An “Oputa Panel” for the Niger Delta
Crisis.
“Where you have injustice, you will
have rebellion”(Mallam Nuhu Ribadu,
former Chairman EFCC, 29th
May 2009.)
My sympathies go to the relations,
families, friends and well wishers
of those who have lost their lives
in the Niger Delta crisis. These
include both the solders and the
indigenes of the Niger Delta area.
The writer has once lost someone
close to this crisis. My heart is
bleeding as am writing this article.
My heart bleeds because of the
senseless killing of Nigerians by
fellow Nigerians over an issue that
can be settled using an honest
approach and dialogue. War has never
solved any problem in the world.
Dialogue is the only solution.
I totally disagree with the backing
given by the House of
Representatives for continuation of
military operation in the Niger
Delta. Besides the president needs
the approval of the National
Assembly before deploying solders.
The House of Representatives should
draw lessons from what happened in
Odi and Zaki Ibiam where the
Nigerian military reduced the entire
community to mere rubble. About 2000
people died. Many more were
displaced. Thousands are yet to
recover from the military attacks.
“War never leaves a nation where it
found it, the same goes for the
individual” Edmund Burke. The Niger
Delta crisis is equivalent to a war.
Like in all wars, you only know how
the crisis will start but definitely
not the course it will assume or how
it would end. Therefore there should
be immediate ceasefire on both sides
and let genuine dialogue begin.
I want to join voices with other
Nigerians who have called for an end
to hostilities. As a way forward
towards making peace. I want the
federal government to immediately
set up a truth and reconciliation
commission for the Niger Delta
crisis. The purpose will be for the
federal government, Niger Delta
state governments, Local government
councils, communities, traditional
rulers, village heads, all the youth
groups in the Niger Delta, and
various stake holders in the oil
industry to come out and tell
Nigerians how much they have
committed towards improving the
development of these regions.
Nigerians deserve to know what has
really happened in terms of previous
government development plans in the
region. Nigerians deserve to know
who is to be blamed. Am sure this
crisis is not far from the
environmental degradation suffered
by this region which various stake
holders claim to be addressing.
Therefore the world wants to know
the truth.
Nigeria has lost so much from this
crisis. Many Nigerians are directly
and indirectly affected by this
crisis. This is a threat to our
national security. This crisis has
an impact on the international oil
market prices. Whenever there is a
crisis in the region, the price of
crude oil goes up. Nigerians will
then pay higher for their petroleum
products since the federal
government imports its refined
petroleum products from abroad. The
entire world is watching how Nigeria
will solve this problem. So setting
up a truth and reconciliation
commission might be the answer. This
is in addition to the amnesty which
the federal government claims she
has offered.
The terms of reference of the
proposed truth and reconciliation
commission should be to investigate
the Niger Delta crisis, to find what
happened to various royalties paid
by the oil companies, to find out
the causes of oil company-community
conflicts, to find out the role of
the oil companies in the crisis, to
find out what happened to federal
government agencies like the Oil
Mineral Producing Area Development
Commission (OMPADEC), Niger Delta
Development Commission (NDDC), to
find out means of achieving lasting
peace, to find out what the Niger
Delta ministry will do, to find out
the militarization of the region and
the emergence of small arms etc.
Am sure the Niger Delta crisis
claims about 1000
fatalities/casualties yearly. If
this crisis continues, there might
be total break down in our oil
production. Nigeria depends on this
oil as her major source of foreign
exchange. A total break down will
almost be like a disaster to
Nigeria. A truth and reconciliation
commission should be able to reveal
the truth about the whole crisis. As
would be expected there has been the
criminal elements in this crisis.
The criminal elements of this crisis
are also because the government has
not addressed the crisis properly.
But an honesty approach by the
federal government to address the
issues of the Niger Delta will
tackle the criminal elements.
The financial costs of this crisis
to both the federal government and
Nigerians should run into billions
of dollars. Nigerians and the
Nigeria government can no longer
afford to continue loosing this kind
of money. This is made worst was by
the present global financial
meltdown. Already Nigerian oil
production has fallen from a
capacity of more than 2.7 million
barrels per day to about 1.6
million(less than Angola).
This truth and reconciliation
commission should revisit the issue
of resource control. Am aware that
this conflict cannot be resolved
without revisiting the resource
control issue. The Oputa panel was
very useful to Nigerians. It helped
to reveal what transpired in
Nigeria. In South Africa truth and
reconciliation was used to reveal
the human rights abuses that
happened during the apartheid era.
It was also a means of healing the
wounds of the past with a view to
reconciling every one for future
developments. In Northern Ireland,
truth and reconciliation was used to
know the truths in order to heal
their violent past. In Chile, truth
and reconciliation commission has
also been used to establish the
human right abuses with a view to
reconciling Chileans.
A truth and reconciliation
commission solely designed for Niger
Delta crisis will be a necessary
exercise to enable the people of
Niger Delta, Nigerians and entire
world to come to terms with the
causes and solution to this crisis.
It will form a morally accepted
basis to advance the cause of
reconciliation. It’s also needed at
this point in time especially
because a court in New York has
decided to hear a case against
Shell. Shell Oil Company has been
accused of collaborating with
Nigerian authorities to execute Ken
Saro Wiwa and eight other Ogoni
people. The case has started in New
York. Truth and reconciliation is
needed to make peace in the Niger
Delta.
Finally, if the federal government
hesitates or declines to constitute
this commission, the civil society
groups, non governmental
organizations (NGO’s), human right
groups, etc should set up this
commission and invite various stake
holders. This is in consonance with
the views of Professor Wole Soyinka
when he outlined the powers of the
civil society groups, and
individuals at a public symposium in
London on the state of the Nigerian
Nation. This symposium was held on
29th May 2009, at the
London Metropolitan University. We
need peace and reconciliation. May
God bless Nigeria.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support
Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/
