Latent and offensive primordial feelings are bubbling. Silent whispers are becoming audible. Even if other Nigerians are oblivious to such sound and fury, those of us in the Niger Delta can hear it loud and clear -- more so in the last couple of weeks when decision-makers from Northern Nigeria seems to be singing war songs. These persons are becoming edgy, insulting, disdainful and militaristic in their pronouncements. They speak from the pulpit in the inner sanctum of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF). Are these unguarded statements a prelude to a civil war?

The position of the likes of Alhaji Tanko Yakassai seems to be the position of the ACF. Their thoughts and disposition could be a natural tendency, a sign of frustration, or a signal to Aso Rock to unleash government’s instrument of brutality on the region. It could be all three. No matter. Still, it should be noted that when the day comes when the Federal Government decides to obey the ACF to go to war with the Niger Delta region, Nigeria can be assured that the people of the Niger Delta will be ready; they will not fight on bended knees or on broken backs. The conflict will be unlike any the continent has ever witnessed.

 In an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP newspaper (Sunday June 29, 2008), “the chairman of the ACF, General. IBM Haruna, called on the federal government to deal seriously with the situation. Calling the militants “miscreants,” he urged government not to go into any form of negotiation with them.” Oh heavens, what do we expect from younger and less savvy members of the ACF when a statesman like General Huruna utter such divisive statement? For all avoidance of doubt, justice-seeking groups are not miscreants, they are social movements.

 Again, according to the Nigerian Compass newspaper, the Vice-Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Senator Kennedy Waku, wants the Niger Delta militants “crushed even if it means going to war with them.” He went on to say that “These people (of Niger Delta) have taken five times more than the entire North in terms of federal allocation since 1999, what else do they want? Question for the Senator: how much dollars and pounds and yens has the entire Northern Nigeria contributed to the federal purse since 1999?

 Also, according to the Saturday Mirror (Saturday, July 05, 2008), “Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, has described the people of the Niger Delta region as a bunch of ingrates…Ibrahim said that the “tiny states” in the Niger Delta should be grateful to God for what they receive monthly as allocations from the Federal Government…” It is clear that Senator Ibrahim is out of his league. In this context, the North is actually the ingrate. Where would the North be without the hospitality and generosity of the Niger Delta? In what ways has the entire North contributed to the wellbeing of the nation since 1970?

 If the Arewa Consultative Forum has not had the time to reflect on the implication of their unguarded utterances, this is the time to do so. If all the regions -- East, North, West, South, and the South-South -- were to go their separate ways, how would the North survive (economically and politically)? From all available data, the North would most likely go the way of Chad , Niger , Burkina Faso or some other Saharan Desert-like enclaves in the continent.

For several years now, the people of the Niger Delta have made their stance clear: no unjustified secession; no unjustified wars and other instability-inducing acts; no suppression and oppressive acts; and no master-servant relationships. What the Niger Delta region has been seeking, at least since flag independence in 1960, is justice and fairness vis-à-vis economic, political, social, and ecological development. What is being demanded are reasonable and deserving, and are within the parameters of human rights for all persons who call the Niger Delta home.

 But to hear the Arewa Consultative Forum tell it, Niger Deltans are asking for unreasonable share of their own wealth. They say the people of the region are greedy and selfish. And that the Isoko and the Urhobo and the Ogoni and the Ikwerre and the Ijaw and the Ishekiri and the Okrika and many other ethnic nationalities in and around the region are making unreasonable demands. For demanding their rights, these groups have been branded terrorist and many other unprintable names. The ACF wants the people of the region to shut up, to bear injustice and other iniquities.

The Nigerian government recently ordered more military firepower to be used in the region. Should the government, at the behest of the ACF or any other group, escalate the ongoing Low Intensity Conflict, there certainly will be a “victor” and a “vanquished” at the end of the tunnel. But more than that, Nigeria as a geographical entity will be of a different composition -- a composition that will not include the Niger Delta and its oil and gas wealth. The mistakes of pre and post-1914 will be corrected. We do not want war, but we shall not shy away from it.

