Original Title:The Niger Delta: Africa's Mekong?

Sequel to the arrest of Bayelsa State's governor in London on money laundering charges, and the arrest of the Niger Delta insurgency leader in Port Harcourt on treason charges, a massive build-up of federal troops is under way in the creeks of the Niger Delta, a labyrinth of rivers, swamps and marsh reportedly 5 times as large as[b] Viet Nam's Mekong Delta[/b] where the military might of the US met it's match some 30 years ago.

As insurgents threaten to blow up oil installations in the Niger Delta, and as "war games", involving a US naval battle group continue in the Gulf of Guinea, one wonders whether we are on the brink of a protracted war of attrition in the Niger Delta, or are just witnessing a continuation of the general low-level anarchy that has held sway in the region for years ? What do you think?

Some more of the same old stuff. No war. If war is going to break out, it'd be very unexpected. No one will know where it'd come from.

What is happening in the Niger Delta is pathetic. To bad that resource control is completely not the solution to the region. It is resource management, period.

With so much poverty and the leaders (alleged?) stealing from their own people, the poor have to contend with under-development from the center and massive daylight robbery from their own leaders. Unrest, etc, can only hurt those at the lower rung of the societal ladder.

Unless and until we get responsible leadership to come down hard on corruption (oil companies, environmental and development agencies) and the Niger Delta people purge themselves of thieving leaders, I'm afraid we are in for the long haul in this ding-dong affair.

goggoji:

What is happening in the Niger Delta is pathetic. To bad that resource control is completely not the solution to the region. It is resource management, period.

With so much poverty and the leaders (alleged?) stealing from their own people, the poor have to contend with under-development from the center and massive daylight robbery from their own leaders. Unrest, etc, can only hurt those at the lower rung of the societal ladder.

Unless and until we get responsible leadership to come down hard on corruption (oil companies, environmental and development agencies) and the Niger Delta people purge themselves of thieving leaders, I'm afraid we are in for the long haul in this ding-dong affair.

well said, I will support anyone in support of good managment. Yoruba, Ibo, Hausa, Edo, Ijaw, Efik it doesnt really matter to me where the manager is from as long he can deliver.

Don't believe any politician that says he is born again. Changing clothes dont mean anything to me. If he is bad, he is bad. By their fruits you will know them. All the corrupt leaders should be noted and no one should vote for them.

Well, I think the other tribes in the country should purge themselves of[b] corrupt, rotund, pot-bellied, stinking, lousy leaders.[/b]

Should I mention names? Well, I will, so that the likes of goggoji will know that the true thieves are not from the Niger Delta, but from the big three ethnic groups.

1. Ibrahim Babangida
2. Theophilus Danjuma
3. Adedibu Lamidi
4. OBJ (Obasanjo)
5. Sanni Abacha
6. Chris Uba
and a host of others I cannot remember now, or probably they are stealing theirs in the dark.

of all the people you have mentioned, I believe OBJ is a man that has the interest of nigeria in his heart (just my own opinion).

The others have only one thing in mind: how to effectively line their pockets, surpress nigeria and be kings accountable to no one.

ono:

Should I mention names? Well, I will, so that the likes of goggoji will know that the true thieves are not from the Niger Delta, but from the big three ethnic groups.

1. Ibrahim Babangida
2. Theophilus Danjuma
3. Adedibu Lamidi
4. OBJ (Obasanjo)
5. Sanni Abacha
6. Chris Uba
and a host of others I cannot remember now, or probably they are stealing theirs in the dark.

And the Niger Deltans are saints. After all, there are no places in the Niger delta where some Niger Deltans have built mansions, hotels etc. Where did they get the money? Was it the "Gods" that sent it to them.

Do you ever stop talking rubbish?

Mariory,
I have long decided not to join issues with you again on this forum. We are always at loggerheads. So, to let sleeping dog lie, I've decided to not reply to your posts anymore. No animosity or ill feeling. Just my decision.

As you wish.

Jakumo, for the Niger Delta to be Nigeria's Vietnam, they would need funding and equipment from other countries. The only reason that Vietnam defeated America was because the Soviets and the Chinese were willing to supply pro-communist countries whatever they needed to stop the spread of capitalism in Asia.

