vanguard:

Boko Haram dims hopes of oil-fuelled revival of north

Social and economic development has long been touted as
the way to revive the fortunes of Nigeria’s impoverished
north and prevent legions of disaffected young men turning
to radical Islam.
But Boko Haram violence has scuppered progress,
particularly from one potentially lucrative source of revenue
— the oil found under the Lake Chad Basin in the country’s
far northeast.
Nigeria struck black gold in the Kukawa area of Borno state
in 2012, with estimates that 100 billion cubic metres of
deposits lie beneath the lake and its arid hinterland.
The discovery raised hopes not just because of its potential
to transform the region economically but to also help boost
Nigeria’s oil reserves by three billion barrels to 40 billion
barrels.
But the former head of the state-run Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, said in
March that plans to start production had been put on hold
because of the conflict.
Geologists, engineers and other technical staff quit while the
country’s main oil unions warned workers to stay away,
putting paid to extraction and further exploration.
“We have advised our members to avoid the northeast
because we don’t want them to be killed by the lawless
group,” said Babatunde Oke of the white-collar oil workers
union PENGASSAN.
A senior NNPC official said efforts were ongoing to make the
region safe for oil workers, against a backdrop of militant
gains of towns and villages across the states of Yobe, Borno
and Adamawa.
“For now, the plan is on hold because of the Boko Haram
unrest,” he told AFP.
“But the GMD (group managing director) Joseph Dawha is in
talks with (the) Nigeria airforce to ensure safe exploration in
the Chad Basin.”
- No blood and oil -
Five years of relentless violence in northeast Nigeria has
claimed thousands of lives and made hundreds of
thousands of others homeless.
The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido
Sanusi, now the Muslim emir of Kano, said this month that
investment in the north was key to preventing radicalisation.
For Mustapha Ibrahim, a political scientist at Yobe State
University, oil in particular could help reduce poverty,
unemployment and lack of education which fuel radical
recruitment.
“We need to address this social malaise to effectively tackle
Boko Haram and this can be achieved with the judicious use
of money from oil in the Chad Basin when oil production
finally starts,” he said.
“The oil money will facilitate job and employment
generation, mass education opportunities and other social
and economic programmes which will in the long run do
away with the factors responsible for the Boko Haram
violence raging now.”
Boko Haram wants to carve out a hardline Islamic state in
Nigeria but there have been no serious suggestions that its
insurgency is driven by oil.
“There is no evidence that Boko Haram or their associates
are motivated by a desire for control of oil,” said Andrew
Noakes, coordinator of the Nigeria Security Network of
analysts.
“The insurgency is driven primarily by ideological, religious,
and socio-economic grievances rather than pursuit of
financial gain.”
- Avoid the resource curse -
Nevertheless, in the maelstrom of rumours that is Nigerian
politics, there have been claims that some northern leaders
have been fuelling the rebellion for personal economic gain.
One theory is that no oil extraction can be carried out as
long as there is instability in Nigeria’s northeast, giving
neighbouring Chad free rein to pump out crude from the
shared basins in the region from its side of the border.
If and when the conflict ends, analysts say it will be vital to
learn from the mistakes made in the Niger Delta region,
where most of the country’s oil is currently produced.
The Delta has been wracked by violence while decades of
corruption and mismanagement have done little to improve
the lives of ordinary people, despite the billions the industry
produces.
“Everything must be done to avoid the resource curse,” said
Debo Adeniran, from the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders,
a pressure group. “Oil should be a blessing rather than a
curse.”
Only good governance and accountability will bring the
insurgency to an end, according to Ibrahim, warning that the
stakes are high for Africa’s biggest oil producer.
“If that is not done Boko Haram may never end,” he said.
“The present crop may be defeated now but in a few years
another disgruntled group may rise under different cover
because the factors that breed such criminal groups are still
with us”.

Ibnsultan: Too bad.
Insurgency is deliberate attempt to prevent the North from developing.
My 2cent

Ikengawo: Do northerners believe the only enemy they have and will ever have is GEJ? a lot of northerners online are quick to accuse him of everything wrong with their region and personal lives. So GEJ is using boko haram to keep the north underdeveloped? Is the entire boko haram not muslim and northern? Did they not come during a muslim northerners administration? Why are your youths willing to cooperate with a plan to under develop their people? What was the cause of norther underdevelopment before boko haram came about? Which southerner made this happen prior or did the north become underdeveloped in 2011? Who did you blame before? Ernest Shonekan?

Ibnsultan: Gej has failed as the president of the FRN

Ibnsultan: Gej has failed as the president of the FRN

Ikengawo: Perhaps the north has failed it's self?




