Nairalanders,
please let all of us in the house put heads together to see how the issue of this Niger Delta crisis can be resolve.
I believe that we all are creative thinkers and Students of whether map with each member contributing to this issue there maybe a way out. Nigeria is our country no doubt about it, so let contribute to it‘s national development.
What is the way forward to this crisis?

the people need to be empowered so that they stop feeling cheated. maybe resource control?

What exactly are we contributing about?

The fact that the federal govt has for years delibrately oppressed, neglected and denied the area of any access to the "national cake" while most of the national cake is baked by the nigerdelta? Should I care to mention cases like Oloibiri the ijaw community where oil was first found lying in ruins. Should I care to mention how govt upon govt brutally murdered and silenced people standing up for the rights of development and deriviation. Should I care to mention Ken Sarowiwa and his peers murdered in the brutal hands of Sani Abacha. Or maybe Umuechem, another oil producing community flattened and several people killed by anti-riot police on Babangida's orders in October 1989 just because the youths were petitioning shell for its lack of provision of basic amenities while subjecting the environment to devastation, oil spillage and burning production associated gas. Shell asked for anti-riot police men from babangida to deal with the "hoodlums". Or maybe i should make mention of Obasanjo (a democratic govt) and his destruction of Odi murdering innocent women and children while leaving many homeless. At that time he forgot about dialogue right?

The govt and the Oil companies are to blame for this. They wickedly and singlehandedly took it to the position it is. The biafra war it self was an oil-war, still nothing was done after the war only years and years of misrule, injustice and marginalisation metted out on my people. The oil sale, internationally has been affected drastically and now the govt has come to its senses. Now the situation can not be "controlled" and has been tagged a "crisis". Its the govt and the oil companies that should be tagged a crisis.

The last time I was in my village, the villagers complained that they could hardly fish, their crops do not yield and most of their lands lie in waste due to oil spillage and other environmental crimes of oil companies. You come take our food, our water, our land, our source of living and even our oil. Then you make billions from it and enable our greedy govt buy houses and refineries abroad and you have the guts to call us a crisis? You should all be in jail. Even some of our leaders and governors should join you there. If anything we deserve a public apology from the govt. We deserve development, We deserve to be like dubai.

That being said, let it be known that I do not consider the way the youths are going about it as "right and correct" but i can atleast understand their plight and why it has come to this. I hope that Vice president elect Goodluck Jonathan would help Yar Adua's govt to aid, develop and improve the lives of people in the oil rich niger delta area.

somze:



That being said, let it be known that I do not consider the way the youths are going about it as "right and correct" but i can atleast understand their plight and why it has come to this. I hope that Vice president elect Goodluck Jonathan would help Yar Adua's govt to aid, develop and improve the lives of people in the oil rich niger delta area.

it was bound to happen at some point. remember the saying about the goat being pushed to the wall? quite frankly i don't think the crisis (as it is termed) can be curtailed anymore. resource control may be the only way out of this because after having tasted (through the back door) the wealth that can come out of the land, how can the people be put under control. besides the oil companies are prepared to deal both ways.

Don't be gullible; these people are not acting on behalf of "youths",
they are common criminals exploiting the political situation for personal gain.

Seun:

Don't be gullible; these people are not acting on behalf of "youths",
they are common criminals exploiting the political situation for personal gain.

What of the govts we've been having? Any difference? Your point is debatable, both ways.

I brought up genuine reasons why the situation has escalated and also pointed at the murder of some genuine people battling the righteous cause (viz a viz Late Ken Sarowiwa). I think thats what I concentrated on.

Evil or not these youths bring the situation of the niger delta into lime and international light. Though it is not absolutely false that some miscreant have used this as an opportunity to enrich themselves.

Seun:

Don't be gullible; these people are not acting on behalf of "youths",
they are common criminals exploiting the political situation for personal gain.

maybe so, but the govt provided them with the avenue for their exploitation. and besides is that any justification for the neglect suffered by this area which happens to be the goose that lays the golden egg? no? i didnt think so!

We need a a true National Conference where we all shall delibrate on how we want Nigeria to be.  We should not be afraid of discussion. If the pains of "one" Nigeria outweighs the gains, then there is nothing wrong in having different countries.

The idea of a split Nigeria causes some Nigerians to rain curses on people like us, yet they are not proferring any solutions as to the way forward.  The worst thing to happen to a people is when they are not allowed to choose their leaders like it was done on the the most recent imposition by few individuals through the federal might.

If the idea of "one" (are we really one?) Nigeria is for a man from Ogun State to impose who will lead us in Anambra State, then we should renegotiate that oneness. Me thinks it is slavery to stay in Abuja and colonise the lands, the waters, the lives and the people from Bayelsa.  The "crises" in the Niger Delta is being treated with kid glove by those at the helm of affairs such that the documentry by Jeff of the CNN on the militancy was called "stage managed" by our government.  