Afeni your observation is correct about the significant role played by the Viet Congs' resupply of munitions from China and the then USSR via the Ho Chi Minh jungle trials that wound from north to south Viet Nam beneath triple forest canopy. Similarly the effect of the US publics disillusionment and protest against that protracted and costly war cannot be overstated as a contributory factor to the hurried pull-out of US forces from Viet-Nam in 1971

With the new generation of American military hardware, optics and smart GPS-guided munitions, it is unlikely that targets on such a hidden complex of jungle trials would evade detection by thermal imaging technology that can detect human beings' body heat through any depth of foliage, or by infra-red sensors and munition guidance systems that can see in total darkness, so one can safely assume that the US fighting machine can pretty much take on and annihilate any foe in any terrain worldwide.

My initial post on this subject arose from speculation about the degree of assistance Uncle Sam would be prepared to render either combatant side of the Niger Delta conflict were the present stalemate to degenerate into sustained and widespread war, and alluded to the enormous home-turf advantage those Niger Delta warriors would have over the opposing federal troops in a conflict were the latter side[i] not[/i] to benefit sufficiently from the technological edge of US military might.

As a footnote, the role of free-lance arms brokers who swoop in like flights of vultures to fan brush wars wherever they occur should not be underestimated, no matter how remote and inaccessible the battle setting, as the materiel these shadowy supply chains continuously funnel to the front lines can be more than sufficient to keep things on full boil irrespective of the action taken by the official international community.

Jakumo, trust me, the only thing that would lead America to offer aid to Niger-Deltan rebels is if the Muslims in the North begin active support to Al Qaeda. Anything short of that, and they won't offer aid to the Niger-Deltan rebels.

Also, the Nigerian government does not need any assistance to defeat the rebels in Niger-Delta. However, the rebels need a ton of aid and diplomatic support to defeat the government.

Either way, a conflict in Niger-Delta is perfect for the realization of my goals for the State. Best of luck rebels. I am counting on you.

As Afeni noted only the prescence of Al-Qaeda will make the US to lend a helping to Nigeria.If the situation escalates,the international community will come down on the side of Nigeria for the sake of stability

I dislike it when you guys look at the Nigerdeltans like this. We will fight for our right and freedom, but not the Vietnam way. God will help us sha. We got freedom number one from Britain, and now we're experiencing colonisation number two (with our supposed brothers and kins), and with freedom number two no where in sight.

We are peace loving people. We have a history and culture of peace. Go ask your leaders over there (Northern Nigeria, West and East), they will tell you that they stirred the horners nests when they came conniving with foreigners to rape our lands without going through ''due process''.

Ask them, and they will tell you that they set forth to impoverish our lands, and with wicked intentions, machinations and impunity, akin to broad-day light stealing and gangsterism, they loot, kill, maim and torture our people. They then rape our lands and are almost rendering the whole place wastelands!

What evil, if I may ask, did we do to warrant these kinds of treatments, from people who fought alongside our fathers to get us freedoms from the Brits?

Is it sheer jealousy at the sight of a Niger deltan living like a Saudi Arabian prince and calling the shots? or is it that you people cannot just swallow the thought of a Niger deltan coming into world focus as a result of the blessings God has given us?

I'm all eyes, since I will like to know.

@ono
What a load rubbish.Nobody is jealous of the Niger-Delta.The fact is you lost your chance for freedom during the 60s during the civil war when you could have extracted concessions from the rest of Nigeria.Now it is too late.As things stand today,most communities will prefer that there is no oil in their territories .In Africa,having abundant natural resources is a recipe for disaster.The comparison to Saudi Arabia is pointless

No doubt, you are 4 play for real. And the player in you have made you twist history to come out with such ludricous views about the Nigerdelta people. You need to be enlightened.

If there is no oil under your house (not rented o) you shouldn't have any claim to it. If there is oil in your backyard there is oil in my backyard too because my back yard is your backyard and your backyard is mine. I might be wrong if you were female

The fact that you have oil 10 kms from your house doesn't mean it's yours. Make sure you vote for the right man in the coming election, that would be the beginning of the end for your problems.

I don't think so, the people that are making the loudest noise - e.g. the politicians and the kidnappers have nothing to offer.

a lot of questions arise from this imbroglio.the people of niger delta haven;t they been maginalized enough?don't they deserve over 50 percent of their resource?shouldn't nigerians show some more solidarity?must we continue to condemn the encroached people cos thy've taken up arms when round table discussions have conspicuously failed?Pls lets talk this things out.remember before independence,it's 50 percent allocaion.why must it be different niw.