“A belief is not merely an idea that the mind possesses. It is an idea that possesses the mind” – Robert Oxton Bolton.

The Niger Delta issue has gone beyond thuggery as most Nigerian newspaper columnists put it. It has gone beyond the grasp of the insincere and unimaginative Nigerian government. The flame has been ignited and it will continue to burn and as it burns would evolve into something bigger and more complicated to handle.

Over the years we have watched little problems metamorphose into unimaginable monsters all over the world. There was the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and today we have Al Qaeda, Tamil Tiger in Sri Lanka, the Kurdish movement in Turkey, Hamas, Hezbollah, and all those rebels you hear about in Colombia and all over South America, just to name a few. The Niger Delta militants are gradually taking that shape and form and there is no stopping them.

The West is sympathetic to the course of the Niger Delta militants and the International media knowing the bad reputation of the Nigerian government have continued giving them supporting coverage. The militants have exploited ‘moments’ to get on the headlines of the leading media in the world. They have increasingly become larger and important at this moment of skyrocketing oil price in the global market. Nowadays if they pounce it affects world price of oil and when it affects oil price it affects the economy of the world, and any shift in price due to their activities is headline on the CNN, BBC, and Al Jazeera of this world. Believe me they are enjoying every moment.

I wasn’t privileged to watch Sandy Cioffi’s ‘Sweet Crude’, a documentary on the Niger Delta. But the brief interview with her on CNN-Focus on Africa said it all. Gruesome images of poverty and misery sprawl amidst petro-dollar. In fact it is all that you already know. How the Nigerian government impoverished the people of the Niger Delta and all. Sandy Cioffi summed it up by stating the one problem responsible for such sickening neglect of the Niger Delta. It is nothing but CORRUPTION: a monster more dangerous then the Niger Delta militants. Corruption has threatened the collapse of this nation since inception. Corruption that has impoverished millions and turned them crazy that at any provocation are ready to start killing each other with such abnormal gusto under the auspices of religious or ethnic related issue however trivial. Corruption that has killed and will still kill more people than HIV-AIDS, malaria, or any plague known to man.

In one of the dailies Babagana Kingibe was said to have said that the Niger Delta people should blame their leaders for all the problems. The Federal Government has always claimed that they have pumped enough money to the Niger Delta for basic development projects which are non-existent. Government officials and their friends live in mansions and drive exotic cars amidst such squalor that is synonymous to Nigeria . It must be noted that one time Speaker of the House of Representative approved 5million dollars just to renovate her house and that of her assistant. Such news making headlines in the media definitely offend the sensibilities of millions of Nigerians. It sends a wrong signal to the militants of the Niger Delta who tag themselves as freedom fighters. You may call then thugs or whatsoever, but believe me the people of the Niger Delta and many Nigerians did not see them as thugs. Many Nigerians share the sentiment that they are freedom fighters and our politicians are thugs. Who would do a terrible thing as arming young them to kill and die just to get them to win an election? Perhaps the Niger Delta militants are freedom fighters. Who’s to say?

As far as Public Relations is concern, the Niger Delta militants are winning the war against a Nigerian government battling with a very bad global image.

A friend of mine who lives in Lagos once announced that “in Nigeria problem solves problem”, I think it is becoming the way of our world. You have to cause trouble to be heard. All the Nigerian government has succeeded in doing is organizing seminars and summits and nothing tangible comes out of it.

The blowing of Bonga oil platform operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company by the militants in the Niger Delta recently shows how this thing is becoming more and more complicated. Yes, there are elements of criminality but there is no doubting the fact that there is also that patriotic allegiance to the course, which they have reiterated as better life for the people of the Niger Delta. The militants would hide under the umbrella of emancipation of their people and win sympathy and support of the world.

The monster is growing very fast and as it continues to grow we will see no peace in the Niger Delta. It’s a little too late for peace. The Nigerian government lacks the savvy for now to solve the problem of the Niger Delta. Politicians care more about what gets into their private pockets than any other thing. The government cares more about politicking than solving any other problems.

