. . .and what happens when both parties in the conflict refuse to see the need for dialogue?

Personally, I abhor violence, but when one person choses to use violence, I recommend that that course be pursued to the very last so there can be no doubt anymore about who is stronger.

please I have too many friends from this region, i don't want them to loose their family members. this issue should have been dealt with way before now, but all the previous leaders and the useless elected delegates were too busy stealing instead of repairing and providing job for this poor people. now that the dogs are out of the cage una want kill them, NO TO VIOLENCE< we can talk to them in the language they understand. there is no lost hope here. UNITED WE STAND, ONE NATION, ONE PEOPLE.

True talk. But the onus remains on the people as well to say NO to their 'leaders'.

As Karl Marx said: The people deserve the leaders that they have.

too much talk no action

Thank you Otokx. Easy to make a lot of noise on the pages of Nairaland, but no real action, and the action that someone decided to take got hijacked and turned into a rather lucrative venture.

On a side note, I got to kidnap me some white men. The last set of geezers got $90000 in ransom money. . .

I would rather ignore Chxta and his ilks, Otokx. Stop wasting your time, Chxta will not change his style when posting on Niger Delta matter.

Abeg no kidnap no man, dem fit kill you in the process we need to talk to this people and give dem back what belong to them, you cant go to a mans house and ask him to leave with no clothes. the man will fight till death. like i've said DIALOGUE is the KEY

ibori and co just released another set of jeep for demselves. una no go yarn o!

Wetin you want make we yarn?

ehen, if them release jeeps nko? they deserve to reap the dividends of democracy, at least a parting gift from the state to her legislators for a good job, from 99-06

good job ko good job ni. later we go dey hala say na dem obj dey tif d money. no be only dem dey tif am.

And if no be only am dey tif d moni nko? or you wan make dem share am reach ur side?

Isn't it due time the rest of the non-white/western world decides that the western empire won't stand? There's nothing basically complicated about their resistance or anger. They're a people who live on this earth who live on top of a natural resource; they're told they have no economic right to what's lain beneath their feet for millenia. Was it not the American philosophy that the blood and sweat of an indiviviual pouring into a soil made it "his" [/hers sic.] What an Earthly illness that a group or country could decide that the chronology of buisness could bring them to the rightful ownership of the land beneath a people. It ultimiately should belong to everyone, but that reality and fairness has long since been lost. As far as the west is concerned, it is their land and thus their oil. The argument here is baseless, especially in a western sense! Get off their land and take your sticky hand out of their oil. How many times can fairness and righteousness be crushed before we all demand a stop. It's in no way radical to demand for the expulsion of these pretentious and overbearing entrepreneurs. Get off these people's land, and stay out unless they desire to have you back. They are right and the prevailing status quo is fundamentally wrong.

Solution to Niger Delta will be difficult because they dont know what they want. Road,Water,Job,Industires and MONEY.

I can underatand that the government could neglect a place, because they are corrupt but I can not understand why they chose to neglect the Niger Delta, it is much more beautiful than Abuja, Port Harcout, Calabar and Lagos put together.

How the Fcuck can you possibly neglect this
Just look at the miles of beach and the beauty the swamps and rivers create





How can you possibly neglect this, the governrmenr must have being on drugs and they probably still are

The people of the Niger Delta have been neglected for too long, but the federal govt has the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and 13% Derivation to help ameliorate the situation.

Please lets not just blame the federal government. Rivers State collects around $100 million monthly and the people of the riverine areas are not seeing any of it.

Lets also remember the Alamiesiegha saga.

James Ibori has stolen so much from Delta state that, he is now offering to fund Yar 'Adua's campaign so the EFCC wouldn't catch him come May 2007.

I think the federal govt waited too long to address the Niger Delta people's situation, so they are bearing the consequences. But lets hold others stealing money (besides the fed govt) accountable too.

True, but of all the places that could have been neg,
Of all the places, why the,
why the,
God this is ridiculous, the beauty of the region is indescribable, why the Niger,

The bigwigs in Niger delta have made developemnet impossible. They feed fat on this crisis and pray it doesn't come to an end. Hostage taking is a solution but these boys are getting the wrong people. They should go for the heads of all the NIger Delta governors and made them accountable for 13% derivation they get monthly from the F.G.

good point, that is a good solution

donnymikky:

The bigwigs in Niger delta have made developemnet impossible. They feed fat on this crisis and pray it doesn't come to an end. Hostage taking is a solution but these boys are getting the wrong people. They should go for the heads of all the NIger Delta governors and made them accountable for 13% derivation they get monthly from the F.G.

I see your point my brother.

The problem with Nigeria is that, we never hold people of our own tribe/ethnic group accountable for their actions.

Despite all the millions Alamiesiegha stole, the people of Bayelsa state still feel his treatment is unjust and he should be released immediately.

Not one Bayelsan blames him for diverting funds meant for the oil communities to his own pocket. Instead, it is always Shell and the fed govt's fault.