All he is left to do is keep northerners from killing their fellow tribesmen, muslims and regional brothers. How has he failed? Why is he being blamed for this but Boko Haram remains blameless. People that didn't come during his time, and will not leave after are his fault? Ask yourself and answer real questions instead of looking for someone to blame. The SE was racked with our own boko haram in the form of kidnappers. They were ruling with impunity and people didn't even feel safe going home any more. It was Southeastern governors like Chime, Obi, Rochas, Orji and even Amaechi in the south that fought it, NOT the federal government.

They implemented and executed plans of actions. Homes used for kidnapping were demolished. Homes owned by kidnappers were demolished. They equip police with vehicles, the majority of these police vehicles were made by Igbos themselves. Governors put surveillance of abandoned properties, and increased police presence.

The villagers and town's men that were tired of being terrorized because reporting even their own brothers to the police if that brother was a kidnapper because tomorrow that brother could kidnap one of your children. The PEOPLE rose up and said enough is enough and developed a 0 tolerance policy on crime. The combed their neighborhoods and arrested kidnappers before even the police got to them. If the people caught you kidnapping before the police they could even kill you in the street. They also all agreed to stop paying ransom for victims. In a few years kidnapping was gone. Today the east is arguably the safest part of Nigeria from robbery, kidnapping and other vices.

What have northerners done to combat boko haram outside of making excuses for themselves, blame others, pretend it's not happening, and pretend it's a conspiracy? Your leaders having been crippled with cowardice paid boko haram not to kill them. They ran to the UN and begged for boko haram not to be labeled a terrorist organization. Many believed BH to be 'freedom fighters' and propagated that image for BH. They made logical fallacies the modus operand for begging the FG to give Boko Haram scholarships and amnesty. Give me the name of one Igbo kidnapper who's community advocated should be given a scholarship or amnesty for violating their sons and daughters and destroying their communities like Boko Haram.

Ibnsultan: Too bad.
Insurgency is deliberate attempt to prevent the North from developing.
My 2cent

Ikengawo: Perhaps the north has failed it's self?




All he is left to do is keep northerners from killing their fellow tribesmen, muslims and regional brothers. How has he failed? Why is he being blamed for this but Boko Haram remains blameless. People that didn't come during his time, and will not leave after are his fault? Ask yourself and answer real questions instead of looking for someone to blame. The SE was racked with our own boko haram in the form of kidnappers. They were ruling with impunity and people didn't even feel safe going home any more. It was Southeastern governors like Chime, Obi, Rochas, Orji and even Amaechi in the south that fought it, NOT the federal government.

They implemented and executed plans of actions. Homes used for kidnapping were demolished. Homes owned by kidnappers were demolished. They equip police with vehicles, the majority of these police vehicles were made by Igbos themselves. Governors put surveillance of abandoned properties, and increased police presence.

The villagers and town's men that were tired of being terrorized because reporting even their own brothers to the police if that brother was a kidnapper because tomorrow that brother could kidnap one of your children. The PEOPLE rose up and said enough is enough and developed a 0 tolerance policy on crime. The combed their neighborhoods and arrested kidnappers before even the police got to them. If the people caught you kidnapping before the police they could even kill you in the street. They also all agreed to stop paying ransom for victims. In a few years kidnapping was gone. Today the east is arguably the safest part of Nigeria from robbery, kidnapping and other vices.

What have northerners done to combat boko haram outside of making excuses for themselves, blame others, pretend it's not happening, and pretend it's a conspiracy? Your leaders having been crippled with cowardice paid boko haram not to kill them. They ran to the UN and begged for boko haram not to be labeled a terrorist organization. Many believed BH to be 'freedom fighters' and propagated that image for BH. They made logical fallacies the modus operand for begging the FG to give Boko Haram scholarships and amnesty. Give me the name of one Igbo kidnapper who's community advocated should be given a scholarship or amnesty for violating their sons and daughters and destroying their communities like Boko Haram.

Descartes: I like your sincerity

Ibnsultan: haha.
We have great potential
Max human & environmental Resources needed for development.
A sincere president will make Dubai envy us in 4 yrs

Descartes: Have we had a sincere President

Ibnsultan: Gej has failed as the president of the FRN

RockMaxi:

I always suspect people who are too general on issues of this kind. It is either they are hiding something or they don't have enough facts. Please be specific in areas he has failed where others have been successful.

Ibnsultan:
1security
2education
3job
4Infrastructure
4health
5 fight against corruption
6 foreign policy
7 welfare
8 power
Infact his a total failure so the list is endless

Ibnsultan: Too bad.
Insurgency is deliberate attempt to prevent the North from developing.
My 2cent

RockMaxi:


Then all the past Presidents till now have equally failed and he only inherited the failures. From 80's to now it's the same cycle and the only common statement from the masses is ""so so has failed as the president/head of state of the FRN"" . If you are a keen observer you will get my drift.