Using force as a tactics to subdue the militants is not going to work. From all indication it is clear that the militants are winning. No matter how you see it, the Niger Delta problem has come to stay and the thugs are now becoming freedom fighters, patriots, and heroes!

When in future Hollywood comes down to Nigeria to make movies on the Niger Delta, which they would definitely do one day like the movie ‘Blood Diamond’, they would portray the militants as groups fighting for injustice against their people. An objective script writer, if there is such thing as objectivity, would show those criminal elements, but in the end the audience would be emphatic to the militants and not the Nigerian government. Everyone loves superhero(es).

Robot  Villager

# 1 “A belief is not merely an idea that the mind possesses. It is an idea that possesses t...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 01.07.2008 14:43

Lovenest  Villager

# 2 Good write up! What is the solution to this problem? I had earlier suggested that we return to our former regional system and that each region should develop at its own pace. However, with these unending agitations, I had proposed six regions and no longer three regions. These six regions we already know, namely; South-East, South-South, South West, North East, North Central, and North-North . Second, all the states and local councils in each region would remain as they are. There should be a Premier for each region who coordinates the activities of the states and reports to the Prime Minister or president. This will help in the devolution of power from the centre to the locale. Third, we shall then return to our pre-civil war sharing formula of 50-50. Whatever each region generates, 50% goes to the region while the other 50% goes to the central purse. This was what obtained after independence and is still practicable. We all saw the wonderful work that Awolowo did in the western region when he was the regional premier. He used the money generated in cocoa production judiciously for the benefit of that region and its people. Despite the suifeit of funds at the disposal of most western states' governors in the past and present times, none uptil date has surpassed Awo's performance. Gowon dissolved the regions in 1967 because of the threat of war by the Igbos and created 12 states among which was Rivers state just to assuage the feelings of the people of that area who felt 'Igbophobic'. When the war ended, he could have returned to the former status quo but he never did. That was when all these politics of crude oil started and the central government evolved to become more powerful, controlling virtually everything under the sun. Today, the groundnuts pyramid in the north have 'disappeared'; cocoa has 'disappeared' in the west; and palm oil and palm kernel are no longer cultivated in commercial quantity in the East. Remorseless crude oil bloc merchants have hijacked the country. Posted by Lovenest| 01.07.2008 16:57

ikechukwu  Villager

# 3 I have seen a lot to understand that in Niger Delta nobody, I repeat nobody is still fighting for anything called resource control again what everybody is fighting for now is the resource control of his pocket, from Abuja to Yenogoa it is the same crooks that have hijacked the struggle and it is now a criminal game.So these days all issues about fighting for resource control or negotiating for it in whatever name has become a circus show played for the people who are ready to buy all the bogus arguements. No one is still fighting anything called resource control and that is the truth.Resource control fight has gone with the wind. Yaradua is not interested in it neither is MEND or any other swarming so called militants. The Governors must look for a way of justifying their security votes thereby encouraging or even forming their own militants. The military top brass must find a way of keeping themselves busy with security money by always encouraging militants to strike while they look the other way. The federal Government must justify the reason she requested for 300 billion Naira for Niger Delta so the wahala must continue, as it would be hard pressed to explain why it requested or even spent such an amount if there were less fighting. It is a complicated criminal game directed from Abuja down to the Niger Delta. Nobody is fighting for the wretched looking fisher man in Oporoma, nobody is concerned about the kwashiorkor looking child in Nembe, nobody(without exceptions) gives a hoot about the oil-caused –skin- cancer child in burutu or bomadi. Infact nobody gives any interest to the hopelessly looking teenagers in Angiama, as far as some people are concerned the hungry farmers at Ilaje can go to hell. I can go on and on and on. All these gragra by Yar’Adua and the militants is a game plyed by criminals. Someone should ask the reason why Henry Orkar is tried in Camera, someone should bother to ask why Asari was never given a trial, an interest should come for why Ateke is not wanted for trial but been driven in a way to just go extinct. The answer is simple nobody wants them to talk in the open about their just being errands boys for those in power thereby changing the complexities of the whole struggle in the minds of Nigeria who will see the hands of Isaw and voice of Jacob. How come the military know too well the camps of the militants, they know their area coordinates, they know their leaders yet they are hard pressed knocking them out. To even make the story ridiculous the same military that know so much about these militants tell us they did not know how they slipped through their radar to attack big FPSO(Bonga) in deep waters with all the Naval ships swarming around, Haba! Someone should know that some people are seeing through this façade now. If the military never gave a go ahead signal no militant would ever dare high sea. I know this for a fact! Questions should be asked why this thing was not happening during Abacha or even Babangida’s regime on the same scale we are seeing now. Mind you Abacha killed Ken saro wiwa in 1994 and he stayed for 4 years after that yet the same wide spread militancy thing never happened, so why? It is simple the military was in power and they owed nobody any apology for however they spent their security money, but in Civilian regime with you must create the scenario to spend this kind of money especially with the continual high price of crude. It is a criminal game my people. Posted by ikechukwu| 01.07.2008 18:37

