By Kenneth Ehigiator & Jimoh Babatunde
LAGOS – The Federal Government, yesterday, expressed its willingness to dialogue with the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, following the latest threats issued by the group to launch bomb attacks in Lagos, Abuja and the Niger Delta.

This came on a day the government sent to People University, Moscow, Russia, 75 youths of the region who had just completed their non-violence training at Obubra, Cross River State, under the amnesty programme.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/03/140363/

We will practically me mortgaged to these people. I don tire, This is what happens when we start going down this raod of appeasement, what next, Aeroplane for all of them? This is what a week government does for you.

Goddy should hurry up and leave, his ideas are not getting the common man anywhere

Clueless FG.

Is it not the same Federal Government that said that it would deal decisively with militants who fail to surrender their weapons and register for the amnesty programme which has now been concluded in terms of registration?

This is a show of weakness and it is unfortunate. I guess we will have to wait for Wikileaks to get information on what is happening in a few months or years.

@ Post

FG bowing and kneeling to militants - yeye dey smell. How low can they go - April 9th is taking so long to come.

I thought they said MEND no longer exists. So, which MEND are they talking about? Or are they acknowledging what most Nigerians, except for the foooolish ones already know. Which is that GEJ lied on October 1, 2010. That he abused his office and used a serious national security issue as a bomb blast to play politics.

This GEJ government must be stupid, dialogue or wipe them fools out . they call him clueless he always act as one .

I have not seen where a gov is negotiating with terrorist, so we all know that because of GEJ do or die that he want to stay in power, The FG want to enter negotiations with MEND, if they are genuine group why cant they call on men and women of the affected oil region to match on a peaceful protest and demand in the interest of the public, why are they sending a bomb treat, they are thinking that people will be scare, abeg make una forget about this GEJ, he has no leaver to deliver us.

Dialog is the only way to avoid bloodshed. I don't care what they do, as long as lives are not lost.

You negotiate, they keep coming back for more, like they are currently doing. There has to be a firm and fair approach

f.g. is doing the right thing dialoging with these MEND of a people i tell, wen they say they will strike they mean it,

ok, so you settle them this time. What happens when next they want chop money, This is tantamount to kidnapping a nation, we must think properly before we approach things

F.G. cant be Rude they must and should avert blood shed,  of innocent Nigerians, IM PROUD OF FG JARE! those people could kill ya next who knows,  but F.G. dont want em to kill you nd me, GET IT

The militants have their necks, so they must beg.

The militants have their necks, so they must beg.

Dialog is the way to avoid bloodshed? ROFLMAO!!!


We spent much of 2009 dialoguing. We even went as a far as to pay these militants monthly stipends, send them to expensive foreign schools, promise them immunity etc. Fast forward to 2011, the killings and bloodshed continue, and they seem to have gotten bolder in their acts, and we are still stroking their egos and "DIALOGUING". 

monkeyleg:

ok, so you settle them this time. What happens when next they want chop money, This is tantamount to kidnapping a nation, we must think properly before we approach things

Exactly! They are holding the whole nation to ransom. We all know what happens at these 'dialogues'.

F.G. doles out a huge sum to them and they go away for a while.

Two weeks later, they are back with bigger, meaner threats and then a bigger 'dialogue' ensues.

This country na wah!

movement for d emancipation of niger delta. Whats d goal of this movement, hw do they plan 2 help d people they claim 2 be fighting for. Perhaps a federal budget should be allocated 2 MEND.

ABeg me too
something dey worry me sef!when FG go attend to me.I dey line since 31 years ago.MEND came after me and have jumped the que because man know man and because them be national thugs.
Abi make i wait or become thug after all this work i dey do never let me shake a serving commissioner yet.
More over i have never attacked the intrest of the nation.why am i punished and the bad folks getting rewarded?
I just want ask of FG scholarship
I also get problem with for my place
Armed robbers they worry us to much
food don they hard man.
person dey work baboon dey chop,
etc
This issues are important to so many why treat a few and ignore the rest.Until they resort to violence!

batiatus:

movement for d emancipation of niger delta. Whats d goal of this movement, hw do they plan 2 help d people they claim 2 be fighting for. Perhaps a federal budget  should be allocated 2 MEND.

