Consolidating On Amnesty Deal

When President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on June 25, 2009 proclaimed the state pardon for the Niger Delta militants, many political watches and analysts saw the gesture as a mere failure and nothing more. Though the amnesty deal commenced officially on the 6th August, 2009 when many amnesty centres were opened in the Niger Delta states for militants to come out from their hiding in creeks to register and surrender their sophisticated arms and ammunitions.
Some groups in the Niger Delta region still believed that the amnesty offer couldn’t solve the problems of the region.
Although the south-south governors supported the package of President Musa Yar’Adua on the amnesty deal in the Niger-Delta region, the people have been marginalised by multinational companies and the government over years without solutions to ameliorate their plight.
Many militants had lost their precious lives in the course of pursuing true federation.
Niger-Delta region is the combination of Isokos Urhobos, Ijaws, Itsekiris, Delta Igbos, Angus Effiks, Kalabaris, Ogonis amog others.
Over 99 per cent of crude oil and gas is from Niger-Delta region, yet no infrastructural development. Innocent souls have lost their lives in the course of negotiating for peace and tranquility in the region. The so-called Joint Military Task Force (JTF) soldiers sent to make peace have equally increased the sufferings of the people.
Despite the over bloated and pooh-poohed amnesty deal on the militants, destruction of oil facilities is still at a geometric progression, yet the federal government has not learnt its lessons. Though some acclaimed militants surrendered their weapons to allow amnesty deal to work, some groups still disagreed with President Musa Yar’Adu that those submitting their arms and ammunition are not real militants but mere pretenders whose egocentric mindsets are traced to the so called amnesty offer of 50 billion.
For Nigerians to believe that president Musa Yar’ Adua meant his amnesty deal, he released Henry Okah from Prison. Well, some schools of thought assumed that amnesty deal would not make a headway. Many Niger-Delta agitators have advised President Yar’Adua to create two homogenous Ijaw states (Toru-Ibe and Oil River States) and additional local councils for Bayelsa state as a means of ending the Niger-Delta Imbroglio. Even releasing of MEND leader would only add more salt to injury. The National Assembly has decided not to create more states in Nigeria but to consider the electoral reforms as the major challenge of the people.
The real militants are yet to come out from their hiding in the creeks to identify with Yar’Adua’s amnesty offer. Even as the federal government created Niger-Delta ministry, NDDC and some key positions for Niger-Delta people, the likes of Goodluck Jonathan, Timi Alaibe Godwin Abbe, Ufot Ekaette and others are beneficiaries of the Yar’Adua’s government.
Meanwhile, the political grievances are still there among the Niger-Delta people. Even the recent bill sent by Rilwan Lukman, to the National Assembly, in order for petroleum Training Institute (PTI) to be relocated to Kaduna as a Petroleum University indicated the total nonentity of the amnesty offer by President Musa Ya’Adua.
The major occupations of Niger-Delta region as fishing and farming are devastated yet the people have not been fully compensated over the years. There is no political and economic development in the region.
The president would have consulted the likes of Joseph Evah, Asari Dokubo, J.P Clark, and other notable personalities in the region rather than negotiating with militants who are only interested in enriching themselves and nothing more.
Apart from the amnesty brouhaha, the government must consider the high rate of oil. In bunkerers, kidnapping and other political vices in the region. The so-called military personnel are also the perpetrators of these iniquitous actions in recent times.
President Musa Yar’Adua must create an avenue for the people to air their views concerning the crisis and invite all aggrieved parties to settle their scores.
It’s time for Yar’Adua to supercede the records of his predecessors.
Njoku is of Anambra State University.

Sylvia Oluchi Njoku