dele26  Villager

# 4 Confederalism is the answer; to weaken the power drunk central and strengthen the suffering regions Posted by dele26| 01.07.2008 18:50

Observer  Villager

# 5 I agree with Lovenest and Ikechukwu that Nigeria must change direction if this nation is to avoid a second civil war. The bottom line of their submissions is that the black gold has not been a blessing to us as Nigerians, rather it has been a curse. What are my reasons for reaching this conclusion? Mainly three. Firstly, some retired generals have claimed that the crude oil of the Niger Delta is one of the reasons they fought their civil war. (Take note of recent utterances by Obasanjo when he was in power). We all suffered during that war, whether you were a 'Biafran' or a federalist. Millions of mostly innocent souls were lost during that terrible period. Secondly, as a result of that civil war, the Gowon regime changed the allocation formula to what it is today. Since then, our poverty of ideas and the body, has known no bounds. Now, we have governments that only wait for the crude oil funds from the Niger Delta to execute their mostly 'ego-boosting' projects. Nothing much has been achieved by way of infrastructural and human capital development. We are losers all round. We abandoned the good old resource sharing formula that worked for the regions so well during the First Republic. Thirdly, less than 5 per cent of the workers in the oil and gas industry are Nigerians. So, in actual fact, only foreigners are benefiting by way of job creation in that industry. Again we are losers! Add to that the fact that the ownership structure of the oil blocks is skewed in favour of the 'big men' alone. Therefore I believe that the actions of the militants is the only way we can solve the structural problem of Nigeria, and by extension, we shall be answering the Nigeria Question. KUDOS TO THE MILITANTS!!!:p Posted by Observer| 01.07.2008 20:56

grinbull  JJC

# 6 It is indeed sad that we have decided to go along this disastrous path of playing ostrich concerning several problematic areas of our polity. The militants have become heroes, the Robin Hoods of the Niger delta and from the look of things the attacks will only increase with time, unless our leaders admit their errors and summon the courage to make the necessary changes to our constitution. It is still possible to address issues before everything grinds to a final halt in this country or ours where we depend so shamelessly on one resource for our survival. The sovereign national conference is still a way out of all this mess. We can discuss issues of resource sharing as well as the structure of the constituent parts of the nation(states versus regions). "We the people" have not yet had our say and we must have our say. The few powerful ones among us want to keep us divided so that they can bully us all into submission, while they feed fat on our collective wealth. The only thing constant in life is change and those who make peaceful change impossible, make violent change inevitable. God bless Nigeria!!! Posted by grinbull| 02.07.2008 08:05