Give me a break.

exactly

its as if d only 2 people dat have sense so far are buchio7 and texazzpete because they say it as it is. I am from d niger delta but that does not mean that i will subscribe to terrorism and gangsterism as a means of solving problems .Infac when the arguments came up in my villa, i suggestd the kidnappin of our local govt chairmo or even d gov himselfsince we make alot of billions every month/ year but if we ask for infrastructure , they will give us monologues about our terrain. Right now im workin at a site in Ogbia 'town' but i cant use my fone cuz there is no fone service there yet infact i weep for my state . But this doesnt mean the oil companies dont have their probs . far from it.

A beg , less of the Talk let's watch some video and shed some tears. It helps the heart at times:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZhy_VaYisU

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-oilgallery-flash,0,2501180.flash?coll=bal-home-headlines

Imagine your home town was like this?How neglected would you feel.

Food For Thought!! .

With Love

Hasta la victoria!!!!!!

But i wouldn't destroy my hometown in oeder to get attention. One of my mother towns is Sapele by the way

No Nigerian Government has ever taken an interest in the protection of the environment and lives of the people f the Niger Delta. Instead, governments have worked with the Oil Multinationals to repress the people through brutal force.

There are constant oil spillages due mainly to ageing pipes that are laid above ground under intense heat from the sun. there is inadequate or no maintenance of these pipes.

Rather than modernize operational mothods to protect lives and the environment, the Multinational Companies depend on their "hard line posture" claiming that oil spillages are occuring due to the people's sabotages and thereby refuse to clean up spillages and or, compensate communities affected.

Oil spillages have led to community fires that have claimed thousands of lives in the Niger Delta. No oil company has ever been charged with causing death through lack of care for the environment in furtherance of the Nigerian constitution. The Niger Delta therefore continues to represent a region populated by worthless peoples.

Fire from spillages have affected Ijala, Ifiekporo; Ekapkamre and Aja-etan communities of Delta State. In all the fires, the Nigerian Government and the oil multinationals remained indifferent to the dangers that their operations pose to the environment and lives in the Niger Delta.

In 1998, Jesse town in Delta State was destroyed by fire ignited by petrol leakage. over 1,000 lives were lost. While the horror of the disaster ws being watched by the world, the Nigerian Government was condemning the peope of the Niger Delta for stealing petrol. No one was compensated.

The people of Adedje (Oviri Court of Delta State) suffered the same fate when oil spillage led to the destruction of over 1,000 lives. While the fire was burning and lives being lost, the Nigerian Authority told the world in a radio interview that the people of the Niger Delta were being punished by God for stealing petrol.

The environmental destruction of our land resulting from 48 years of oil exploration has condemned our people to a life of degradation and starvation. Fishes have died and our agricultural land has been rendered infertile. The people wallow in hardship and great sense of insecurity. Death lurks at every corner for the ordinary people of the region. Life in the Niger Delta is constant fear from security forces positioned by the Government to secure oil production and their looting enterprise.

There is unreported high unemployment of youths, in fact, a high proportion of active members of the population are unemployed. This unemployment of activie mind and body is the root of the frustration that is being expirienced and expressed throughout the Niger Delta.

In particular, a significant proportion of the uneployed youths are graduates, who are forced to watch the revenue from oil and natural liquid gas being plundered while they wallow in poverty and a perpetual state of Hopelessness and Fraustration.

Youths' restiveness in the Niger Delta is a recent phenomenon, which is not isolated in present day Nigeria. Since independence, Nigeria has been through one emergency after another with successive goverments adopting military repression tactics rather than seek lasting solution to the many problems, which continue to threaten the unity of the country.

Although rich in crude oil and naturl gas, a large area of the region is made up of wetlaand, feshwater swamp forests, lowland rain forests and coastal sand ridge barriers. It has been suggested that about 75% of the Delta is reverine. Many Communities expirience "flooding" during the rainy seasons while others face constant fears of being swept into the sea.

Nigeria is a major crude oil producing with the bulk of the oil being produced by the Niger Delta region of the country. Officially, the region is believed to produce between 1.5 and 2 million barrels of crude oil every day.

Government can make anyone believe what they want to hear. But for the interest of all, maybe a visit to the region will proof to you that some negative comments by some readers here are really deceptive.

Oil represents over 90% of Nigeria's National revenue, meaning therefore, that the Niger Delta is a major revenue source for the entire country. With a growing increase in the price of crude oil in world market, it is therefore true to say that the Niger Delta is earning for Nigeria on average of US $18 billion every year.

The solution to all this restiveness has come. Project Delta State which is a project established by the Niger Deltan's for the total redemption and freedom from all this hardship.

With Project Delta State, Niger Delta Restiveness, the 97% absolute poverty rate will be no more.

I hope to tell you more about the Niger Deltan and their plights. And with Project Delta State, all this will be beaten to history.

