IN DEFENSE OF NIGER DELTA AND MATTERS ARISING
By Che Oyinatumba
The
inevitable has happened. Prize of the devil’s
excreta has hit the $100 mark and there is fearful
hope that it will rise. Interestingly this windfall
will deepen the crisis in Nigeria ’s Niger Delta
Region and prolong the withdrawal time table of
American forces in Iraq .
Apart from the crisis in Niger Delta, this increase
will see American governmental agencies, forcefully
encroaching into oil producing African states with
all manner of economic relief and incentives, so
long as America gets cheap crude oil to fuel her
luxurious life and further deplete the ozone layer.
$100 per barrel? What does that mean for the Niger
Delta people? Why should I defend the people of
South-South when the black gold found in their pit
toilets is abundant enough to carter for the
provision of the elusive seven points agenda of this
indecisive Yar’Adu’s government?
Why should I defend the Niger Delta, when the
militias are armed with AK 47 and other
sophisticated war-heads that the Nigerian Army can
only dream about. Isaac Adaka Boro gave defined
teeth to the hydra-headed problems in the Niger
Delta way back in the 60s, but the Federal
Government of Nigeria, in a bid to undermine the
Biafran struggle, dubiously applied the carrot,
without addressing the issues raised by the 12 Day
Revolution.
Why should I defend the Niger delta, when Ken Saro
Wiwa made the struggle a global discourse to the
extent Nigeria was expelled from the commonwealth?
Why should I defend the Niger Delta, when
cumulatively between Rivers and Delta State , they
receive allocation equivalent to that of six states
not blessed with the devil’s excreta.
My defense for the Niger Delta springs from the
recent fatwah imposed on Ateke Tom, leader of the
Niger Delta Vigilante Force, by Governor Rotimi
Amaechi. This Supreme Court imposed governor, while
showing off after the Joint Force "discovered" an
evil forest that was the base of Ateke Tom showed he
lacks in depth understanding of the Niger Delta
struggle.
The problem of the Niger Delta, is a problem of
nomenclature. When these militants came into
national focus, the then governor of Rivers State ,
Dr. Peter Odili, branded them cultist. Instead of
agreeing that these were boys used for the elections
of 1999-2003, his government communicated to Abuja
that the problem is just that of disgruntled
criminal elements in the state. At the height of it
then was Ateke Tom and Asari Dokubbo. When the
Obasanjo regime understood the mal-nomenclature of
the situation, both "cultist" leaders were taken to
Abuja and an "understanding" was reached. Ateke
became silent and Asari stole the show and became an
epitome of the rag-tag militia groups in the Niger
Delta, whose stock in trade was/is oil bunkering and
later day kidnapping. In the course of this show,
the PRONACO group identified with Asari and Asari
metamorphosis into a champion of the Niger Delta
resource control struggle. He was welcomed into Aso
Rock and when the centre could no longer hold, he
was clamped into detention.
Governor Amaechi coming on air to dare Ateke, shows
lack of leadership qualities requisite to solve the
Niger Delta problem. His impotent threat to arrest
the parents of the militants, shows he is barren of
ideas to deal with the problem. Any one tempted to
swallow a pineapple, should first consider the size
of his anus. I dare him to arrest any suspected
militia’s mother and see if Port Harcourt will be
safe. Any attempt to do so, will alienate his
government and the fence sitters on this crisis will
jump into the creeks and swell the rank and file of
the militants, as the people will see that the
militants have more mature attitude and defined
rules of engagement in their attack. Such unguarded
utterances, qualifies Governor Amaechi for a
psychological check up to ascertain if he is fit to
handle the people of Rivers State.
The ABC of guerrilla warfare makes it clear that so
long as the conditions that make the rebel
attractive to the local community have not been
addressed by the government, or occupying force, the
rebel will still have influx of recruits. The
classical case of Robin Hood stands out. So long as
the oppressed people see the benevolent thief,
providing healthcare, food, security against
extortion from the Nigerian Police and Army, it will
be difficult to apprehend Ateke Tom. Sure on the
long run, if he is stupid like other "rebels" who
have men of SS guarding them, he will be betrayed
and a new "messiah" will arise and take up arms
worse than the on left behind by his fallen comrade.
Let no one deceive himself, that Nigerians love life
and can not be suicide bombers.
The hopeless situation in the Niger-Delta, is a
fertile ground and before long, we will record a
suicide bomb in Nigeria .Governor Amaechi, should provide infrastructures
that will make the communities that offers human
shield to these Militants see the government as
friends. It is over a year that the Father Hassan
Kukah led reconciliation committee rounded off her
assignment yet the people of the Niger Delta are not
better off. Rather Shell has been smiling to the
bank while the people of the Delta depreciate into
poverty.
Another problem with the solutions to the Niger
Delta crisis on the table so far, is that they are
elite originated. The ruling class, inclusive of the
leadership in the Niger Delta, has refused to see
the crisis as a class struggle. They erroneously
believe that once "criminal" A, B or C is clamped,
the kidnapping will be over. The deployment of
soldiers has shown that this is not the way out. The
crisis should be seen for what it is, the wretched
of Nigeria versus the belly bloated rich of Nigeria
. It goes beyond the mask wearing boys in the delta.
Their struggle for now may be localized, but it is
fast spreading to all the corners of Nigeria .
Although badly branded by the upper class as
religious riots, the uprising in the Northern
Nigeria is nothing but class struggle.
Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gun powder and the
Niger Delta agitation may merely be an ignition to
set ablaze the beast in us the oppressed
marginalized poor. The poor of all tribes should
speak with one voice and support the struggle in the
Niger Delta.
Akin to class is economical empowerment which
defines class. Now crude is 100$ per barrel, what is
the Yar’Adu government going to do with this
windfall? During the Gulf war, we the 6th largest
producer of crude couldn’t make capital gain out of
it. Or aptly, our leadership could not improve the
welfare of our people, rather we still live under 1$
a day, reduced life expectancy, increased infant
mortality, non availability of primary healthcare
and the Now the mischievous gods are tempting us
again. How do we react to his Greek gift? All
concerned social critics, should put the senate on
her toes to check the president who doubles as the
petroleum minister to daily account for the petro-dollars
raining in. Peru is making maximum gain with theirs
and dares the “almighty” America , what have we done
with ours?
The economy can be re-planned and the excess dollar
dumped into revamping the comatose power sector.
