गाम्बरी थे थे नाइजर DELTA

GAMBARI AND THE NIGER DELTA

The appointment of Nigeria’s former Permanent Representative to United Nations, Professor Ibrahim Gambari as the Chairman, Steering Committee, of the proposed Niger Delta Summit has drawn a lot of ire from within and outside the region. “Once bitten twice shy,” the saying still goes. This is the attitude of the Niger Delta people to the appointment of Gambari. It is reported that during the trial and killing of late Ken Saro-Wiwa, Gambari was credited to have described the late environmental rights activist as a common criminal. And since it is a common practice to use the past to assess the present and predict the future then Gambari by his past utterances is unfit to chair or participate in anything that has to do with the region. The same issues Saro-Wiwa was killed for are what Gambari is going to discuss at the summit. He was bias and would be bias, simple! The Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, in this issue, his mouth betrays the content of his heart. He may never see anything good with the Niger Delta. Forget about the years he has spent at the United Nations. A leopard does not change its spots overnight. We would have prefer a Gani Fawehmi, Colonel Abubakar Umar, Wole Soyinka, Emeka Anyaoku, Justice Oputa, Justice Karibi -Whyte or even a Kofi Anan but definitely not Gambari.

But Gambari said he would not resign despite the opposition to his appointment. He tried to justify his appointment. This is arrogance, sheer arrogance! Gambari is an establishment man and he has no genuine solution to the Niger Delta problem. Moreover, Gambari is a symbol of the Northern oligarchy and therefore cannot preside over a summit where issues that would empower and improve the lives of the Niger Delta people are discussed. Remember what Northern delegates did at the last National Conferences when the issue of 25 per cent derivation to the oil producing states was discussed, they make sure that this was not possible. We cannot trust Gambari. Gambari, we no wan you, na by force?

The voice of the people is said to be the voice of God, if majority of the people say they don’t want Gambari, the federal government should respect their views. And if we are truly practicing democracy which is said to be government of the people for the people and by the people then the popular opinion and desire of the Niger Delta indigenes should be respected. Don’t mind the declarations and promises by the Niger Delta governors that they would attend the planned Peace Summit, they have no option. They may pose as elected representatives of their people but do they really represent, promote and protect the interests of the people? They have to show loyalty to the powers that be in Abuja, remember how they came into offices?

We do not only just don’t want Gambari, we do not want any peace summit, workshop, conference, seminar and other talk shops on the Niger Delta as they are all talks without action. We want action. We are tired of these conferences. What conference, seminar or workshop was held to develop Abuja into one of the most beautiful nation capital in the world? This is the question on the lips of every Niger Deltan. Every one is now an expert on Niger Delta and its problems; everyone is now an expert on conflict resolution, pseudo development experts are everywhere. Working for peace is now a big industry in the Niger Delta, every one thinks he or she has a solution to the problems of the region and they wish the crisis would continue so that the business will continue as usual. We desire peace like every other human but what manner of peace and at what cost. We cannot have peace without justice, fairness and equity. We want to see development in every nook and cranny of the region, our patience is running out. Give us jobs, durable roads, electricity, schools, hospitals, rehabilitate our lands that has been defiled by oil exploration, stop gas flaring and oil spills, give us resource control, revoke the Petroleum Act and Land Use Act, and there will be peace. Why do we need peace in the region and what do we really need peace for: is it to give conducive environment for the oil exploitation and exploration by the multinational oil companies? Is this peace to enable development in the Delta? If it is for development, why didn’t government develop the region during the first 40 years when there was no violence?

Testifying at the Rivers State Truth and Reconciliation Commission, leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteers Force (NDPVF) Alhaji Mujihad Dokubo-Asari, alleged that the Niger Delta crisis is a deliberate and planned instigation from outside the region to paint a picture of insecurity in order to scare away investors who are now moving into nearby states. Dokubo-Asari may not be far from the truth as oil companies with head offices outside their areas of operation were directed to relocate their Corporate Headquarters to states in the region where they are carry out their businesses, Shell have done it but ExxonMobil is yet to move to Eket in Akwa Ibom State and may use the situation in the Delta as an excuse and a justification for not relocating. Shell can also latch on this insecurity plea to move back to Lagos and we all know what this translate to in terms of PAYE, VAT and other taxes as well as the spill over effect of having headquarters of these companies in an environment.

We have never been troublesome people; it is not in our character. We were forced into this situation that has now been hijacked by criminal elements parading as freedom fighters. We expressed our fears at the Willinks Commission and 50 years after our fears have come to pass. And based on this we are also afraid that when the oil dried off, we will be abandoned to our fate by the Nigerian state. Our fears are genuine, look at Oloibiri where oil was first found in 1956, it is a sad reminder of what may befall the Niger Delta if nothing is done now to address the neglect, degradation, poverty and lack of infrastructures in the region. And now is the time.

This present crisis and insecurity in the region started about 10 years ago, and oil exploration and exploitation have been going on in the region for the past 50 years. If one may ask before the violence and insecurity what genuine effort was made by the federal government to address the yearning and aspirations of the people? Since peace did not pay, the people have to try violence to see the reactions and actions of the central government in Lagos and later Abuja. Rather the government should be blame for the violence in the area for failing to do what it should have done when it should have been done.

To show Gambari’s insincerity that whatever decisions or suggestions from the planned peace summit would not be implemented by the federal government, while he was calling on the militant groups to observe a 90 day ceasefire, federal troops were busy bombing the so-called militants’ camps in the region. The bombings took place on Tuesday whereas the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has already declared a unilateral ceasefire on Sunday before Gambari made his call. According to the militants this is a declaration of war. Can we hold a Peace Summit when our region is under attack by security forces? We see the 90 day ceasefire demand as a time buying ploy to douse the heighten insecurity in the region and to enable government come out with a security strategy to contain the militants in the region. We do not support violence as violence would only beget violence but we abhor intimidation and harassment by security forces. Genuine peace cannot be obtained under this atmosphere; it will be merely a grave yard peace. The criminal neglect and marginalization of the region is wickedness, and the Bible says no peace to the wicked so peace cannot thrives where there is wickedness. Let the root of evil and wickedness visited on the region be dealt with and peace would take its natural place in Niger Delta, where it rightly belong.

The choice of the venue of the Peace Summit is laughable. Why should someone suggest Abuja or anywhere outside the region for the summit. If the summit must hold it must be in the region. Anywhere outside the region would not be conducive for all stakeholders to participate. Let the summit participants come to the region and “enjoy the good roads, water and facilities we have here.” It is not every area in the region that is prone to violence or is a high security risk area. Also it would be capital flight to take Niger Delta money to pay transport, pay hotels bills, allowances and other logistics by the committee. The money that would be taken to Abuja or any where outside the region can be used to meet some of the developmental needs of the region.

How would delegates to the summit be selected, who will do the selection? How do we determine the real stakeholders and representatives of the people and region? Government should be wary of those who parade themselves as leaders of the region as they are part of the problem. They share part of the blame for the neglect and underdevelopment of the region. They condemned the boys in the open only to turn around and asked them to fire on. They arrange, aid and abet kidnapping and hostage taking only to turn around and play negotiators between the boys and the oil companies. No more summit, workshop, seminar and forum on Niger Delta problems. Give us our heart desires and peace will come naturally. Peace be unto Niger Delta and Nigeria.