Military Move In More Warships, Deploy 3,400 Troops
Clark-led Group Fails To Extract Deal From Buhari
Amidst high hopes of a final solution to the Niger Delta crisis following the meeting between the federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari and stakeholders of the region on Tuesday, November 1, some troubling signs are beginning to emerge. Barely 24 hours after the meeting, militants blew up the Trans Forcado Pipeline. No particular group has however claimed responsibility for the attack.
The very next day, Thursday, November 3, the Nigerian Navy deployed four warships and 3,400 troops in the region in Onne, River State. According to the Military, the deployment is to tackle piracy, oil theft and vandalism of critical oil and gas installations at the region.
Rear Admiral James Oluwole, the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command, who announced the deployment, codenamed “Exercise Sharkbite’’ on Thursday in Onne, said the two-day exercise would also serve as avenue to check combat readiness of troops to tackle militant attacks on oil and gas installations which plunged the nation into recession.
“The exercise is an annual event for the employment of naval resources in training for maritime operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat.
“The exercise will enhance the capacity of the command in the fight against piracy, sea robbery, hijacking, illegal bunkering and crude oil theft, among other maritime crimes.
“This exercise was informed by worsening vandalism of critical oil and gas infrastructure by militants which has plunged the nation into recession.
“The participating fleets will conduct naval evolutions, patrols, visit, boarding, search and seizure, opposed boarding of a hijacked vessel, maritime interception, blockade of some river entrances and target practice, among others,’’ he said.
Oluwole said the exercise which covers 24,000 nautical miles between Rivers and Cross Rivers states coastal areas sought to boost socio-economic activities at the nation’s maritime domain.
He gave assurance that the exercise would not interfere with legitimate activities of oil companies and seafarers; movement of commuters and other economic activities at sea and creeks in the region.
“The 3,400 personnel participating in this exercise comprised 3,000 ratings and 400 officers,” he said.
The warships deployed for the exercise were the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Okpabana, NNS Ologbo, NNS Burutu, NNS Sagbama, and a naval Augusta helicopter.
These development have heightened doubts expressed by some stakeholders over the success of the historic meeting of November 1. That the exercise will last only two days seems to be no consolation to this group.
“It is too near to the peace deal for comfort,” one of them said.
Following the sustained destruction of oil facilities in the region which resurfaced since January 14 this year, the Nigerian economy has been battered by the huge loss of revenue occasioned by a sharp decline in crude oil production, the mainstay of the country. However, when after months of militarizing the region, the bombing continued with continued decline of oil production by about 50%, the option of dialogue and negotiation was adopted. This eventually led to a preliminary meeting between both parties scheduled for October 29 but later shifted to November 1.
However, there appears to be mutual distrust and suspicion and perhaps some degree of insincerity. This perhaps explains why the parley between President Buhari and the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) which held at the President’s instance in Abuja ended without any solid commitment from both sides as to when the actual negotiation would begin.
Early signs that the proposed parley may not produce a consensus ad idem appeared when the meeting originally scheduled for October 29 was shifted to November 1 without any explanation. When it eventually held, it was clear that although both parties want peace in the Niger Delta they were seeing things from different perspectives. The leader of the PANDEF, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, who made a 16-point presentation to Mr. President on behalf of the people of Niger Delta, traced the history of the problem of under-development of the region from pre-independence. The 16 points include the full implementation of the amnesty programme, enforcement of law and justice in the region, de-militarization of the area, addressing the plight of internally displaced persons, clean-up of oil spillage in the area, the Maritime University issue and of course, key regional infrastructure.
Clark’s presentation include security surveillance and protection of oil and gas facilities, relocation of administrative and operational headquarters of the international oil companies (IOCs), adequate power supply, economic development and empowerment, participation in ownership of oil blocs, restructuring and adequate funding of the NDDC, the strengthening of the Niger Delta Ministry, the Bakassi issue and true fiscal federalism.
A source at the closed-door parley, in a chat with The New Diplomat, commended the leader of the PANDEF, Chief Clark, for his eloquence in the presentation of the group’s position. But if they were expecting a strait-jacket response from Mr. President, they were disappointed as Buhari was not disposed to the “quick fix” approach which the PANDEF presentation portrayed. Buhari’s response was swift— go home and talk to your people to restore peace before I would extend development to the area. There is no “quick fix” to the problem of the Niger Delta, the President told Clark and his PANDEF members. He charged the group to identify the leadership of the militants and talk to them to restore peace.
Analysts who spoke to The New Diplomat on this issue are of the opinion that President Buhari, just like the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, is, by his charge, holding the elders and leaders of the Niger Delta implicitly responsible for their inability to control the militants who, of course, are their children.