 How important is the Niger Delta region to Nigeria ? Very! For the avoidance of doubt, let me remind all those who may have forgotten or who may have decided to develop amnesia. Among other things, the revenue from oil was used to fund most of the reconstruction projects after the Nigerian civil war; the money was used to rehabilitee soldiers from both sides of the conflict; petrodollars enabled Nigeria to engage in several foreign policy initiatives; and, the money from the ND was used to build virtually all the universities and research institutions in the country. Without petrodollars, there most likely would never been an Abuja . And high corruption.

 Indeed, one could go on and on and on counting and recounting how useful the Niger Delta has been to the country. In return what has the Niger Delta gotten from the country? Mostly pain, injustice, and calamities! For starters, there are problems associated with unemployment and other forms of economic imbalances; ecological problems manifested in unproductive farm lands and poisoned rivers, health difficulties and polluted air; absence of or sparse availability of federal presences in most areas of the region; and the destruction of family units and culturally significant institutions.

 In spite of this and my other compositions on the Niger Delta, the fetid conditions of the region cannot be blamed entirely on other groups. It is true that the oil companies, the government, the elites and domestic and international bunkerers all share in the blame. However, the people and the governments of the region also bear some of the blames. In Bayelsa State for example, none of the post-1999 governors laid the groundwork and made available the fundamentals of development. Alamieyeseigha was so power drunk he spent the equivalent of 5 months running from one corner of the globe to another. He was more into the trappings of the office. His successor didn’t perform any better. And the current governor is a failure waiting to happen.

Even so, the Arewa Consultative Forum should (a) desist from abusing our people and our leaders; (b) they should stop calling our freedom fighters underserved names; (c) the ACF should stop singing war songs; and (d) stop provoking the peace and progress loving people of the Niger Delta. The constant abuses and the ubiquitous denigrating statements from the ACF and its members are not helping matters.

And finally, I say this to the federal government: since 1957/58 until 2008, there has been more than a dozen “Niger Delta Development Reports.” The upcoming conference is nothing but a charade -- another in a long line of government’s duplicitous acts. Solve the Niger Delta problems for the sake of justice, peace, and stability.

Sabidde@yahoo.com 

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 09.07.2008 00:17

Tony  Villager

# 2 Thanks Abidde, this is a timely article. The arrogance of the parasitic north knows no bounds. These are people who contribute no dime to the national coffers. Their cup is gradually becoming full. Posted by Tony| 09.07.2008 01:20

docokwy  Villager

# 3 =Robot;4295067487>... In Bayelsa State for example, none of the post-1999 governors laid the groundwork and made available the fundamentals of development. Alamieyeseigha was so power drunk he spent the equivalent of 5 months running from one corner of the globe to another. He was more into the trappings of the office. His successor didn’t perform any better. And the current governor is a failure waiting to happen. This type of summary capitulation is what swells the head of these hopeless northern leaders. You would have been right if their own governors, or indeed any governor in the entire country, can point to what they have done with their own share of the oil money. If Gombe/Jigawa/Abia/Delta/Osun governors (examples) could not do anything with their oil money, why blame Bayelsa gov (another example) for doing the same? Therein lies the hypocrisy and unintelligent arrogance of the north Posted by docokwy| 09.07.2008 04:46