We can continue to pretend that "nothing dey happen", until one day we will wake up to see that it is even too late to talk.  May God help us.

@noblezone
@angel101
@somze
I could not have put it better.
Seun always repeat the statement that

"Don't be gullible; these people are not acting on behalf of "youths",
they are common criminals exploiting the political situation for personal gain."

If the situation was not created by the govt in the first place, then there wouldn't have been a situation to exploit. As far as i can remember, there was no kidnappings when Sarowiwa was peacefully campaigning on behalf of ND. Violence begets violence. I don't agree with the tactics (but I understand) doing nothing is no longer an option.

Blaming "the government" is very convenient because the government is a virtual entity, but you must realize something. The people running our government are saints compared to these murderous "militant youths". They should not be regarded as representatives of the Niger Delta people, but as common criminals. The truth is that they are making the problem worse in order to be able to continue enjoying the freedom to steal.

Yes, the government should fight the pollution in the Niger Delta region, yes, the government should spend the oil money more prudently. But it shouldn't be for the sake of these "militants". What they need is prison time.

@Seun
What you need is a history book and a teacher.

How you can call the government virtual entity in this case is beyond me? Have you any idea about the history of the nigerdelta crisis? Why dont you go and search for yourself. Atleast in my thread earlier i pointed at a few of the actions of named military and civilian head of states that lead the so called crisis to where it is today. I can give much more examples. Everyone has a right to point to them as the MAIN cause of this problem and be 110% correct.

Since you want to concentrate on the militant boys, can you please tell me where they got the weapons? Do you know that before 2003 elections, aspiring returnee governors, senators etc in the area supplied them with the finances and means to obtain the weapons? So instead of them to develop the ND they have infact developed militants. Maybe some virtual entities should be in prison too.

Through numerous means the respective GOVERNMENTS in their eras have aided the niger delta to the deplorable state it is now. But for you Obasanjo and his administrator, the governors, reps, senators, honorables etc are all virtual entities. So are those that came before them. They have very little role to play in this matter. This is simply laughable.

If the government is not a virtual entity, then you should mention the names of the people you are blaming.

for head of state / President

Gowon - for sending troops to take over Bonny Terminal during/after the civil war without consultation with elders or developing the south. His fiscal policy led to fed govt collecting proceeds from oil money (no derivation),

for the following i've already given a few cases in my first thread.
IBB - Abacha and Obasanjo

I will reserve my opinion about the situation in the Niger Delta as my opinion would be offensive but I will however deal issue of government being Virtual Entity.If government are Virtual Entity then arms of government,corrupt senators,judges,police,vice governors,billions of dollars stolen from the niger delta are all Virtual because Nigeria is also a Virtual Entity.Army massacre in Odi and other places in Nigeria are were also Virtual,those who died are all virtual,killed by virtual army sent by virtual government.

I'm typing to many "virtual entities" in a real community called nairaland

@mrmayor

all of them should have their heads scraped so that we can know one and run away when he/she approaches.

The people of the Niger Delta are tired of hearing government lies. Most of those pictures you see on newspapers about roads, jetties and hospitals are media contraptions. Forget all the talk about gas turbines; this politicians have taken us for a ride too long. Education remains the only hope of any people because it changes their mentality. Majority of the representatives be it traditional (e.g. chiefs) and then pressure groups (e.g. INC, MOSOP, UPU and co) soon forget their constituency and enrich themselves and immediate family members riding in jeeps with MOPOL and collecting contracts which they never intend to undertake in the name of community so now its every man for himself.

Seun:

The truth is that they are making the problem worse

so u agree that they was a problem. these people didnt just wake up one day and start fighting for no reason.

Seun:


Yes, the government should fight the pollution in the Niger Delta region, yes, the government should spend the oil money more prudently. But it shouldn't be for the sake of these "militants". What they need is prison time.

for whose sake should it be? yours? it is the people who own the land. it is their lives that have been troubled. it is they who have been and are still aggrieved. for whose sake should the needful be done then?

yours in my opinion is such a selfish argument.

To all those who think that Niger Deltans are lazy and should think about what they can do to make Nigeria great I want to ask if your town dey like this.

If all those places outside the Niger are like this and they also fill Nigeria's coffers with Billions and Billions of $$$$$$$$.Then Niger Deltan's are all criminals

@mymayor
nice one

the truth is bitter

I dont subscribe to the logic that governemnt is a "VIRTUAL ENTITY" that is rather self-serving.I also believe that the degree of neglect over has culminated in the quag mire in existence now within the Niger-delta.

but most of all I believe that also the leaders of the region have made themselves willing tools to be used by the government in stiffling the growth of the region to a large degree. That and the fact that they are interested more in lining there own pockets with "bush entry" and "matching ground" largesse.

The Niger delta problem is a multi-pronged issue which can only be tackled with concerted effort girded together by honesty of purpose by all stake holders especially the federal government.