It was quite instructive listening to the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Program, Col. Milland Dikio (rtd) talk about renaming the scheme. The “amnesty” nomenclature carries an unpleasant tag, rather, we are going to have Niger Delta Stabilisation Programme (NDSP). That new name is capable of moving the Niger Delta region forward. The change from PAP to NDSP is not quite the issue calling for celebration but the admonition to think. In Dikio’s words: “My job is to make you think beyond the N65,000 mentality”.
Without going into the insinuation in some quarters that militancy, hostage-taking, vandalism and demands for ransom originated from the Niger Delta region, one can say that mischief-oriented politics cannot build a nation. In advanced police academy there is usually an admonition: “Don’t seek to get even with an enemy”. Like the policy of petroleum price equalisation or quota system, to seek to get even is a mindset that “tops something” to have an equilibrium. The “buck” passes on to someone else!
Beginning with promises to allay the fear of the people of the Niger Delta region about marginalisation by stronger ethnic groups after 1960, out-going British administrators recommended a special Niger Delta Development Authority as a measure. Students of Nigerian Political economy would say that the provision made to allay the fears of ethnic minorities did not work out as envisaged. Rather than abate, the situation gets more precarious which creation of more states can hardly address.
While Col. Dikio was advising repentant Niger Delta militants to think beyond N65,000 monthly stipend, Prof. Benjamine Okaba and a delegation of Ijaw leadership were holding talks, seeking support for the Ijaws to leave Nigeria. Why would “Ijaw leaders meet British Government to seek support to leave Nigeria”? Why was IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu arrested in a controversial manner and brought over to Nigeria to face some charges? Similarly, why was Sunday Igboho’s house invaded at night by security operatives? President Buhari would not have congratulated the security operatives for jobs well done, if the jobs were not well done. What is at stake?
What is the Nigerian nation trying hard to avoid? It is treasonable felony to seek to dismember Nigeria through acts of militancy which account for all the current miseries, hunger and unemployment in the country. Sponsors of IPOB and Nnamdi Kanu must be fished out, like our able security operatives fished out sponsors of complainants against police brutality. Perhaps, representatives of the British High Commission led by Mr. John Kekeh, may be interrogated for allowing Ijaw leaders to seek British support to leave Nigeria. Where will the Ijaws go to?
Why was there an unpatriotic rally somewhere that led to law-enforcement agents coming to fire into the air, resulting in an alleged death of a young girl? Why would a second meeting of 17 southern governors in Lagos warrant an insinuation that they were “conspirators”? Maybe someone would order for the withdrawal of the official immunity of the governors.
Frankly, what is playing out in Nigeria in recent times point toward a deliberate intent to cow and intimidate some sections of the country. For security reasons, there are a number of issues that are better left unsaid, even when a few people know what is actually going on. Moreover, the attitude and orientation of the nation’s security and intelligence agencies are not helping matters. Perhaps, Prof. Omo Omoruyi was wrong to have described the agencies as partisan. Any seeing one would say that there is an urgent need for Nigerian authorities to act fast, in order to forestall some surprises. A furnace must not be too hot!
When an attempt was made a long time ago to kidnap Umaru Dikko in England and bring him back to Nigeria in a crate, a number of issues came to light. One of such issues was that treachery is a vital instrument of power. Be it in Nigeria alone or across the globe, there are usually mercinaries willing to play the game of treachery for a fee, no matter the possible end results of such activities. Once again, the police code of not seeking to get even all the time, is a relevant admonition.
Back to thinking beyond N65,000 mentality, the possible expunging of “amnesty” from the status of former Niger Delta militants or agitators may give them some bit of pride. Like plea-bargaining, an amnesty-holder is not guiltless or washed clean, but a pardoned felon based on repentant attitude. We have seen so much of that game in Nigeria that it has become a licence, whereby a robber can give 10% of his loot and enjoy a pardon or amnesty after such turn-around attitude of repentance.
Why would anyone blame political authorities when ecclesiastical authorities hang on to a culture of sale of indulgence? Even if your guilts be great, join the club of winners, then you are clean! Are bandits not currently asking for same treatment as was given to Niger Delta militants? Was there not a former pro-Biafra leader, Ralph Uwazuruike, before Nnamdi Kanu? Those who call agitators jokers know what gold or the good soldier can do. Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor would tell us that “If money go before, all way do lie open”.
A law lecturer wondered why the Niger Delta amnesty-holders are not asking for annual incremental credits on their N65,000 stipend? On the whole, we got things wrong somewhere along the nation’s history, such that it would be hypocritical to point fingers at anyone now. Dogs, we are told, don’t eat dogs! Do we doubt the fact that where intimidation fails, money would succeed? Thus there can be a monetised system of justice, where “whoever has the most power makes the rule and takes the gold”.
The passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill into law recently carries a great deal of message for those who can decode the message, with special reference to the position of the oil-bearing communities of the Niger Delta region. When we know the real politics of oil block allocation (OML) and who the local oil barons are, then we would have a glimpse of the position of the nation’s political economy. It is expedient to allow a sleeping dog to lie, but frankly the situation calls for justice and fairness, or think beyond money and what money and power can do!

By: Bright Amirize

Dr Amirize is a retired lecturer from the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.