yashuaib1  Villager

# 4 As much as I believe that the best way to draw reactions and emotional outburst is to be extremely controversial, my broda sabella, has lately been combatant in his disposition to the North. Very soon with the above other contributors would come in here to abuse religion, attack regional leaders and insult innocent people from that particular region. That North cannot go the way of those countries you mentioned. The game plan is known to all. Unfortunately the southerners where the Niger-Deltan, or those from south-east they have never been united: look at the way they destroy the reputation of their leaders, hire thugs to unleash terror on their own people, even in the face of their being the richest states in Nigeria by virtue of being oil-prodinf states, the best of getting share from their government is to wage war on their government, kidnapping, assasination, robbery, thuggery, 419s.... etc...etc... has not only being their way of life but as become a pastime in the regions while the poorest states, gombe, ekiti are living peaceful in harmonious relationship in addition to huge socio economic development. Simple question Who were those that betray their leaders from top political office? Ask Alex Ekwueme. Who sponsored destruction of Anambra states during Ngige Saga? Ask Ngige himself Who are actually behind the militants reckless and senseless war? Ask their community leaders. Who are the great enemies of their communities? Ask yourself. When you are not united, how can you even speak in one voice to defend your people instead of filling ya pocket? Haba my broda! The easiest thing to do by weakling is to make noise without profering practical and realistic solutions to the problem on ground. The only thing I appreciate about sabella and my other broda okey Ndibe is that as much as they are critical in their writings their identify themselves, no pen name.... and still visit home. Nonetheless, they express their opinion targetted at their publics. Since oil is the curse of our development and peaceful coexistence, let pray for its reversal to the past before the discovery of black gold and see if we can survive. YAShuaib Posted by yashuaib1| 09.07.2008 04:47

ALORAINIDDEVIL  Villager

# 5 Sabella Hell No!! The ACF did not say anything bad, what they said is the Plain truth. They cannot be sabotaging the federal government when there governors get almost 200%of what another state gets in terms of revenue. The truth is that they should hold there governors and political elites to ransom and not the central government. Moreover, The Niger Delta has to be crushed!! A bitter pill than what happened to ODI should be given to them. Big foooooooooools!! These are People who foolishly aligned with the north to sabotage the efforts of Biafra and even seized the properties of Igbo’s after the war, now they have the effrontery to bark like dogs. What a Hell!! How I wish I was col. Musa sagir, I will kill the whole rebels within a week! Posted by ALORAINIDDEVIL| 09.07.2008 04:48

docokwy  Villager

# 6 =yashuaib1;4295067531>As much as I believe that the best way to draw reactions and emotional outburst is to be extremely controversial, my broda sabella, has lately been combatant in his disposition to the North. Very soon with the above other contributors would come in here to abuse religion, attack regional leaders and insult innocent people from that particular region. That North cannot go the way of those countries you mentioned. The game plan is known to all. Unfortunately the southerners where the Niger-Deltan, or those from south-east they have never been united: look at the way they destroy the reputation of their leaders, hire thugs to unleash terror on their own people, even in the face of their being the richest states in Nigeria by virtue of being oil-prodinf states, the best of getting share from their government is to wage war on their government, kidnapping, assasination, robbery, thuggery, 419s.... etc...etc... has not only being their way of life but as become a pastime in the regions while the poorest states, gombe, ekiti are living peaceful in harmonious relationship in addition to huge socio economic development. Simple question Who were those that betray their leaders from top political office? Ask Alex Ekwueme. Who sponsored destruction of Anambra states during Ngige Saga? Ask Ngige himself Who are actually behind the militants reckless and senseless war? Ask their community leaders. Who are the great enemies of their communities? Ask yourself. When you are not united, how can you even speak in one voice to defend your people instead of filling ya pocket? Haba my broda! The easiest thing to do by weakling is to make noise without profering practical and realistic solutions to the problem on ground. The only thing I appreciate about sabella and my other broda okey Ndibe is that as much as they are critical in their writings their identify themselves, no pen name.... and still visit home. Nonetheless, they express their opinion targetted at their publics. Since oil is the curse of our development and peaceful coexistence, let pray for its reversal to the past before the discovery of black gold and see if we can survive. YAShuaib Hold it, fake preacher. Deal first with the surge of rape, homosexualism and disease (Northern Nigeria has 80% of the polio, CSM and VVF cases in the world) in your neck of the woods. The north is no more united than the south. I am not a Tiv who's been fighting both the Jukuns and the Fulani, neither am I Babangida who toppled Buhari who toppled Shagari. The north is an evil spirit that must be exorcised. It so-called unity is merely unity to loot and steal from the south. So much about Northern Unity Benue Politicians Accused of Plotting against Mark 07.09.2008 Add To Favorites Print This Article Post Comment Achieftain of the Peoples Redemption Party, (PRP), Mr. Baba Agan has raised alarm over alleged plot by some top Benue politicians to negatively influence the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Jos, in the Appeal filed by Senate President, David Mark against the nullification of his election. The National Publicity Secretary of PRP, Agan who is the immediate past chairman of Benue State Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, regretted that they embarked on the project to pull down the Senate President. Addressing newsmen in Makurdi, Tuesday, Agan said opposition parties in Benue State, especially the PRP, find it appalling that political banners and T-Shirts declaring former governor George Akume the new Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has inundated Makurdi and Gboko towns, when the Court of Appeal is yet to deliver judgment on the matter. He said that those trying to rubbish the legacies of the Senate President through unwarranted attacks and ploys aimed at negatively influencing the Court of Appeal, do so to the detriment of their respective careers in the political arena. "I have no reasons to blame Senator George Akume for aspiring with obsession to become the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria after his 8 years misrule of Benue State and the misapplication of her resources. It is the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF that I blame for shielding Akume from prosecution despite the fact that Akume manhandled EFCC operatives", he said. The former Benue CNPP boss said: "I believe that the Senate President's election will be upheld at the Court of Appeal, Jos. From all the facts that have been put forward and everything that happened at the Benue State Election Petitions Tribunal, I have the confidence that the Appeal will succeed". Posted by docokwy| 09.07.2008 04:57

