Of Post Amnesty, 2011 Elections

Determined to halt the near recurrence of violent agitations in the Niger Delta region, and thus create the enabling peaceful atmosphere required for meaningful development, Nigerian Editors, last week, drummed support for and advocated total participation of all stakeholders in the  Federal government’s post amnesty regime for repentant militants.

   The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), used the opportunity offered by the 6th All Nigerian Editors Conference (ANEC), which held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State from June 2 – 5, this year,  to enjoin all stakeholders in the region to embrace religiously the post amnesty programme which they believe would ensure stability, peace and order.

The Guild reasoned that such support was critical, absolutely necessary and inevitable if the Nigerian state is to frustrate any likely resurgence of militancy in the oil rich region after a relieving moment of relative peace thus far witnessed since the proclamation of the amnesty by the late president Yar’Adua, last year.

Certainly, the clarion call by the Nigerian Editors is most timely, necessary and appropriate and thus one that should and must be taken seriously, if the relative peace and stability enjoyed and still needed for the development of the region is to be sustained.

That the Niger Delta region has been the most volatile region in Nigeria in the last decade, on account of violent agitations bordering on “criminal neglect and marginalisation”, is to put it mildly.

That is why The Tide agrees with the Editors Guild that the Niger Delta indeed has a strong case which deserves urgent and decisive steps by the Nigerian federation to address.  This is against the backdrop that apart from producing more than 80 per cent of national wealth, through oil production in over 50 years and later gas, no other region or segment of the country can better claim to have contributed more or as much to the proverbial national cake.

Ironically, the expected rewards for such sacrifices are not reflected  in the state of infrastructure nor the human capacity building of the people. Instead, the scenario presents a vexatious inequitable distribution of the nation’s earning, in which, those who contribute little or nothing to the up-keep of the nation control and share bulk of her wealth.

This development, to a large extent, led to the protracted agitation for a better life and protest against neglect, the same that is now generally perceived as the Niger Delta struggle recently spearheaded by militants.

That being so, it is not enough for stakeholders to merely voice their support for the post amnesty regime but to show, in concrete terms their level of determination and commitment to the programme and indeed to the well-being of Niger Delta people.

This is why it has become most instructive to address the-less-than plausible management of the Amnesty package as announced by late President Yar’Adua.

We are aware that N65 billion was approved by the government for militants under the package, out of which N65,000 was meant to cover monthly allowance for each repentant militant.  Regrettably not much has been known of how the money was utilised amidst claims by some militants that they each received only about N20,000 monthly, not to mention pockets of other protests by some ex-militants against their sectional leaders.

These we insist and must be addressed before the 2011 general elections.

With few months to the polls, the Federal Government and other stakeholders must move fast to resolve the grey areas before the repentant militants become easy tools and instruments for desperate politicians who might want to use them to achieve their political ambitions.

Beyond that, The Tide also believes that the Niger Delta crisis can not be solved only through the programmes lined-up under the post amnesty package, rather, addressing the Niger Delta needs will require an even broader, systematic and holistic approach in terms of human, physical and infrastructural development marshal plan for the region to achieve the desired results.

Here is where we expect  President Goodluck Jonathan, himself a son of the Niger Delta  to demonstrate his knowledge of and experience on the issue to achieve positive results. Time is of essence.