RUMBLES FROM THE NIGER DELTA: TIME TO CALL THEIR BLUFF!

 

With the revelation that there is nothing to show for the nearly $40 billion invested in the Niger Delta over the last few years by Minister of State, Petroleum, Ibe Kachukwu,  It is time for Nigerians to forget that region! Nothing can be more painful than this empty payback masterminded by the community and regional leaders, including militants, who are adept at destruction of vital national monuments, pipelines, bunkering, illegal refining, and of course kidnapping of both expatriates and prominent men and women1 Add robbery, intimidation and thuggery and you have a picture of the carcass left over!  The rest of Nigeria has never had it so bad.  “Just because oil is located in that region, therefore, the rest of us who are not Niger Deltans cannot sleep anymore” exclaimed an artisan Sylvester Odion.

Hardly any opportunity passes without their “leaders” capitalizing on it to “milk” the Federal Government dry.  Till this day, you hear of political infractions like “Ijaw National Youth Council”, “Ijaw Association of Elders”.  There are also the   “Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)”; the “Niger Delta Avenges” (NDA); the “Niger Delta Volunteer Force” (NDVF).  As have been proved over time, they are all for self aggrandizement!  Through worthy structures, the Federal Government had poured resources into the region through – the Niger Delta Ministry, the NDDC, the Amnesty programme, increased financial derivation – yet, for clearly selfish and clearly opportunistic reasons, those in charge became greedy, subverting the good intentions for criminal reasons!

Even now, as the Government takes another prolific step to inject life into the troublous region, the same “old faces” such as Edwin Clark – never considerate – has again reared their heads, insisting they – and only they – must be in charge!  Never mind whether the region is boiling.  So it is with delight as Operation Crocodile “by troops of the 133 Special Forces battalion began operations in the creeks through Sapele water ways to flush out the criminals and rescue the poverty stricken people from the savage grip of heartless people who through their efforts has seen Government loose over N1.1trillion and brought oil production down to an absurd 800 bpd! There is no better time to call their bluff.  And for people like Comrade Udengs Eradiri of the Ijaw Youths Council, there is no longer time for handshake!

Thus, the composition of the Niger Delta Committee is fraught with negative intentions.  Prof. Wole Soyinka, Orji Kalu, Edwin Clark, and other members of the Committee are no more an aberration than the ill-conceived destruction of oil pipelines – for whatever the reason!  Nevertheless, the door is not entirely closed if only the Ijaws know that the Urhobo and Itsekiris whom they so much detest  are still part of the Niger Delta region, and should never have been sidelined.