Tunde Fagbenle on "Saying it The way it is" of Sunday, December 28, 2014, wrote on the dangerous proliferation of heavy armaments and fire delivery platforms in the Niger Delta and Nigeria's entire coastal creeks.
Quoting certain named and unnamed sources, he made reference to "the intense frustrations of the oil producing companies by the South-southerners, nouveau-riche to hand over the onshore production bases to them by forced sale or outright disruption of their operations. As we chat here, 70% of the onshore operations have been sold off by the major players like Shell, Mobil, etc.
“As well as the training of ex-militants as pilots under amnesty. (?) The South-East are tagging along with the South-South, for obvious reasons and I don’t blame them! . ."
** THE SOUTH-EAST ARE TAGGING ALONG WITH THE SOUTH-SOUTH, FOR OBVIOUS REASONS . . ! **
It has to be pointed out that the oil-producing states (often synonymous with the Niger Delta states) won the (civil or Nigeria-Biafra) war on the same side with the rest of Nigeria, but then proceeded to SNATCH DEFEAT OUT OF THE JAWS OF VICTORY. That was the seed of the current instability. A few people like Gen Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, two time governor of defunct Bendel State probably understands this, whereas the more ebullient Chief E K Clark certainly does not. Having a son in Aso Rock has nothing to do with it, being more of a side show. Justice could and should have been done to the Niger Delta decades ago without the need for an Ijaw speaking president or the current insurrection.
The abandonment of the derivation law for revenue proceeds from minerals that held sway up till 1966 was the height of perfidy. The miracle was that it took the whole of thirty years for the Niger Deltans to even notice that something was amiss. The elite from the region were too busy helping themselves from the commonwealth to raise a whimper in protest. It would have been a different matter altogether and quite understandable if only the core Igbo land (the then East Central State) was deprived of revenue as war reparation.
ARMING THE NIGER DELTA IN CASE JONATHAN LOSES
The scenario painted by the revelations and deductions in Fagbenle's article implies a well thought out plan by the Niger Deltans to redress the injustices of the past in their own way. What this means is that the spirit of Kaiama is very much alive. It was not snuffed out after all at Odi.
Now, what have the marginalised and dispossessed people of the South-East got to do with this development? Absolutely nothing, I insist. There is no residual arrangement from what is now known as Nigeria that the Igboman cannot adapt to. A trip to Juba, South Sudan will put any lingering doubt about that to rest.
Hence I strongly resent the insinuation that Ndigbo are somehow conniving with the Niger Delta or South-South to bring about the implosion of 2015 predicted by the prophet of doom Ambassador Campbell. This is definitely not in our nature. If forty years after the civil war the Niger Deltans decide to see the light, Ndigbo did not light the lamp for them. Like everybody else, Ndigbo are watching with deep concern. More than anybody else, Ndigbo need peace in order to thrive.
Following the publication of Chinua Achebe's There was a Country, I was intrigued to read reviews by up and coming youngsters from the Niger Delta like Ken Saro-Wiwa (Jr), Noor Saro-Wiwa and Tombari Sibe. The later stressed that he was not even born during our season of thunders but his conclusions were insightful. I discovered that these lads have minds of their own and have taken an independent reading of that period of Nigeria's history. They shared some similarities with the recent positions taken by Dele Sobowale and Akin Osuntokun. I am afraid that the way things are going, the typical dyed-in-the-wool Igbo apologist is bound to be out of a job soon. The stars are definitely aligning.
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