By Sunday Ani
Chairman of the Niger Delta Nationalities Forum and member of Ijaw Elders’ Forum, Lagos, Seigha Manijar, has proffered solutions aimed at curbing the activities of the new militant group in the Niger Delta.
In this interview, he takes a look at the Buhari-led federal government after one year in office; the Niger Delta struggles, as it affects the new militant group – the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).
Excerpts…
A new group in the Niger Delta has been blowing up oil pipelines and facilities for some weeks now. What do you think is responsible for this latest spate of bombings?
Firstly, I can only speculate what could be responsible for the present spate of bombings in the Niger Delta. In any case, I want you to know that this spate of bombing stopped since 2009 when the late President Umaru Yar’ Adua declared the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) for the Niger Delta militants.
I remember that the Niger Delta was boiling when Obasanjo took over in May 29, 1999. But just after his assumption of office, his first official trip outside Abuja was to the Niger Delta. By the first week of June 1999, he was already in Port Harcourt through Warri where he dialogued with the youths of Niger Delta. Within weeks of his assumption of office, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) bill was sent to the National Assembly. Even the government of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida did not waste much time in converting the 1.5 per cent derivation fund to three per cent in his time. Yar’ Adua in his early hours even created the Niger Delta Ministry. All these happened in those regimes because they reasoned on time that the Niger Delta and its oil are strategic to the nation’s economy. This government is about a year old, and if there is anything I can recall in respect to the Niger Delta, it is the reduction of budgetary allocation to PAP from N60 billion to N20 billion in this 2016 budget. The near omission of the Lagos-Calabar rail project and the announcement by the minister of transport that the Maritime University in the riverine Niger Delta had been cancelled are not very good signals, you may say.
It is in the light of the above I think the new group called Avengers is simply behaving or reacting like the two-year-old baby, whose parents have just given birth to a new baby called North East Development Commission. Everybody, including the World Bank, European Union, UNDP and AU, among others, is pledging one thing or another towards nursing of the new baby, giving the impression that the older baby had been weaned. The older child – Niger Delta, is asking if it is still relevant to the household and in the process, breaking glasses, cups and pots. A good parent must respond positively and adjust quickly too.
The government sees NDA as criminals just as many commentators do. But, NDA also sees this government as wicked and undermining the Niger Delta region. I think the President has some quick fix jobs to do in this direction.
What should the President do?
One, President Buhari should convene a Niger Delta youth summit to use the platform to assuage their fears. He should take same opportunity to pay former President Goodluck Jonathan a courtesy visit just to say thank you for respecting the wishes of the majority of voters at the 2015 Presidential election. These two steps will go a long way in the first place.
Again, President Buhari must and should decide whether to collapse all the interventionist agencies in the Niger Delta region into one institution and fund it appropriately or fund all of them properly and insist that they all function rightly. For example the NDDC and the Niger Delta Ministry have no business building hostels for existing universities in Port Harcourt, Benin, Calabar, or Asaba; neither should the East West road be the sole responsibility of the ministry.
The rural and the riverine communities are not benefitting enough from these agencies like the city centres. The operators are conniving with state governors and their elite friends to the detriment of the rural areas. The President should take a guided helicopter trip through the riverine communities and see for himself. On the other hand, these agencies are poorly funded. Yet, people from other regions are baffled with the proliferation of interventionist agencies in the Niger Delta. For example, I hear that in 2016 budget, the allocations to NDDC is N41 billion, Niger Delta ministry has N19 billion while the Amnesty programme got N20 billion, totaling N80 billion only. If this is true, it is very poor and it is undermining the importance of Niger Delta region.
It is worrisome to imagine that a paltry sum of N20 billion only was allocated to PAP in 2016 budget where over 15,000 youths already captured in the programme are yet to be trained; unfortunately some Nigerians are calling for an immediate end to the programme.
The Niger Delta is presently said to be heavily militarized; what is your take?
Well, it is sad for one reason and good for another. It is bad in the sense that the more the military comes, the more the resolve of the youths or some criminals, who feel challenged to do their worst, as a test of their capacity and knowledge of the environment.
It is also good in the sense that it affords Nigerians from other regions the opportunity to begin to appreciate the plight and challenges of the Niger Delta region.
Why is the NDA talking about Nnamdi Kanu of IPOB?
Well, like the two-year-old baby breaking glasses and pots in the house, once you recognise his or her importance along with the new baby, you can begin to have your peace in the house, otherwise, you have to contend with his or her nuisance. To me, it is in the interest of the Federal Government to release Nnamdi Kanu to reduce tension in the zone. This is not necessarily because of the NDA’s demand but that this can massage Mr. President’s ego in the Southeast region. I equally advise Mr. President to appoint him as his Special Adviser on Southeast. The benefit of this gesture to the president is inestimable.
What is your advice or message to the NDA and the Niger Delta youths?
My message to Niger Delta youth is that they should not close their eyes or sleep because there are too many thieves around, both within and external. They should shout and when necessary, make noise but don’t kill or maim. As for the NDA, my message is that they have already shown capacity and willingness. They need not blow up more facilities. They should not mind that segment of the press that is always stigmatizing and demonizing them as criminals, therefore cannot police or protect the strategic facilities at our backyard except the security forces. Can the security forces stay inch after inch along the pipeline 24 hours? Would they not be paid? I will like to salute them for not taking the lives of innocent people as Boko Haram. Pipeline can always be repaired but life can’t.
I also want to strongly advise that the NDA should get in touch with the Coordinator and Chairman of the Amnesty Programme Brig-Gen Boroh. I strongly believe the Boroh I know will not betray them. Whatever their demands are, Boroh will take it to the president and it will be resolved. He is a true Niger Deltan, unlike the Transport Minister, who happily announced the cancellation of the Maritme University.
The APC government is one year old. What is your take?
Well, it is a government in power. All agitators should support the government to grow the economy but my advice to the government is to know that there is serious suffering in the land and I consider this as a ticking bomb.