. I think they already have but not properly defined .

I thought Mr President once told us on NTA that there is no MEND. How come his government wants to dialogue with a group that doesn't exist?

It is right for government to dialogue with them. But beyond dialogue, government should address and resolve issues that are creating militants across the nation. Be it MEND, Boko Haram, OPC, Bakassi boys, Massob, etc. Their issues must be addressed. Force does not necessary answer all the questions.

 

In the practical art of war, the best
   thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact;
   to shatter and destroy it is not so good.  So, too, it is
   better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it,
   to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire
   than to destroy them.

  Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles
   is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists
   in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

  Sun Tzu  - Art of War

Nigeria JAGAJAGA finish, Militry usless and powerless, police money enterprise Ltd and Politicians devils advocates

What happened to the monthly stipends they were giving them?

WOuld FG also dialogue with Boko Haram and give them salary too?

I have said it before and will say it for the last time. When you create and sustain conditions suitable for corruption to thrive you will forever be treating symptoms rather than curing the illness. This started a long time ago in the early days when oil was discovered, it was never treated, ignored and now that the disease is now life-threatening, FG is trying to wrap it up in bandages. It is too late for that, Gangrene has set in, you need to cut of teh leg before the body goes with it.

@ Dayokanu, No FG will not dialogue with BOKO HARAM, Cos MEND=EMANCIPATION while BOKO HARAM=TERRORISM

The problem is, no matter how much they are given, they will still come back for more and when the government fail to meet thier demand, bomb threats will start flying.

Emancipation means blowing oil pipelines?

When u giv a rat piece of cheese, u get ur house infested wt vermins.

My dear bros n sis quoting peaceful dialogue, dis is no call for "peaceful" dialogue. Its an act of criminal agression and coersion. Its no time to show weakness. Dare fall for it and u hav no bargaining power on d negotiation table. No group is above d Federal Government, so if any group wishes to talk, its at d terms majrly influenced by d govt. Consession making is d high-hand d govt takes to d table n not for d criminals.

But d above wld hav been d case if d govt has been effective,responsible n sensible in her aproach to d matter. D whole thing abt rewarding brigandage is bad frm d start. Touts r sent to best universities abroad wt poor qualifications for it. Y not reward d ND skilled labour appropriately? Of course d warped logic ws dt its d criminal illiterates who took up arms dt should b rewarded, so what happens to d law abiding skilled, yet unemployed/ unreached people? Definitely not all poorly educated or/and properly educated ones dt took to arms earlier,thus d tone is set dt d criteria for reward is arm-bearing, hence ds culture of criminality.

It only makes sense to join d winning ways. I see a more formidable, popular and tenacious MEND return. Its an evil ds irresponsible govt created. If i were in ND, wt all d rewards going to d ex criminals, i would readily sign up wt ds criminal institution. I guess dey probably take sign on fees frm recruits by now.

Its either d govt puts her foot down strongly now or loose any last strand of credibility in eyes of criminal gangs present and waiting to manifest.

Ds is no call for dialogu, its an act of agression n hostage. It must not be condoned.

The truth is that FG had never concluded negotiations with real MEND.They just called out some criminals like Ateke and Boyloaf and gave them money and house in Abuja.The true MEND led by Henry Okah demanded for True Federalism and infrastructural development.FG couldn't meet their demands and decided to use militants to fight the real MEND.Soyinka knows this.

I have always argued this with beaf but he keeps calling the criminals MEND.MEND is a more sophisticated organisation consisting mostly of graduates and not oil thieves.They will never accept money but only a reasonable offer that will benefit their people.

After amnesty, you now want to dialogue with criminals. This GEJ government is so clueless. Ideas are so stupid. Re-uniting and reinvigorating the nation is trash talk. We really need to vote the PDP government out. BB all the way. The men that can tackle corruption.

When Nigeria gets some other major source of income besides oil, they can treat these militants like ordinary terrorists. Until then, the government is wise to take a cautious approach.