philipikita  Villager

# 7 =yashuaib1;4295067531>....the poorest states, gombe, ekiti are living peaceful in harmonious relationship in addition to huge socio economic development..."YAShuaib Oh really? Your eyes see development in Gombe and Ekiti? Have you visited Gombe or Ekiti and the people told you they are witnessing "development"? Well, you probably have a different definition or notion of "development". Pity. Pity. Pity. Posted by philipikita| 09.07.2008 05:20

don-vad  JJC

# 8 I read this article with so much attention and it was touchy but not totally right. The youths of this country had been mislead by our leaders, chiefs, elders,Royal Majesties and even our own brothers. Our problems are far from where we look at it. It would be improper to blame anyone for the problems of Niger Delta. The problems of Niger delta is the same as the problems of Africa as a continent. Africa posses more than 50% of the earth deposited natural resources but yet they are the poorest. Why is that? It's a fact that Niger Delta is the key economic zone of Nigeria as a country but we should not be fooled that other states are irrelevant. As long as Nigeria remain an entity, we should all take ourselves as one nation and work towards national development. A man from Kano state should be proud to live in Port Harcourt city and enjoy all the social amunities he could, I wonder why such man wouldnt want Port harcourt to develop; that's the insinuation of our people here in the Niger delta ( that other zones are against the development of the Niger delta) but is that really the truth? When you take a closer look at the situation, you'll understand that the major problems of the Niger Deltans are caused by them. The major people that sincerely fought for the emancipation of the Niger Deltans were not violent and they did not die billionaire nor were they bunkerers; refering to the persons of Late Saro Wiwa, Adaka Boro and Obi Weli. But today, its quite different, all in the name of fighting for justice. People like Saro Wiwa fought as a civilian activist during military regime and thats what is called bravery and he died a hero, his people will soon begin to reap what he sought. We are now in a democratic dispensation, where the power belong to the people. The governor is our own state man, the mayors are all our brothers, commissioner and others. In the Federal level, every state have representative and they are supposed to represent the interest of the people. Why then should we believe that other people from other zones are better represented, even if we believe so, I think we should blame our representatives instead of pointing fingers at the wrong side. Lets be realistic and more practical here; if the government of Rivers state judiciously manage her resouces and people properly, why wont everyone be happy. The Violence in Rivers state today was created by the Rivers people against their fellow Rivers men, but today, people from other states are benefiting from it. In our local communities today, chiefs, elders take bribe from companies and deny the youths their right. There's no company operating in any part of Rivers State that doesnt recognise the host, but the community representatives always end up selling out. I will refer a case to you. Rebisi Kingdom in Port harcourt local government of Rivers State has an employment bureau headed by the son of the Royal father. This bureau has been in existence for more than a decade and the same man has been the head.The bureau is supposed to be taking care of Rebisi youths in port harcourt in aspect of jobs, scholarships, industrial training, contracts and community development; but as a typical African problem, the man has not been doing so according to the youths of the area, and all the blames are going to the President for not paying attention to Niger Delta. This man is in the position to empower more than two thousand youths in a year but he