Lets stand for our right and am appealing to our friends at the other side of Project Delta State view to Help us repair Niger Delta's image within and abroad please. Every dictatorship would be over, crumbles in the end, but justice and truth triumph. Hence the people of Niger Delta needs your help now.

We will not forget our friends when we come out of this great evil period in the history of this region / country.

We promise!.

God Bless Niger Delta

SEGOYE2

@dblock,

I don't think (MEND and related) are "destroying" there villages, it turns out these villages are the places where the Nigerian Govt & the Multinationals are doing the evil work and they have to be confronted right there.

The thieves of the Govt and Multinationals are the Bad destroyers.

Cheers.

How is oil extraction an evil work? Do you realise that the entire country including you depends on this same oil?
If you truly believe that oil is evil, then you must boycott cars, generators, and anything powered by this evil oil.

@ Seun,

I think our brother here is not saying oil is evil. But it has destroyed all we have in this region, and we have nothing to show of it. It really piezzes me off.

@ first page,

What do you have to say about all the evil melted on the Niger Delta region? I even read on this thread that Niger Deltans are greedy? Am really forced to say that is a bad statement which I totally disagree with.

If because you are now employed before you know you Niger Deltans are greedy, then it means your new job that involves you putting peoples lives / environment has blinded you.

Can you tell us where you are from? because I deeply believe if you are from this region, you will say what you see on ground and not the fary fales you listen to in the house.

Can someone here defend the Multinational Oil Companies please?  If you claim you already work inside the house know all that is been given to the Niger Deltans that made you claim they are greedy, then I will ask for some few questions on :

Tell me if you can stand for this wicked multinational.

Good one @Segoye2.

Before responding,allow me express the joy of being replied directly by Seun, 4 me thats great. Its not easy nowsdays to come by creators/owners of Fantastic ideas like our nairaland(I know sey u b d owner).

Having said that allow me disagree with U(Seun) on the evil oil issue,


How is oil extraction an evil work?

Segoye2 already shed some light on this but let me go a bit further. I shall try tobe fair to the avrious phylosophical inclinations that may aboud in this forum. Evil, itself quite varies and is relative. At times saving a guy who later kills a Multitude isn't necesarily "good" while killing a guy who was about to save a multitude isn't necesarily "Evil".Food for Thougth!!!. What you call evil is all dependent on how far u comprehend the prevailing circumstances of such action (the before, the present and the after).Ofcoourse, no man really comprehends it totally. We should just try to be fair based on the knowledge we have.

Let me go ahead and give a definition which i consider fair. That Evil is "Action/actions a person/persons embark upon for the common good as judged by the best of Mankind's knowledge and true intentions.". A kind of action whose primary intention benefits from the origin of that action and extends as far as possible.

Such an action that forgets or doesn't care for it's nearest surrounding/source is bound to fail as it attacks the very foundation mean't to sustain.I'm sure we've heard of Sustainable Development. It was on this basis that i consider as Evil the action of the Government and the Multinationals in not adequately taking care of the Indigineuos peoples of the NIger Delta. People should know , this doesnt happen only in NIgeria, it happens to the peoples of Latin America , something similar happened in Ireland. It doesn't happen only in Oil Exploration, it happens in various other areas(Diamond Mining, Gold Mining etc) and most of the time the indigineous people are the ones cheated upon. It is indeed one of the ugly sides of Full blown Capitalism.

If the Niger Deltans are rascals, the Government would still have some share of the blame.For it was upon them the responsibility for Education was placed.We should rememebr this problem has been around for Long and that These guys took up arms not long ago.


So, Evil or Good would always depend on the circumstances surrounding such an action and many a times the surroundng environment happens to be an important subset of that word "circumstances"


Cheers.

abdkabir:

@dblock,

I don't think (MEND and related) are "destroying" there villages, it turns out these villages are the places where the Nigerian Govt & the Multinationals are doing the evil work and they have to be confronted right there.

The thieves of the Govt and Multinationals are the Bad destroyers.

Cheers.

Then what are they doing?
Vandalising Pipelines doesn't only add to the depletion of the regions ecosystem and all but it also contributes to global warming, that's if the pipeline explode(hasn't happened recently though)

The militants i believe are taking a risk, which they are completetly aware of
>They know the Region was wrongfully neglected
>They know that by carrying out this kidnapings and by vandalising Private and Gov Properties they are attracting needed attention
>They know that by creating this scenario of instabilty, they are making the Niger Delta and Nigeria a bit poorer
>They know that if the fovernment responds, the Niger Delta will improve
>They also know that if the Government doesn't the region will be worse of than it was before they came into the scene, and much more poorer

So in that respect it is a risk, it is a good risk and one that must be taken but it is a risk

Good talk dblock.But come oh what do all these development agencies claim to be doing in the Niger Delta? .So many international development claim to be carrying out projects in the region,which i cannot seem to find.Pls i would love to know if there is any meaningful project that has been embarked on in the region by any international donor agency.