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The Minister for Energy and the Ticking Time Bomb By Mr. Sabella Ogbobode Abidde
ThisDay Newspaper (03.12.2007) is reporting that the “Minister for Energy, Dr. Edmund Daukoru has warned that the Niger Delta was sitting on a time bomb with their present attitude of youths refusing to position themselves technically to reap from investments in the oil and gas sector but instead, choose to resort to violence.” Sadly and painfully, Daukoru got it wrong. He missed the point. Therefore, his warning is of no consequence.
According to him, the youths of the Niger Delta have refused to “position themselves technically to reap from investments in the oil and gas sector.” That is a lie, a flagrant lie! Unlike his children and immediate family members who are all well-off, well-fed, well-clothed and well-educated, the vast majority of the youths in the Niger Delta do not have access to quality education and access to the corridor of power. Without the requisite education in science and technology, business and the law, how could they take advantage of the opportunities he speaks of? The incontrovertible fact is that he training, the opportunity and a level playing field have simply not been made available to them.
Furthermore, Edmund Daukoru “regretted that instead of the youths from the region to acquire skilled labour to enable them gain from opportunities the local content policy and investments in the oil and gas sector were opening, they were busy destroying the legacies built for them.” How untrue and misleading. His statement is to be regarded with suspicion. First, where are the schools from which these youths are suppose to obtain the required skills and training; secondly, what legacies is he talking about? My goodness, what power and money can do to people’s reasoning?
Daukoru spoke like a man who is unfamiliar with that part of the country. Legacies? What legacies? The legacy of successive governments has been exploitation, repression, ecological disasters, health problems, social imbalances and a myriad of energy-sapping problems. He knows there are no opportunities for the common man in the Niger Delta. To argue otherwise is to be disingenuous and mischievous. In this regard, Daukoru is becoming a master of the game.
I concur with the Minister of Energy when he said “those who are acquiring skilled labour were people from outside the region.” Yes, on this point he is correct. You acquire specialized skills if the opportunities are given or presented to you. Sadly, these opportunities are not present; and even when they are, they are not willingly given to youths from the Delta -- unless of course you are a, or related to a Daukoru, Ebizimo, Etete, Alaibe, Isoun, Jonathan Goodluck and other members of the corrupt and or indifferent oligarchy.
Statistically, more than 98% of those who benefit from oil company scholarships and overseas technical training are not from the region; more than 98% of those who carry out their NYSC commitment in the oil sector are not from the region; more than 98% of those employed by the oil companies and the energy ministry are not from the region; more than 98% of students receive federal aids to go overseas for oil related business and training are not from the region; more than 98% of those who own oil wells are not from the region; more than 98% of those with licenses to drill and explore for oil are not from the region; more than 98% of those who gets contacts from Edmund Daukoru himself are not from the region. The minister and his ministry have done less than 2% of what they are supposed to do for the region -- hence some of the reasons why more than 98% of Niger Deltans live in miserable poverty.
There is a tendency for some people and some establishments to blame Niger Delta youths for the ongoing impasse. That is wrong. The blame is not with the youths, but with the government (state and federal) that refuses to provide quality primary and secondary school education; for refusing to lay necessary foundation capable of propelling young minds to aspire to greater heights. One must also categorically state that the fault does not lie with the government alone. Ijaw elites like Daukoru who has and have had political power, western education and financial wealth -- wealth beyond the imagination of the ordinary Deltans -- has consistently refused to elevate the poor and the weak in the society. When there is a rising tide, they and their immediate family alone ride the boat. They leave the vast majority of the people to sink in misery, and then turn around to blame the victims.
The elites in the Niger Delta -- especially those from the Ijaw ethnic group -- have been part of the problem. Yes, a few have lived their lives in the service of their communities; a few have done all they can for the betterment of their communities; and a few continues to fight for the rights and privileges of their communities. These are heroes and heroines. Nevertheless, the majority of the members of this group have been a hindrance to the progress and wellbeing of their communities. The Ijaw currently have no less than three Ministers. In addition, there are hundreds of commissioners, governors and advisers, and state and federal legislators. What have they all done to advance the cause of their group? What have they done for the people other than steal, misappropriate funds and power and engage in gratuitous and licentious behavior? How useful is Daukoru himself?
Doukoru has lost his bearing, his scruples and his gumption. But of course, it is easy for a man in his position to get lost and get drunk and be either unaware of the facts on the ground, or be so smitten by his proximity to power that his intellect gets clouded. In all his years in the Obasanjo government, what has he done to alleviate the suffering and poverty of his hometown and surrounding villages? In his official capacity, what has he done for the people of the Niger Delta? But more than that, what program has he and his ministry put in place to benefit the vast majority of his homeland? What difference has he made in the estate of the commoners?
It is wrong and injurious for Edmund Daukoru to blame the victims. It is wrong for him to blame the oppressed. If he has no ideas and solutions, he should say so and be silent about it. If he were an admirable and serious minded person, he would have spent quality time exploring how the Niger Delta crisis could be resolved to the benefit and satisfaction of the aggrieved. In this case, the aggrieved are the citizens of the Niger Delta. They deserve justice and evenhandedness; not blame, ridicule, threat and pity.
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