Escravos is home to 911 Resort, being built in a remote part of the Niger Delta.

The scene, surreal as it was, would have been all but unimaginable two years ago, when this remote region of southern Nigeria was in the midst of a torrid stretch of kidnappings, killings and pipeline vandalism.

“The fact that I went there without security is a huge statement, but it’s still on a knife’s edge,” said one American oil worker who attended the opening and did not want to be named because of company rules about speaking publicly.

For years the Niger Delta has been plagued by instability caused by armed militants who kidnap foreign oil workers or wealthy Nigerians for ransom, clash with the military and sabotage oil pipelines. Billions of dollars’ worth of oil is pumped out of Nigeria every year, and yet the average Nigerian earns less than $2 a day. The militants have claimed to be fighting on behalf of local people who get no share of the oil riches, but their actions often boiled down to profit-driven criminality.

And while other states in the region continue to be hampered by violence between militant gangs and the military, Delta State, under its governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, has found a rare measure of peace. It has accomplished this not by fighting the militants but by drawing them into the government and making sure they are awarded valuable contracts from the oil companies, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell, that dominate the oil business here.

“The state government has established favorable circumstances and has been very pragmatic,” said a retired Nigerian general, Henry Clark, who has been following the situation in the Niger Delta and whose brother is a prominent regional leader. “The state governor is using the militants, he’s buying them over. You give them positions in government and empower them, these are money-multiplying effects. The moment people see economic development, they come to your side.”

While the relative peace has allowed for events like the 911 Resort opening, the means by which the peace was attained has attracted severe scrutiny from observers who feel that the local government is dealing with a ticking time bomb.

“It’s not peace, it’s just quiet,” said Damka Pueba, of the delta-based Democracy Stakeholders Network, an advocacy group for delta residents and communities. “I don’t think it’s smart because at the end of the day things are going to spill over. They need to address the real, core issues. There’s nothing sustainable about what the governor is doing.”

Mr. Uduaghan, a former doctor who took office in 2007, has quickly risen to national prominence for his pragmatic approach to dealing with the militants.

Governor Uduaghan’s most significant and controversial decision was to hand out government positions to militant leaders. One newly created office in particular, the Delta State Waterways Security Committee, is led by and staffed with many former militants, or “youth activists,” as they are often referred to locally.

Militants still active in the creeks quickly recognized the benefits of this approach and made concessions to the state government in return for financial assistance or contracts from oil and construction companies.

“Including activists is a necessity because one of the problems before was political exclusion, which has been resolved,” said George Timinimi, a former high-level militant and now the commissioner for the Delta State Waterways Security Committee. “Development is a gradual thing. The oil companies are doing their best. It’s not them alone. Once the people see that the developments are happening there will be lasting peace.”

Mr. Uduaghan is troubled by the oil companies’ willingness to deal directly with the militants, setting them up as powerful figures outside the state’s control. “The trend that is dangerous right now is the oil companies’ awarding contracts to militants,” he said in a recent speech. “People of Delta State are entitled to contracts from oil companies, and I urge the oil companies to continue to give contracts to local communities.”

The governor did not say whom he had in mind, but local officials quickly pointed to a militant leader who goes by the name Tom Polo, and is reputed to be the most powerful person in the region. A shadowy figure who is the object of constant speculation, Mr. Polo has placed himself and his allies in strategic positions throughout the state and is earning vast sums of money from multinational oil companies and the Nigerian government by providing security for oil pipelines running through the Niger Delta.

“Tom Polo is paid by Chevron and Shell, and by the N.N.P.C. for protection,” said one Western regional analyst, referring to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. “The only way to get things done is through him.”

Mr. Polo’s brother is now a local politician, and his deputies traverse the state’s main roads in BMWs and Mercedeses uninhibited by the police or the military. Notoriously reclusive, Mr. Polo refused to be interviewed for this article despite two weeks of negotiations with lower-level aides.

Even if the government manages to rein in Mr. Polo — and that is far from assured — local human rights advocates remain leery of Mr. Uduaghan’s approach, calling it a Band-Aid that will lead only to greater problems.

“I think it’s the buying of temporary peace. They cannot continue to give militants juicy contracts and money forever,” said Chris Alagoa, of the Niger Delta Peace and Security Secretariat, a community organization. “They will collaborate today, but for how long will that go on? At some point it will explode. They will come to realize they’ve been used and are not part of the establishment. It’s like sweeping things under the carpet, where they will be left to fester.”

Robot  # 1 | 04.12.2008 23:21

://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/12/04/world/oil600. Will Connors for The New York Times Oil rigs off the coast of Escravos, Nigeria, an area that was prone to violence before militants were allowed into the government. By WILL CONNORS Published: December 3, 2008 ESCRAVOS, Nigeria — As dusk approached and the glow from the oil rig gas flares grew stronger, the oilmen, politicians and militants arrived by boat in small groups to celebrate the opening of 911 Resort, a half-finished villa accessible only by boat at the outer edge of the creeks of the oil-rich Niger Delta. ...Read the full article.

akuluouno  # 2 | 05.12.2008 01:55

Very interesting. Tom Polo and Uduaghan are now presiding over Delta State. Wonders can never end in Nigeria in the 21st Century. Power pass power. Indeed Delta has the resources to continue with the Band Aid. Since the Nigeria state cannot beat the criminals or activists or militants they join them no bring them on board. Very commonsensical. That will be Demomilitantism :shake:or Democriminalism or Demoactivism at play at work:clap: A diarchy of inconvinience sorry marriage:D I have always known that given our historic tendency to muddle through anything on earth, that one day we will muddle through democracy and give the world a third way. Welcome cohabitation with militants welcome demomilitarism:hail: