Niger Delta: Time to sheath swords

The Niger Delta problem has been with us for quite some time, but since 2003, it assumed a more complicated position with the formation of several splinter groups representing a plethora of militia camps by various individuals including: the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF); Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND); Coalition of Militant Action in the Niger Delta (COMA); Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Front (NDPSF); Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) among others. These groups have further exercabated the problem, by making negotiation and dialogue difficult, thus making life almost impossible in the region leading to more severe consequences both for the country and the local communities.

The crisis has also taken several dimensions including the murder of several people including 13 traditional rulers, high spate of kidnappings and hostage takings as well as attacks on oil installations leading to the shut down of production facilities. In all cases Nigeria remains the ultimate loser. It is in fact, estimated that the country has lost an average of 300, 000 barrels per day in crude oil production since 1999 to the spate of violence and instability in the region. This translates to daily production loss of about $18 million, or an awesome $58.3 billion in nine years. Similarly, the human cost and damage to local economies in the region are equally mind bugling.

Nevertheless, key among the root causes of the crisis is the near absence of basic facilities for healthcare, education, transportation, wealth creation and recreation in the area. In fact, like Oloibiri (where oil was first discovered in 1956), most of the Niger Delta communities are worse off now and unemployment is higher than in the average Nigerian community. What we have presently is a region wallowing in abject poverty, high unemployment, collapsed infrastructure and a plethora of abandoned projects. In this place, there are hardly good roads, electrification, water supply, communication, with very rustic economic activities that are basically self-preserving and subsistent. Similarly, for a long period and essentially owing to neglect, schools in the region have become factories and breeding grounds for restive youths constantly looking for crisis. This aside, there are serious environmental problems including soil erosion, oil and gas pollution, widespread deforestation and biodiversity loss as well as poor control of refuse and solid waste. This is in spite of the fact that this region accounts for the oil resources upon which Nigeria's economy seriously depends.

But the challenge of youth restiveness is gradually becoming unbearable. As I write, there are approximately six million youths in the Niger Delta, directly experiencing a prolonged period of concentrated civil disobedience in the most critical formative stages of their lives. Unfortunately, the politicization of children and their consequent exposure to violence and the means of violence are central to the menace of cultism, which has become a pastime among youths in the Niger Delta. Consequently, cultism has also become the breeding ground for militancy in the region.

However, I am also aware that something is being done by the present administration to address the evident marginalization of the region. First, in his inauguration speech, President Umaru Yar'Adua listed settlement of the Niger Delta crisis as part of his priorities in office. Secondly, government has shown sufficient commitment towards implementing the Niger Delta Master Plan beginning from this year. This is aside the several on going development projects by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC) and the various state governments in the region. At the same time, it is obvious that without peace and security, these projects may never be executed and the region will not receive the capital it requires for development. Furthermore, the volume of businesses presently relocating from the region is an indication that if nothing is done urgently; it may take several years before they are once more convinced to go back to the region, if and when the present crisis abates.

In the circumstance, what is now required is for the Niger Delta youths to explore the option of peace, which will give room for negotiation and meaningful dialogue. There is no doubt that they have sufficiently made their point. Continuing along the line of violence would further lead to unnecessary loss of life and property both by the local communities and the country. The event of January 1, in Port Harcourt, which led to severe loss of life and property, should in fact be the last. Is it not rather sad that the once bubbling Port Harcourt City has suddenly become a ghost town, and so have several other towns in the Niger Delta? For God's sake, let us allow peace to reign. Only peace can guarantee the rebuilding of the region. Enough of this madness!