Custom Search
| Get our News Update fast, download AE Toolbar! Click here to download Now! |
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
| Online media |
+THE GUARDIAN
+THE STAR
+THE PUNCH
+NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
+TIMES OF ZAMBIA
+THE SUN
+DAILY GRAPHICS
+THISDAY
+MAIL & GUARDIAN
+VANGUARD
+D/INDEPENDENT
+234next
+The nation
+Daily trust
+Ghana Times
+7amnewsextra
+THE STAR
+THE PUNCH
+NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
+TIMES OF ZAMBIA
+THE SUN
+DAILY GRAPHICS
+THISDAY
+MAIL & GUARDIAN
+VANGUARD
+D/INDEPENDENT
+234next
+The nation
+Daily trust
+Ghana Times
+7amnewsextra
| Newspapers |
| Evil Genius! |
| ADVERTISEMENT |
By Uche Igwe
African Examiner | Saturday, July 02, 2011
African Examiner | Saturday, July 02, 2011
Another look at the Niger Delta Amnesty Program
Get our News Update
fast, download African
Examiner Toolbar
Click here to
download Now!
fast, download African
Examiner Toolbar
Click here to
download Now!
| Home | Sports | Interview | Articles | Business | Letters | Social | Photo | Archives | Polls | Adverts | Entertainment | Contact us | About us | Terms |
| Copyrights © 2007 All Rights Reserved African Examiner Online is owned by RD Frontline LLC, a state of Maryland registered company P. O. Box 11582 Baltimore, MD, 21229, USA Tel: 443-904-1239. Editor-In-Chief: Oludare Sunday Fase |
| Home | Sports | Interview | Articles | Business | Letters | Social | Photo | Archives | Polls | Adverts | Entertainment | Contact us | About us | Terms |
Leave a Comment
Disclaimer: Comments posted on this site do not reflect the views of African
Examiner.com. Please avoid abusive, vulgar, racist or rude words. Any comment that
violates this term of use will be deleted and may be banned. Send report of any misuse
to editor@africanexaminer.com. Thanks
Disclaimer: Comments posted on this site do not reflect the views of African
Examiner.com. Please avoid abusive, vulgar, racist or rude words. Any comment that
violates this term of use will be deleted and may be banned. Send report of any misuse
to editor@africanexaminer.com. Thanks
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
_______________________________________________________________________
Entertainment
The sky was very cloudy that Thursday morning. I decided to go to Lagos after
postponing the journey for one week. It has become my habit to take an
amateurish look at the weather before heading towards the airport. I have a
phobia for flying and so making any journey in country is usually a big task for
me. I had arrived the airport with a disposition to spend five hours waiting- no
thanks to delays which is now part of the routine of air travels in Nigeria. As I sat
absentmindedly by the newspapers vendor, I dozed off. A kind of stampede woke
me up an hour later when a certain man arrived in the company of seven uniformed
men of the Nigerian police.
The rifle carrying policemen displayed as though he was one of the governors or at
least a minister. However his look did not in any way convey the slightest civility.
He had this dirty dark complexion that made me curious. I made a move to inquire
about who he was as he worked carelessly into the VIP lounge at the airport of
the Nigeria’s capital city Abuja. He is one of the ex militants- someone
whispered. I cannot recall his name but is sounded like one of the south western
states. While I stood wrapped in the wonder of the display, a co-passenger
explained to me that it was normal for them to move with an entourage. “This one
na small, if you go to some states in the Niger Delta you will hardly differentiate
the governors’ convoy from that of the militants because they have the same
number of exotic cars and they all live in government house” He murmured in a
very low tone.
The Niger Delta Amnesty has been successful more or less. At least since the
federal government granted the unconditional amnesty to the fiery former
combatants, there has been relative peace in the area. The incidences of
disruption of oil production have reduced considerably and crude oil production
figures have been quite impressive. Government revenue has improved and there
have been a drastic reduction in the incidences of kidnapping and insecurity in the
region- It is still there.
Many businesses that relocated due to security challenges have started returning
slowly. Night life is coming back in a city like Port Harcourt which was once
completely asleep at nightfall. Another indirect benefit of the amnesty is that the
just concluded elections were at least more peaceful than it would have been if
there was no amnesty. Many arms (may be not all) have been mopped up from
the region and so there were fewer “items” to use as instruments to cause
mayhem. For the first in many years, elections actually held in some states.
Some politicians campaigned and some voting took place. I monitored the
elections in some parts of Rivers State and I saw for myself. Before now the
militants will decide on behalf of the people. Politicians simply handed cash to
them and they took over all the polling stations with their boys and that was it.
Therefore there are many other reasons to justify the modest success of the
amnesty but a time has come to think beyond the first layer of success and begin
to imagine how long this will last. Granted,the deteriorating security situation in
the Niger Delta necessitated the urgency to which the amnesty program was
hastily put together in an adhoc fashion. There is now a need to comprehensively
review the program. Official figures indicate that more that fifteen thousand ex-
militants have been trained, where will they fit in terms of long term employment?
Is there a provision to get them a job in their area of training or will they be given
start-up capital to start their own businesses? Will some of them get scholarships
to go back to the Universities?
