Militancy, Amnesty, and National Security
MAX GBANITE
Sunday, November 1, 2009
On
October 4th, 2009, the amnesty initially demanded by the operating
terror groups known as Niger Delta militants (later accepted and approved by the
Federal Government of Nigeria led by His Excellency President Umaru Yar’Adua)
reached its deadline. The choice of ‘amnesty’ rather than a ‘Presidential
pardon’ came as a surprise to many because the former is a tacit admittance that
the nation was at war and, if that was the case, then a second civil war was
fought without the citizens being fully engaged. Moreover, the pernicious
activities caused the nation by what late Lt. Gen. Luka Yusuf, former Chief of
Army Staff, called “misguided youths” and others called “armed criminals and
terrorists camouflaged as militant” became a catalyst for serious engagement by
the government.
Therefore, it is commendable on the part of President Yar’Adua for having the wisdom to initiate a workable program that at least brought to an end the carnage wrought on the nation’s economy by the terrorist-actions of these young Turks on the oil pipelines, which is estimated by International Crude Oil sales monitors to have cost the nation about $92 billion between 2003 and 2008, averaging $18 billion per year. President Umaru Yar’Adua may be slow in actions and also sickly by his own admission, but he did achieve within two years in office what Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a healthy and sexually rambunctious man, could not in his eight years of governance. Imagine what the Yar’Adua could achieve for the nation if his health were half as good as that of the Obasanjo. May God be praised!
It is imperative to mention unequivocally that these so-called militants were initially unemployed youths, conscripted and converted into political-party thugs by the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Ironically, this was done to rig the elections and intimidate the opposition parties in 1999 and 2003. Unfortunately for many of these young men, the PDP governors from the South-South zone of the Niger Delta area -- having comfortably secured their second term after 2003 elections -- stopped paying ‘zakat’ to these thugs, thus rendering them financially impotent. The smart ones among them found new opportunities, handed down to them by the failures of successive governments and multinational oil companies to address the inhumane conditions and environmental degradation of the area, which truly is a national shame and tragedy.
In 1963 and in recognition of national security imperatives, the late Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, accompanied by late Chief Dappa Biriye -- a great Nigerian, and after visiting the Niger Delta region, proclaimed the region a national disaster waiting to happen. He immediately asked the three existing regions (East, West, and North) to contribute 10 percent of their earnings towards the development of Niger Delta. Tafawa Balewa also inaugurated what was known then as the Niger Delta Development Corporation (NDDC) to handle the development of the region. Unfortunately, his death -- followed by the civil war and the incessant military interregnum -- never allowed the wisdom of the prime minister to actualize.
The multinational oil companies failed to live by the internationally established rules of engagement, but greater blame must be awarded to a government that failed to articulate environmentally safe policies that should serve as infrastructural guidelines for the oil explorers to adhere and ultimately guard against environmental degradation, while empowering the indigenes and other Nigerians resident in the area.
During the governance of General Ibrahim Babangida, his administration established Oil Minerals Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC), backed by a policy to earmark 3% of oil revenues to the agency towards community and infrastructural development. This figure was later increased by the late General Sani Abacha to 8%. Chief Obasanjo abducted the program, renamed it Niger Delta Development Commission, as if he was the progenitor, and increased the funding to 13%.
The greatest tragedy and injustice visited upon the unsuspecting indigenes of Niger Delta by their leaders is that, despite these huge sums of money, in addition to the regular monthly allocations given to both the local as well as the state governments which amounted to trillions of naira in the past 10 years of democracy, a visit to the region leaves the visitor in shock and awe. One could not help but wonder what the leaders did with the allocated monies.
It is also a fact that Niger Delta states collectively receive more than half of the national budget and more of the excess crude funds than other states of the federation. In addition, they have the government-funded NDDC, the vice-presidential slot, ministry of Niger Delta (the only region/zone to have such), and many other juicy federal appointments; yet, they are only 18 million people out of a population of 150 million. While all that is good and well, the big question is: Has it transformed into human capital development of the region? Has it changed the lives of Nigerians from, or living in, the region for better?