Another dimension to the response of Mr. President to the 16-point demand was his insistence on waiting for the report of his field commanders who have been on ground in the Niger Delta since the deployment of military hardware and personnel in the area about three months ago. Again, analysts are of the opinion that Mr. President’s conditionality could be interpreted to mean that he is not favourably disposed to the demands of PANDEF until peace is restored — either by the use of force or change of heart by the militants.
Whichever way it is looked at, the meeting cannot be said to have produced the kind of result expected by the PANDEF and by extension, the people of Niger Delta. Despite having spent weeks, probably months, trying to articulate the position of the group, it was obvious that the President may be looking at the issues presented as part of those canvassed in the 2015 National Conference to which Buhari has openly ignored.
Speaking with The New Diplomat shortly after the meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, a member of the PANDEF who craves anonymity said the meeting ended in “fiasco”, adding however that “the struggle continues”. Others, however, see the outcome of the meeting as a huge success, saying that at least, the journey into dialogue and negotiation for a better deal for the people of the Niger Delta has begun.
This much could be deduced from the speech of the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, who seemed excited with the outcome of the parley. Addressing the press shortly after the meeting, Kachikwu disclosed that PANDEF has come to stay as the authentic representatives of the people of the Niger Delta, adding that it shall be meeting regularly to consider the welfare of the people of the region. He even went further to say that the first of such meetings will hold in December in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.
At home, the 16-point presentation made by Chief Clark and the PANDEF was received with mixed feelings. Reacting to some points in the presentation, a Warri-based human right activist, Comrade Avwoke Odioko, criticized the demand by the group for participation of Niger Deltans in ownership of oil blocs, adding that that should have been an issue reserved for the actual negotiation. “When you realize that the issue of allocation of oil bloc is sensitive and goes to the root of the crisis in the Niger Delta, our leaders should have known that Buhari would not be in a hurry to respond to that. They should have waited and played safe to bring Mr. President to the negotiating table before pulling that string,” he said.
Also, analysts believe the emphasis by PANDEF that the Niger Delta crisis was a product of history, dating back to the Willinks Commission of 1958, was a tactical blunder which exonerated the Buhari regime from culpability in the neglect and marginalization of the region. Some believe that the scenario which culminated in the designation of the Niger Delta area as a marginalized minority in the Willinks Commission is really not what provoked the recent agitations in the region. This school of thought opine that the environmental degradation, under-development and deprivation in the area were actually not there when the Willinks Commission made its recommendations. The cumulative effect of the reference to the 1958 Commission, some argued, gave President Buhari some justification to feel that he should not be held responsible for their plight.
The constitution of the membership of PANDEF as representatives of the entire Niger Delta states also came under heavy knocks. For instance, some Urhobos of Delta State who believe they constitute the fifth largest ethnic nationality in Nigeria feel shortchanged in the process of making up the group. A renowned Effurun-based lawyer and human right activist, Chief Barrister Otomiewo, posted in his facebook page condemning what he believed was a lopsided membership of PANDEF. According to him, the configuration was that of Ijaws and Ijaws alone, pointing out that it was a repeat of what happened in the last administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. He fumed at the constitution of the group which he said did not have the presence of Urhobos in it, noting that it was exactly what Chief E.K. Clark did in the last dispensation.
Alh. Mumaka Unagha, another Urhobo lawyer, put it more bluntly when he described Clark as sectional in his choice of members of PANDEF. According to Unagha, Clark also sidelined the Urhobos during amnesty negotiation with Goodluck Jonathan, adding that at the end, only the Ijaws benefitted from the collective struggle of the entire Niger Delta. Unagha recalled in facebook page that several persons from the Ijaw ethnic nationality became billionaires through Clark’s lopsided leadership, noting that some even built multi-billion naira private universities.
Said he: “Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark took all ijaw leaders with his few cronies drawn from other ethnic groups of his choice to Abuja to prosecute ijaw agenda styling it Niger Delta. Most of these leaders were those nominated to the failed national conference. They are PDP members who swore to sink with the former president, their son. They have built private universities in the struggle, they got billion naira contracts from NDDC which they did not execute … They have come again.”
Efforts to reach to Chief Clark to react to these allegations proved abortive until the time of filing this report but a leader of the group who spoke to The New Diplomat pointed out that the Urhobos were represented by Prof. G.G. Darah and others in the group.
Whether the parley was a success or not, what is clear and saddening is that less than 24 hours after the meeting, militants bombed the Escravos main crude delivery pipeline to the Warri refinery. And 24 hours later, the Navy deployed warships and 3,400 troops…
