March 19). Matters of Urgent State
Attention. Ijawnation@yahoo.com. 3/26/03.
MOSOP Press Statement. (2003,
March 22). Assassination raid on Ledum Mitees Port Harcourt home. Online:
http://us.f105.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?Msgld=1991-2583070..
3/24/03.
Nzeshi, O. (2003, February 1). Four feared killed in fresh
Warri crisis. AllAfrica.com. Online:
http://allafric,com/stories/200302010192.html. 2/1/03.
________
(2003, march 17). Military positions for reprisal attack in Delta. Tis day
Online: http://www.thisdayonline.com/news/20030317news12html.
3/17/03.
Okafor, C. & Shadare, W. ( 20003, March 19). Government
deploys troops to Warri, airlines suspend flights. The Guardian. Online:
http://www.guardianewsngr.com/news/article02/. 3/19/03.
Ozoemena, C.
(2003, January 23). Gani threatens to drag Obasanjo to UN over
Keyamo.
Online: Ijawnation@yahoogroups.com. 1/27/03
Reuters.
(2003, march 11). Nigeria’s Obasanjo suffers poll campaign walkout. Online:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml:jsessionid=PANIIMEUVPPUWCRBAEKSFFA?t..
3/12/03
This Day online. (February 2, 2003). The charge against
Tinubu. http://www.thisdayonline.com/news/sunday/20030202cov02.htlm.
2/2/03.
Ughegbe, L. (2003, March 12). Reps order Shell to pay Ijaw
$1.5b compensation. Ijawnation@yahoo.com. 3/12/03.
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