Editorial: Unacceptable Sabotage by the Niger Delta Avengers

An inconvenient truth about Nigeria’s democratic experience since civilian rule returned in 1999 is that every new administration springs forth a new uprising from disenchanted groups. Such is the case of the Buhari administration with the recent attacks by militants; the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). No one is sure yet about the depth and extent of this new phase of Niger Delta insurgency, but the NDA, which includes the Isoko Liberation Movement and the Red Egbesu Water Lions, claim they are different from the ex-militants who operated under the umbrella of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) between 2006 and 2009. From their activities, rhetoric and statements on their website, there is no doubt the group is on a “vengeance mission.” Whatever their motives, the NDA must not be taken lightly, because their attacks have disrupted global oil supply, bringing down Nigeria’s daily oil production from 2.2 million bpd to about 1.4 million bpd. 

In halting grammar, rambling syntax and embarrassingly poor English, the avengers have used their online resources to articulate the basis of their discontent with the Buhari administration. They are angry over the continued marginalization of the Niger Delta, the unjust allocation of oil licenses to persons from non-oil producing areas, and hounding of officials of the Jonathan administration by the present regime. The NDA is also miffed about environmental pollution and scrapping of the Maritime University at Okerenkoko. Some have denounced the insurgency as a rally of miscreants, but the campaign has proven to be deadly with attacks on oil infrastructure despite the heavy military presence in the area. It is crystallizing into an all-out war against the nation’s economic lifeline. Shell has shut down its Forcados terminal. Chevron’s Escravos operation has been breached. ENI and Exxon Mobil have declared “force majeure,” even as Shell and Chevron move their staff out of the Niger Delta

Whilst, at face value, the wave of attacks on oil installations dotting the Niger Delta, may be construed as another activity of unscrupulous, politicians exploiting gullible disenchanted youths, the motivations for such uprising rest on the skewed nature of Nigeria. It is indeed unfortunate that after seven years of implementing an amnesty program, militants in the region are once again beating the drums of war. The government has responded with excessive force, forcing thousands to flee their homes. This escalation of violence is an unhealthy development at a time the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East remains a bad ulcer. The unity of Nigeria, for want of a better metaphor, now seems to be held at gunpoint.

While the attacks persist, a section of the Ijaw elite have either only dismissed the avengers in the fashion of the President, or like MEND, dissociated itself from the violence. The disorganized manner of the insurgency, the indecorous, offensive, and irreverent verbiage coming from their spokespersons makes a mockery of any claim to a legitimate cause, beyond the unresolved issues, including ending stipend payments to repentant militants last year. There have also been reports of callous neglect of overseas students on the ticket of Niger Delta Office in the presidency. Students on this platform have suffered humiliation from failure to pay fees and rents in different parts of the world. What is obvious is that privileges enjoyed by ex-militants were withdrawn without any constructive engagement with the beneficiaries most of whom do not have any alternative means of livelihood. It is therefore not surprising, that the cancer of militancy is relapsing.

This is a bad signal to other dissatisfied groups as every part of Nigeria has one thing or another to agitate for. If every aggrieved group were to resort to violence, the chaos the nation would face can only be imagined. It is for this reason that the NDA must be told in no unequivocal terms to channel their grievances without perpetrating acts that could be interpreted as an attempt to enthrone instability and render the country ungovernable. Whilst it is part of democracy that people should air their views, however jaundiced, they should, all the same, not translate grievances into violence and bloodshed. Those in the creeks, whose only political education comes from the misguided verbiage of clannish role models, should be cautious not to become cannon fodders for mischief-making. Just as it is true for the insurgents, the army should not be provoked into violence-inciting actions as the collective punishment of the Niger Delta people suggests.

Notwithstanding, it is difficult to resist the temptation of not viewing the insurgency as an event orchestrated by disgruntled elements, still in denial that former President Jonathan; one of their own was wrestled out of power after an electoral process widely perceived as a well-orchestrated ambush by Northerners and their Yoruba compradors. Although it may seem like angry Ijaw youths seeking avenues to vent, the deeper import of the NDA transcends its narrow-minded agenda. It is a living philosophy of justice that appears wherever and whenever oppression, impunity, injustice and structural violence rear their heads. What is going on is symbolic of the discontent experienced by many ethno-political interests for whom the Nigeria question remains unanswered. Nigeria is living a lie.

This NDA insurgency speaks volumes about the fact that the Niger Delta challenge is far from over. And it must be tackled urgently and sincerely in the national interest. Certainly, there has been no serious effort on the part of government to tackle the Niger Delta development crisis beyond palliatives, vague gestures and empty rhetoric. There are no good roads; the East-West Road has been abandoned; the water is polluted and electricity supply is still a luxury where it exists at all. Good schools, from primary to secondary, not to talk of tertiary institutions, are virtually non-existent. In other words, the people of the Niger Delta remain impoverished.

What is more, with all the monies already spent, there no landmark projects and monuments in the Niger Delta to the huge wealth derived from there. Indeed, all the agencies in the nation’s oil sector, including the NNPC headquarters are not even located in the Niger Delta. Why are the Petroleum Development Trust Fund (PTDF), Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF), and allied government oil and gas-related agencies and firms not located in the area to boost development and employment? Instead of staying in the region, managers of these oil firms daily fly over the numerous challenges in the area.

For too long, successive governments have allowed the problems in the Niger Delta to fester; and so unresolved matters about the aspirations of Nigeria’s bread basket have become an ongoing nightmare. To assume these challenges do not exist, or to gloss over them, is to play the ostrich. The government must integrate the region into the national development program. So far, all interventionist agencies, including the Ministry of Niger Delta, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Office of Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Amnesty Program, that were created to accelerate development in the area have not added much value to engender development in the area.

With the nightmare over the Boko Haram in the Northeast, the dire cost and consequences of the rumblings in the Niger Delta at the moment are just better imagined. Already, Nigerian oil production has been cut by almost one-third and there are risks of producing crude oil at a rate that is higher than the cost in the market. There will be no end to agitation and militancy if tokenism and quick-wins remain the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy in the region. Enough is enough of the tokenism and ad-hoc interventions in the Niger Delta; the people deserve better.