NIGERIA MASTERWEB DAILY NEWS

*Nigeria Post Amnesty: Saying No To Fresh Attacks

By Ifeatu Agbu.

Prominent Niger Delta leaders and civil society activists are agitated. The reason for their unease is the lull in the implementation of the post-amnesty programme for repentant militants. They, like most other Nigerians are worried that three months after the ex-militants in the region surrendered their weapons and embraced peace at the expiration of the October 4, 2009 deadline set by the Federal Government, the amnesty deal appears rooted on the starting bloc.

The general apprehension appears to be fuelled by security reports that the ex-militants, numbering about 15,000 were getting restive and may resume hostilities if things do not change for the better. The Federal Government had promised a post amnesty programme that ought to have taken the militants who surrendered their arms through demobilization, rehabilitation and re-integration processes to make them useful to themselves and the larger society.

The concerned stakeholders, met recently in Abuja at the National Roundtable for Good Governance organised by the Faculty of The Initiatives, a group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives. They warned that the continued delay in implementing the post-amnesty programme as captured in the supplementary budget could have serious national security implications because the repentant militants could interpret the inaction to mean that the government had abandoned the amnesty programme, stressing that such perception could trigger off another round of hostilities in the oil- rich region. ( Continues below..... )

Photo Above: Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) militants

They observed that though the 2009 Supplementary Appropriation, which primarily targeted specific projects in the post- amnesty agenda has been passed by the National Assembly, it cannot be implemented because President Umaru Musa Yar Adua has not signed it into law. Things would have been different if the President had properly handed over to his deputy, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the Vice President, before travelling to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment. That is precisely the grouse of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, which claimed that it attacked a major crude oil delivery pipeline in the creeks of Abonema, Rivers State on December 19, 2009. MEND said it carried out the attack to protest the prolonged absence of ailing President Yar’Adua from the country, adding that the slow pace of implementation of the post-amnesty programme was unacceptable to them.

Although the oil companies have denied that any of their installations was attacked, the news has certainly reminded us all that the nation is sitting on the keg of gunpowder over the Niger Delta crises. Any further dilly-dallying on the post-amnesty deal puts the nation at the risk of returning to the ugly pre-amnesty era.

Perhaps, to avert this possibility, the Vice President, promptly inaugurated one committee and four sub-committees to fast track the government's efforts at consolidating the gains of the amnesty process. Dr. Jonathan said that the action was part of the efforts to revive the amnesty programme, which had been slowed down for some time now. The Minister of Defence and Chairman of the Federal Government Amnesty Committee, Major General Godwin Abbe (rtd), also weighed in to douse the fears that the Federal government was losing control of the situation in the Niger Delta. He said that contrary to insinuations that the amnesty programme has gone awry, the government was on top of the situation.

Obviously, the Defence Minister was only being defensive. His counterpart in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Ufot Ekaette came out clean to admit that all is not well with the plans to urgently develop the Niger Delta. He told the Senate Committee on Niger Delta in defence of the ministry’s 2010 budget proposals, that the money available for it to execute its mandate was simply inadequate. Ekaette said: “For the new projects, it dawned on us that it would be very difficult to implement them because the cost of each project compared with the budgetary allocation was such that we could not pay 15% mobilisation for any of these projects except for one or two.” “I think the problem we had was that the N19.5 billion that was allocated for new projects was spread through too many projects. After doing the costing, it became apparent that there was no way those projects could be implemented at once.”

In order to consolidate the recent gains, build confidence and prevent a relapse into violence, the President needs to beef up the ongoing process of returning former fighters to the society as productive and responsible citizens. He should also vigorously implement his plans to address the underlying economic and social problems that triggered militancy in the area.

Yar’Adua’s success in calming the region through a pacific approach has earned him plaudits from many Nigerians, including some of his critics. Obviously, the amnesty programme is the greatest achievement of this administration so far. The country is already gaining a lot from an increase in oil revenue as oil installations have gained some respite from incessant attacks which wreaked havoc on the economy. Records show that the country has made modest gains as oil production, which dropped bellow one million barrels per day, has now shot up to over 1.8m barrels per day.

The first sign that the amnesty was heading for the rocks was the public protests staged by the ex-militants in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State shortly after it took effect. The former militants complained that they were not properly taken care of. They alleged that the stipend promised them was not being paid. A couple of weeks later, those camped in Aluu, near the University of Port Harcourt went on rampage, vandalising property, molesting innocent students and members of the public. It got so bad that the university was forced to close down.

The camping programmes aught to have been better organised. Specialists in human behaviour should have been engaged to take charge of the re-orientation programme to help the ex-militants find their bearing and look forward to a better life rather than looking back to the days when they were able to live as they wished in the creeks. Let’s not forget that some of them, especially their leaders lived like kings in the creeks. Weaning them from that style of living will surely take some studious effort. For instance, it was reported recently that one of the leaders, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, threatened to resume war in the delta over a shoreline protection contract put at N1.8 billion. Although the ex-militant kingpin promptly denied the report, it tells you the kind of big deals they are associated with.

The re-orientation programme should have taken a cue from the Non-Violence Training Scheme initiated by the Niger Delta Development Commission [NDDC] in 2008 to assist in reforming the youths who would have resorted to anti-social activities as a result of joblessness. Then, the commission sponsored 600 militant youths from the Niger Delta for training in non-violence agitation. The training programme was organized by the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria (FEHN), a non-governmental organization. The youths were trained both in Lagos and South Africa.

In addition to changing the mindset of the youths, it is also important to find a sustainable way of engaging them in a gainful economic activity such as agriculture. It is common knowledge that over 80 per cent of Niger Deltans were farmers and fishermen before crude oil came into the picture. It is only logical, therefore, to reactivate the hitherto mainstay of the Niger Delta economy – farming and fishing. This time around, however, it should be with a touch of modernity to take advantage of the new techniques of the computer age. The youths should be encouraged to form cooperatives at the end of their training and should be carefully mentored to eventually stand on their own.

To guard against the resurgence of hostility in the region, the Federal Government should immediately come out with a comprehensive timetable for its post-amnesty plans and follow it up with concrete actions that will convince even the sceptics that the Yar’Adua administration truly means business.

Mr. Agbu writes from Port Harcourt[ifeatuagbu@yahoo.com]b>