If I were a militant, I will use all necessary means at my disposal to ask all former and present governors, legislators (both state and federal), and local government chairmen and counselors sane questions about what happened to federal allocated funds and various constituency development funds. As a matter of fairness, youths or militant groups from every part of Nigeria must rise up and ask these questions. They must use whatever means necessary to get answers; after all, their future and that of unborn generations is being trampled upon. Besides, “all is fair in asking sane question by any means necessary.”
The youths of Niger Delta should be commended for not violently going after the families of their former governors, ministers, local government chairmen, and national assembly representatives, who squandered their federal allocations and constituency project funds. Instead, they accepted to drop their arms and embrace the amnesty. They finally realized that while they were dying in the creeks, their so-called leaders who misguided them in the first place and urged them to continue the struggle, were making financial killings from the federal government and the oil companies at the expense of the youths.
At the height of hostilities, the group led by Mr. Government Ekpemupolo (aka TomPolo) allegedly ambushed and murdered 18 innocent soldiers, who were dutifully serving their nation and whose only crime was to patrol and preserve peace in the area known as Gbaramatu kingdom. The retaliatory action by the military had a devastating impact on Gbaramatu vicinage, to the extent that these so-called leaders condemned the military, forgetting that 18 soldiers were ruthlessly murdered in cold blood; their bodies and graves are yet to be found.
Astonishingly, the Clapperton Accord led by Admiral Mike Akhigbe, former Chief of General Staff and number two to Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar, placed an advertorial on Thisday Newspaper, June 18 2009, with a clear warning against militarization of Niger Delta: “…[W]e oppose militarization of Niger Delta.” In the Sun Newspaper of June 13, 2009, General Aprezi (rtd.) a former Chief of Operations and ECOMOG and Force Commander for the African Union (now UN forces), “warned the government to desist from bombing forthwith or be ready to bear the consequences.” He continued, “…[S]ome of us are from the Niger Delta and our people look up to us for protection especially when they know that we served in the military.” Chief Edwin Clark was in every newspaper, radio, and television canvassing and urging the Niger Delta youths to continue with hostilities while condemning the actions of the military and the Federal Government. It is instructive to note that these men benefited greatly and became stupendously rich from Nigeria; but, today, they have recoiled into a cocoon of Niger Delta or, at best, what my friend referred to as “elder-militant combatants”! What a shame.
My late father once told me that, “you do not wage war against God and Government, because they both wield enormous and devastating powers.” His assertion was correct, because those who take up arms and wage war against the federal government, especially, communities that slaughtered serving Police men and Soldiers of the nation without provocations, as in the case of Odi, Zaki Biam, and of late Gbaramatu Kingdom, must have forgotten what happened in Ibo-land (south east) during the civil war.
During that avoidable civil war, the following unforgettable incidents were recorded by The New York Times war correspondent:
Saturday, April 27, 1968; close to 300 civilians in Biafra have been killed and hundreds wounded in raids by Nigerian Air force in the last 6 days; More than 100 died last Thursday when Egyptian piloted aircraft attacked Umuahia;….three days earlier, 120 civilians were killed at Aba; …a third raid took the lives of 64 civilians, most of whom were filing out of church on Sunday, April 21 at Owerri.
February 20, 1969, at 10.11 am …. a Nigerian Ilyushin Jet bomber swooped in low, firing its machine guns. There was no warning and no time to dive into nearby shelters. The 51-year-old Mrs. Nkemena made it halfway out the door when the first of two 200 pounds bomb struck. Her body was found in the court yard of her house; twelve other homes and the clinic were demolished. At first count, there were eight dead and a dozen wounded. The bodies of a pregnant woman and her baby, strapped to her back, lay in the street behind the clinic, ….Rev. John Ryan, an Irish missionary who has lived here for 12 years cursed ‘Genocide, it’s genocide’…it was the 21st air raid on Umuahia in 11 months.
February 7, 1969, Associated Press wrote; a crowded market, Umuohiagu was bombed and straffed at noon today by Nigerian war planes…300 civilians dead;….before then, Otuocha Market on September 8, 1968 was bombed killing another 500 market women and children;…a hundred yards away, Rosanna Amadi, a 19-year-old nurse who ran a clinic for malnourished children was mourning the death of 50 children dead.
