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Handshake Of Crooks, The President, Militants And The Niger Delta By Prince Charles Dickson Jos, Plateau Nigeria
The first thing I should maybe point out is that I am not an expert on Niger Delta affairs of politics, I habour disdain for the way our nation has played the politics of oil. And wish most a time that we did not have the resource, may be things would have been slightly different, but this is not to say I am ignorant of the facts of the issues involved.
In its oldest form the handshake signified the handing of power from a god to an early ruler. This is reflected in the Egyptian verb “to give” the hieroglyph for which is an extended hand.
Barely a year back, the phenomena called Alhaji Asari-Dokubo strolled into our national conscience and then he was extended a handshake by the President as gues t at Aso Rock. The President in handing power to the new ruler on the block told him” I like you and I don’t want trouble in my oil fields and disruption to my income…bla bla bla”. Whether the President who was said he was at liberty to which advice he took must have probably not even listened after he had talked. And so the militant was given transport allowance and contingency allowance and we convinced ourselves that was the end.
When some of us complained and noted that there was a dangerous trend evolving the Fani Kayodes and Remi Oyo stood by their oga and asked us what do we know? But soon we knew it was a handshake of crooks, the Niger Delta warrior said that much when he was treated to the other side of Mr. President, he told us something that was not entirely new that the President was Mr. Blackmail and ruled by it. Tafa Balogun proved same and got six months for tagging along, now the militants, terrorists, MEND or bend whatever the name they go by decided to take the government at their terms and boy did they prove a point…YES! They did prove a big one that what is good for the geese can be…
The perfect handshake, after the ha ndshake and plenty hugs, Atiku can tell better, after the handshake and a plate of pounded yam Audu Ogbeh is a living witness. When Alams could have easily been denied nomination as Bayelsa PDP guber candidate, an Oby handshake saw him through, but a dehydrated Alams I saw recently will tell you all that handshake Ijaw people call it ‘leave matter’. A handshake accompanied with a world press conference, unhindered access to Aso Rock and Marwa saw himself as heir apparent, next minute, Baba Iyabo denied him more than three times, all those that have shook the President’s hand have their bitter tales.
The handshake-if a villager met a man he did not recognize and reacted by reaching for his dagger. The stranger did likewise and they cautiously circled each other. When it was decided that the meeting would not be a fight to death, daggers were reinserted and the weapon hands were extended as a token of goodwill. In the President’s case he has done the very opposite with both friends and enemies after a handshake, he has always accompanied with a stab both to the front and back. So we now have militants and terrorists in our backyard, giving ultimatums…may it soon not be suicide bombers with suicide victims because Nigerians love life…they would blow up the place without need for a suicide.
Now we are no different from terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan Palestine and Israel. We now have well armed youths that are better equipped, have better arms that have uniforms, motorized boats to tackle the terrain and the government is somewhere in Abuja speaking grammar. We have a militia that is willing to take on the Nigerian Army. Much as that sounds like idle talk, for days before the release of the hostages the army was there with ‘operation restore hope’ but top military brass were not even sure where the hostages were being held, and those who knew among them had to obey status quo.
These are the same boys, the Odilis, Iboris, even Obasanjo and co used in rigging elections and the same militia that aided in the carrying of ballot boxes for the moon and sun slide victories of the 2003 election. These boys were used in eliminating political foes, we breed these boys by our own hands, the situation in their part of the country is fast deteriorating due to socio-economic and political abuse just like the entire nation by a leadership that care less about what happens to its citizens.
At this point let me again say I am not an expert on these matters but I am not foolish to be a participant in the handshake of crooks in the Niger Delta. We have nurtured restive youths everywhere from the Niger Delta to the Arewa Delta and Ohaneze Delta, the Afenifere Delta is not faring any better. Our President opened his mouth to say he was discussing with the militants after alleging they were terrorists and the Police is threatening a strike and the same President is unperturbed. There is tension in the air and we sit fooling ourselves, like now the hostages have been released so what next…return to status quo.
The truth is that whether we are told or not the compromise reached between government and these boys. Call them militia, terrorists, restive youths or whatever, it is simply a handshake of crooks because daggers are still very visible, because we have encouraged a culture of crime through our pedigree of leadership and politics.
It is a good thin g the situation in the Niger Delta is getting out of hand, because truly 90% of government’s external earnings come from their crude oil. These people- I mean the real, ordinary, common Niger Delta man and woman just like his other counter part elsewhere in the nation live in squalor under the illusion of the riches of the political class, the tie wearing, office going and sitting NNDC official that is ripping the system apart. I suggest we have militants in every street in Nigeria, then probably the government would wake up. Because we have a government that has lost every sense of shame and embarrassment, it has scored a lot of firsts for all the wrong reasons and has not learnt humility instead through its spokesperson it continues to be a chatter box of folly.
When all they need do is to establish a strong linkage between the agrarian sector of the economy and industrialization that can be utilized in effecting a true mix of the economy.
The government cannot feign ignorance, the oil companies are also not naïve. They have for long been doing the handshake business with most of these militant and rights movement groups, with beneficiaries well spread across all parties, what no one foresaw was a dirty situation, which need I say this is just the beginning.
Speaking on National Television the Bayelsa State Governor Goodluck Jonathan said the groups number well above 25 or so, this says a lot about the problem on our hands…the hostages have gone free this time, next time it may not be this funny. We need to find a long lasting and workable solution to these problems.
Gone are the days we could generalize that these militia groups are all dropouts and touts. Most of them are the best brains around, they are young ‘brilliant’ persons that the system has refused to make provision for and they are helping themselves…lets not test their resolve, be them in the Niger Delta, Middle Belt, Arewa or anywhere for that matter. This attitu de of folding our hands and living in the falsehood that ‘nothing dey happen’ will son boomerang.
Even if we give the entire oil earnings back to the Niger Delta area, it won’t solve the problem, this goes beyond resource control. At least we have seen how much control the leaders there have over their greed when the people are battling depravation on large social, economic and moral grounds. The problem demands dialogue between all the parties involved at a ‘nothing but the truth’ level.
We have seen the looting of most Governors…from South-South to North-North. The Solomon of our time in Bayelsa and the Joshua of his time in Plateau were billions have developed wings. In Bayelsa teachers are on strike over unpaid salaries. For all the billions in the name of tourism and the charade in Rivers, We know better, how well the leaders of the Niger Delta managed their huge resources to the envy of other regions of the nation. Huge potential is one thing, harnessing it positively is another?
The truth is bitter, when one engages the services of the Devil; we should be rest assured that the Devil will come along with a workshop full of willing hands and tools that will shake for any price. Do we really see the future; a nation that learns in a slow motion but forgets very quickly cannot be so sure of the direction she is going. May Almighty Allah help us help ourselves
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