There is this thing about the allowances the ex-militants are collecting which is
fuelling discontent and now makes it seem like an incentive for militancy. So when
can we draw a line between militancy and criminality. This has become necessary
because no one call rule out the future possibility of a few rag tag individuals
invading the creeks in the name of niger delta agitation and start asking for
another amnesty. What are the incentives for other young people who have not yet
taken to militancy but who are also unemployed,desparate and vulnerable? When
will government make a statement that amnesty cannot be a cover for criminality
and lawlessness? Where do we draw the line? Is the Nigerian state covertly
encouraging the use of violence to register any form of discontent? Are we not
heading omniously into a vicous circle?
The Niger Delta agitation was anchored on the issues of marginalization,
environmental despoliation, and infrastructural decay and poverty amidst plenty.
As far as these conditions still persist, there can never be sustainable peace in
the Niger Delta region. The reports of the Niger Delta Technical (Ledum Mitee)
Committee must be gathering dust somewhere now. Part of the energy and
resources that government is spending to sustain the amnesty program
interminably can be redirected to pursue verifiable physical development in the
region. It is inexcusable that even at a time when we have a President from the
region; many of these promises still remain in the pipeline!
Uche Igwe is based at Africa Program at Johns Hopkins University (SAIS)
Washington DC. He is on ucheigwe@gmail.com
postponing the journey for one week. It has become my habit to take an
amateurish look at the weather before heading towards the airport. I have a
phobia for flying and so making any journey in country is usually a big task for
me. I had arrived the airport with a disposition to spend five hours waiting- no
thanks to delays which is now part of the routine of air travels in Nigeria. As I sat
absentmindedly by the newspapers vendor, I dozed off. A kind of stampede woke
me up an hour later when a certain man arrived in the company of seven uniformed
men of the Nigerian police.
The rifle carrying policemen displayed as though he was one of the governors or at
least a minister. However his look did not in any way convey the slightest civility.
He had this dirty dark complexion that made me curious. I made a move to inquire
about who he was as he worked carelessly into the VIP lounge at the airport of
the Nigeria’s capital city Abuja. He is one of the ex militants- someone
whispered. I cannot recall his name but is sounded like one of the south western
states. While I stood wrapped in the wonder of the display, a co-passenger
explained to me that it was normal for them to move with an entourage. “This one
na small, if you go to some states in the Niger Delta you will hardly differentiate
the governors’ convoy from that of the militants because they have the same
number of exotic cars and they all live in government house” He murmured in a
very low tone.
The Niger Delta Amnesty has been successful more or less. At least since the
federal government granted the unconditional amnesty to the fiery former
combatants, there has been relative peace in the area. The incidences of
disruption of oil production have reduced considerably and crude oil production
figures have been quite impressive. Government revenue has improved and there
have been a drastic reduction in the incidences of kidnapping and insecurity in the
region- It is still there.
Many businesses that relocated due to security challenges have started returning
slowly. Night life is coming back in a city like Port Harcourt which was once
completely asleep at nightfall. Another indirect benefit of the amnesty is that the
just concluded elections were at least more peaceful than it would have been if
there was no amnesty. Many arms (may be not all) have been mopped up from
the region and so there were fewer “items” to use as instruments to cause
mayhem. For the first in many years, elections actually held in some states.
Some politicians campaigned and some voting took place. I monitored the
elections in some parts of Rivers State and I saw for myself. Before now the
militants will decide on behalf of the people. Politicians simply handed cash to
them and they took over all the polling stations with their boys and that was it.
Therefore there are many other reasons to justify the modest success of the
amnesty but a time has come to think beyond the first layer of success and begin
to imagine how long this will last. Granted,the deteriorating security situation in
the Niger Delta necessitated the urgency to which the amnesty program was
hastily put together in an adhoc fashion. There is now a need to comprehensively
review the program. Official figures indicate that more that fifteen thousand ex-
militants have been trained, where will they fit in terms of long term employment?
Is there a provision to get them a job in their area of training or will they be given
start-up capital to start their own businesses? Will some of them get scholarships
to go back to the Universities?
There is this thing about the allowances the ex-militants are collecting which is
fuelling discontent and now makes it seem like an incentive for militancy. So when
can we draw a line between militancy and criminality. This has become necessary
because no one call rule out the future possibility of a few rag tag individuals
invading the creeks in the name of niger delta agitation and start asking for
another amnesty. What are the incentives for other young people who have not yet
taken to militancy but who are also unemployed,desparate and vulnerable? When
will government make a statement that amnesty cannot be a cover for criminality
and lawlessness? Where do we draw the line? Is the Nigerian state covertly
encouraging the use of violence to register any form of discontent? Are we not
heading omniously into a vicous circle?
The Niger Delta agitation was anchored on the issues of marginalization,
environmental despoliation, and infrastructural decay and poverty amidst plenty.
As far as these conditions still persist, there can never be sustainable peace in
the Niger Delta region. The reports of the Niger Delta Technical (Ledum Mitee)
Committee must be gathering dust somewhere now. Part of the energy and
resources that government is spending to sustain the amnesty program
interminably can be redirected to pursue verifiable physical development in the
region. It is inexcusable that even at a time when we have a President from the
region; many of these promises still remain in the pipeline!
Uche Igwe is based at Africa Program at Johns Hopkins University (SAIS)
Washington DC. He is on ucheigwe@gmail.com