September 7, 1968, Col. Benjamin Adekunle, commander of Nigeria’s 3rd Marine commando division, boasts that he is the ‘MacArthur’ of the Nigerian Army. He tells journalists that “Red Cross relief is ‘humanitarian hogwash’… “I want to see no Red Cross, no Caritas, and no World Council of Churches, no Pope, no Missionaries, and no UN delegations. I want to prevent even one I[g]bo having even one thing to eat before their capitulation….we shoot at everything that moves, then we shoot at everything and even things that don’t move.”
August 16 1968, Agency France Presse reported that 2000 Igbo civilians from Owaza and 300 from Uzuaku villages were massacred by Nigerian troops.
July 2, 1969, The New York Times editorial confirms Chief Awolowo’s assertion that starvation of Biafran children is a necessary part of war…Lagos says it will continue to permit relief shipment into Biafra, but it knows full well that the stringent conditions it has imposed would block effective assistance indefinitely. It would be more honest to say what Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the ranking civilian in the federal government, said last week; “All is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons.”
(Source: The Untold S=story of Nigerian-Biafran War: A chronological reconstruction of the events and circumstances of the Nigerian Civil War by Dr. Luke Aneke).
The above chronicled calamities were just a miniscule of what happened daily in every corner of the Southeast. Yes, it did happen in this country, so those who think that Odi, Zaki-Biam, and Gbaramatu or the deaths of Ogoni-9 were the first should kindly have a rethink. Those so-called elders and leaders who misguide their youths into carrying arms against the federal government and whose self interests are above those of their communities and the nation must have a rethink. They should use peaceful options to negotiate crisis with governments, so that their respective communities are not placed in harm’s way.
It is important to remind militants everywhere in Nigeria, who may be planning to take up arms against the federal government in future, to bear in mind that what happened in the Northeast zone against Boko Haram can also happen to them. The swiftness and ferocity with which the government crushed the sect; not because of their religious beliefs but because they waged war against innocent Nigerians and the police, are reminiscent of what happened to Maitasine sect in the 1980s during the presidency of Shehu Shagari. Up till date, no humanitarian agency has come to help the survivors of Boko Haram, mostly women and children who were lucky to be alive. Likewise, no government of Niger Delta or oil-producing states has so far donated rehabilitation materials to the women and children who suffered most during the clashes or even the militant-youths from these states who surrendered their weapons. Everything is left to the federal government.
The Federal Government, if and when provoked, still has the right to relocate any kingdom or community, including traditional rulers to another uninhabited space and with adequate compensation, all in the interest of national development and security. If in doubt, check the history of deposed emirs, late King Jaja of Opobo, or Gwari ethnic groups that once owned and inhabited what is today called Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. This action is called the land use decree, signed into law in 1976 by the then head of state, General Olusegun Obasanjo.
The people of Southeast, though rehabilitated and reconciled after the civil war, are yet to be reconstructed. Niger Bridge is still a very dangerous place to ply. All federal roads in the southeast are in disrepair. There is virtually no federal presence. The Nigerian Coal Corporation mines are now mined by rats and lizards. The Oji River power station is a fish hole. The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, including the teaching hospital, is nothing but mere consulting agencies. The only booming industries are kidnapping, armed robbery, bombing of Awka, election rigging, and all forms of vices -- all sponsored by agents of the ruling party, PDP. Our representatives in the National Assembly are pussyfooting while enriching themselves.
Yet, those of us old enough still remember hearing on the radio then head of state General Yakubu Gowon’s voice, on January 13, 1970, saying, “We have reached the end of a tragic and painful conflict… Thirty months ago, we were obliged to take up arms against our brothers who were deceived and misled into armed rebellion against their fatherland…. We reiterate our promise of general amnesty for all those misled into the futile attempt to disintegrate the country.”