doesnt do it, because he is busy filling his pocket. All companies operating in Rivers State have C.L.O's (Community Liaison Officers) whom their job is to relate between the community and the company. So tell me, with all these been active without corruption, why would Niger Delta be neglected. If you ask me, I'll say, the Niger Deltans neglected themselves and are still doing so. Our destiny is in our hands, lets forget about other states and focus on our own state. It is a Rivers man that would sell out jobs to a Yoruba man or an Ibo man, instead of giving it to his brother, it is a Rivers man that takes his brothers as a contract staff in a company and when company pays #100,000 for the worker, he will pay his brother #40,000. and he can be fired at any time without benefit because he is not a staff. The companies that spills oil in the creeks pay monies to the community chiefs and they will become dumb to comment on the environmental disasters the companies might be causing to the environment. Have we not asked ourselves why the state government could not do much about the environmental deterioration caused by some major oil companies in our communities. Its quite obvious that they had collected money from the companies and could not do much about it; because they regarded money more than the people. Please elders, community leaders, political leaders and the entire people of the Niger Delta. Lets not be decieved any more. Kidnapping, militancy and other form of public disturbances would not solve our problems. what we actually need is love and care, the people of Niger delta do not love them selves; they care more about money and superiority; who's loyal to who. Lets think about our future. I do not see any form of marginalization of the Niger delta by the federal government of Nigeria; it is absolutely misinformation to agitate the ignorant youths, to cause chaos that would benefit very few persons. People of the Niger Delta, lets wake up, wash our faces and see where our problem lies, it is only then we can find an ever lasting solution to it. PEACE!!! Posted by don-vad| 09.07.2008 05:26

docokwy  Villager

# 9 Originally Posted by yashuaib1 ....the poorest states, gombe, ekiti are living peaceful in harmonious relationship in addition to huge socio economic development..."YAShuaib =philipikita;4295067549>Oh really? Your eyes see development in Gombe and Ekiti? Have you visited Gombe or Ekiti and the people told you they are witnessing "development"? Well, you probably have a different definition or notion of "development". Pity. Pity. Pity. (Shakes his head sadly) Now everyone knows how and why northern Nigeria is like this today: development as defined by people like yashuaib1. What will people originating from islamic northern Nigeria not do to Nigeria? Posted by docokwy| 09.07.2008 05:30

akuluouno  Villager

# 10 I have been a villager for a long time and I have never seen SA in this mood. I think that Nigerians should eschew inflammatory and condescending comments at this time in view of the sensitivity and severity of the issue at stake. This is Nigeria 2008 and not Nigeria 1966 and I speak as an Igbo man. Besides sultural differences, resource control has been at the root of vicious conflicts in this century. These resources include arable land,water and of course mineral resources. Indigenous populations often resist attempts by outsiders to usurp their God-given resources in whatever guise. Like I have argued somewhere, I believe that the Niger Deltans can still have their resources and Nigeria can still survive. Unless we have been saying all the while that patriotism in Nigeria was merely restricted to petropatriotism and all our mouthings of nationalsism merely echoes of crudeoil nationalism bereft of geniune love and respect for one another Posted by akuluouno| 09.07.2008 06:29

---

The conversation continues in our forum. Click here to read all comments

---