Niger Delta: Time for confidence building

The past week will go down in history as one that provided the new year with a blistering start which defined change for the world; whether for good or otherwise, is a different matter. At least three of such incidents remain significant for the country, with the first two occurring in Washington in the United […]

The past week will go down in history as one that provided the new year with a blistering start which defined change for the world; whether for good or otherwise, is a different matter. At least three of such incidents remain significant for the country, with the first two occurring in Washington in the United States of America and Banjul in Gambia – two adjacent locations only separated by the Atlantic Ocean. The third occurred in Nigeria with not easily discerned impetus for change, but nevertheless offers the country the prospects for a new beginning. 

In Washington – DC (District of Columbia), the Americans inaugurated the 46th President of their country with unprecedented pageantry, in a playout of a tradition which features the reinvention of the country at the advent of every new President, throughout their history as a country. The man of the moment –  billionaire Donald Trump, with his German roots, prosecuted a most acrimonious and controversy ridden campaign, which often featured indiscretion in the use of language and personal conduct. Even after his electoral victory, controversy trailed him into the White House, following allegations that his election benefitted from the assistance of Russia, through remote control. Yet the Americans swept under the carpet, all shenanigans associated with the negatives of the Trump election, in order to avail themselves a clean sheet on the tradition of successful transfer of power from one leader to the other. 

In Banjul Gambia, the story was different as Yaya Jammeh, the country’s maximum ruler for over two decades, tried to stretch his luck too far. Having lost in his country’s December 1st election  in his bid for another term in office, he had conceded defeat to his opponent Adama Barrow, only to recant his earlier stand, on the grounds that he no more considered the election free and fair. Of course, the entire world – starting from the neighbouring ECOWAS regional powers and on to the United Nations would have none of that and made it clear to him that the only way forward is his exit from power. Following his intransigence the ECOWAS powers mobilised Barrow to Senegal and inaugurated him as the new president of the country. From then the UN declared Barrow the new recognised President of the Gambia and upheld the fall from power of Jammeh. Whoever has an issue with that may need to study the political circumstances of the Gambia to see the wisdom of otherwise of the development. 

Coming to Nigeria, the prospects for lasting peace in and a change in the fortunes of the Niger Delta region were raised with the visit of the Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbanjo to Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State last Monday.  Gbaramatu the home place of frontline militant leader Chief Government Ekpemupolo alias ‘Tompolo’ served as the launching pad of the new resolve of the Federal government to adopt dialogue in engaging the peoples of the region in the age long, lopsided relationship with the rest of the country which the former have been enduring. Tales of environmental degradation, economic marginalisation, military repression of vocal agitation by the communities are no more the stuff of news. Such instances are taken for granted in the power establishment of the country – a situation which has made the youth in the region engage in armed insurrection against the federal government, on the basis that such is the only language the latter understands. 

In the context of the adoption of dialogue as the platform for engaging the region Osinbanjo’s visit therefore qualifies as a game changer in many ways. Firstly, it demonstrates that the promise of the government with respect to adopting dialogue may be matched with words. This is significant given that there is already a war going on in the region between the government and some aggrieved armed youths. Incidentally, as soon as the Vice President left the ceremony there was a report of an attack by the militants on an oil installation. But it clarified as false by the military. Meanwhile, the choice of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Tompolo’s home place as the kick-off point of the dialogue policy conveys different meanings to different folks. The man’s relationship with the government is no secret as he is even yet to honour the order of a Lagos High Court to appear before it for trial. The choice of Gbaramatu is therefore seen by some as a show of power and capacity to subdue by the government, any trouble mongering element in the region including Tompolo himself.

The Tompolo factor notwithstanding, the visit by the VP has also exposed him and his principal first hand to the extent of neglect and decay of the terrain and thereby induced him to acknowledge the imperative of a new vista of interaction with the zone, pursuant to actualising a new vision of what the Niger Delta should represent for the country. While decrying the level of underdevelopment of the region, Osinbanjo also noted the crass failure of serial development initiatives and equal number of agencies as well as significant stock of resources, to register any appreciable level of transformation in the region. In particular he noted that inspite of such agencies like the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA), Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) and the present Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the story of the place has not changed over time as it “remains a region with poor infrastructure, few schools, few hospitals and environmental degradation”. Thanks Osinbanjo, for getting the point, especially the aspect of recognising the region as a special development area, just like the British man Sir Henry Willink and his committee recommended for the country in the Willink Commission Report in 1958; almost 60 years ago. 

The way forward for the federal government in its dalliance with the region will now be defined by what Osinbanjo promised he will do – which is to go back to his principal President Muhamadu Buhari, and convey his impression to the latter. In this respect, he has enough evidence to fall back on. It is easily recalled that it was the same Osinbanjo that represented Buhari at the launch of the Ogoni Clean Up Campaign in last year. Now that he has seen that Ogoni is only a tip of the iceberg, he should deliver a sobering message to Buhari. 

The message is that as unacceptable as the spate of destructive militancy in the region is, its root cause lies in a groundswell of deep seated anger, spawned by generations-old failure of government at the centre, to do the needful. And only dialogue can help this administration to separate itself from whatever mess of the past, and define for itself an independent identity. Having climbed onto the nobler terrain of jaw-jaw, the government should fast-track the process of building confidence in the leadership of the Niger Delta that it can be trusted to change the story of the region, not only for the indigenes, but for the wider benefit of the entire country. 

This is the ultimate challenge from Osinbanjo’s visit to the creeks.