After accepting the amnesty and going through demobilization and disarmament procedures, the Igbo were given a shocking rehabilitation. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, as Gowon’s de facto vice president, enunciated the greatest “419” perpetrated against Ndiigbo. He recommended and adopted the following policies: First, any Igbo who had monies deposited in any Nigerian bank before the war started should be given 20 pounds to start life again, but should consider his deposited monies, no matter the amount, as forfeiture to the federal government; those without deposits should look up to the Red Cross and the then government of Dr. Ukpabi Asika for rehabilitation. Secondly, he embarked on an immediate privatization of all companies owned jointly by the British and federal governments like UAC, SCOA, Banks, etc., giving advantage to his Yoruba ethnic group to acquire them; today, they own all those companies lock, stock, and barrel.
What a remarkable difference compared to the amnesty packages being given now to Niger Delta militants. Nevertheless, as the sun rises from the east, the easterners have continued to do the same: rise each day and work for peace and progress. If the federal government had done its due diligence in enforcing the 3Rs (Rehabilitation, Reconciliation, and Reconstruction), as professed by Gowon, perhaps the nuisance known today as ‘MOSSOB’ would not rear its head. I say this with measured calculation because it is imperative that Niger Delta matter be seen as a national security issue, not just an attempt to placate the people.
The greatest challenge for the federal government in implementing the much needed rapid infrastructural and developmental changes in Niger Delta lies on whom to trust with the management of the N200 billion (naira) recently appropriated and the projected ten percent from accrued future oil revenue to the various communities. Will the funds be given to: the barracuda governors; the piranha local government chairmen; the voodoo practicing, money burning NDDC people, or the newly created visionless elders of Niger Delta ministry?
The good lesson learned from the Niger Delta spectrum, I hope, is that as a nation and in the overall interest of our national security, we must start now as a matter of urgency to diversify our economy by developing other great mineral reserves like gold, bauxites, urea, sapphire, manganese, barites, diamond-pearls, iron ore, tin ore, lead, fisheries, agriculture, tourism, and human capacity development to manage the resources. We must develop our great gas reserves, while depending less on oil exploration.
The military Joint Task Force (JTF) should be converted to a well disciplined and professionally trained brigade-strength tactical force akin to SAS, US-Army ranger/green beret units. The various camps used by former militants must be converted into different naval tactical formations. There is a need to create a new Marine Mobile Police Force, with tactical air support command, professionally trained, equipped to navigate the creeks and our inland waterways, that can be rapidly deployed to provide security for Nigerians living in Niger Delta and along the inland waterway routes. In-short, a very strong and capable military formation must be maintained in the Niger Delta, especially in the creeks, as it is everywhere within the country.
This will reduce future attacks or sabotages of oil and gas platforms and pipelines, monitor the activities of smugglers and sea pirates, checkmate the illegal entry of sea ways by foreign oil bunkerers, enable the government to monitor activities, and patrol the 800-mile coastal lines. If the federal government fails to actuate these lines of action, we as a nation will suffer the backlash, and the next generation will be endangered.
President Umaru Yar’Adua must assure Nigerians, in the words of Nelson Mandela, that “he will work to support courage where there is fear, foster agreement where there is conflict and inspire hope where there is despair.”
Therefore, in the interest of national security, the federal government, in collaboration with states and local governments, must as a matter of urgency begin to implement whatever promises made to Nigerians. A child in Niger Delta and elsewhere in Nigeria deserves the right to drink unpolluted water, the right to good, free primary and secondary education, the right to a habitable humane environment, the right to electricity -- which also powers the industries that will create jobs, the right to gainful employment with or without a university education, the right to a blissful childhood, to grow old, and be useful to the nation, the right to chose, vote, and elect his/her political representatives in an election without duress and attendant rigging of ballot boxes, the right to proper medical care, affordable housing, and good road-networks, the right to a secured environment and security to life without fear of being kidnapped, the right to feed three times a day, the right to dream to serve this nation and, above all, the right to live as a Nigerian citizen, no matter where he resides or where he/she hails from.
This is a great burden on President Musa Yar’Adua, his government, and his ruling party (PDP), and other viable political parties. Any attempt to derail from these articulated objectives could reactivate recidivism ideology for militancy, leading to unending amnesty and potentates, a clear and present danger for the national security of the country.