THE GOVERNOR of delta State, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has dropped the bombshell on why Niger Delta Youths took up arms against the federal government.
Against the initial belief that dearth of infrastructures and the destruction of the region's ecosystems as a result of oil exploration, the governor said the militants renewed their agitation because of perceived injustice to the region by the federal government.
According to the Governor Okowa, ''The Maritime university that was being closed down is in Delta state, in a community which already felt aggrieved that something was going wrong, also the fact that it was so obvious that the immediate past president is from a particular ethnic group and the university which he inaugurated shortly before he left was being shut down, also made them more aggrieved.''
He stated this in an interview with the Daily Sun newspapers.
Excerpts:
What are your views concerning the renewed interest of the federal government in the Niger Delta?
I think it is a step in the right direction. You will realise that since January 2016 it’s been very traumatic for those of us at the state level, particularly Delta state where we had a lot of attacks on oil facilities. From January to September 2016, it was really very traumatic. At the initial stage, we had immediate support, remember we did meet with the Acting President in May 2016 and we talked on a whole lot of issues and the heads of the security agencies were in that meeting. We did discuss in that meeting the need for us to have partnership with all the various communities that were involved in the destruction of pipelines. Somehow, that progressed slowly and in November 2016 when the President did meet with the South- South zone in the name of PANDEF (Pan Niger Delta Forum) as led by Chief Edwin Clark, it was then we started realizing that there was the possibility that with dialogue we could get somewhere. I think the leadership of PANDEF did meet thereafter and there has been a lot of communication between the leadership of PANDEF, the Office of the Vice President and the Minister of state for Petroleum and the elders in our various states.
I think this recent visit has opened up a whole lot of issues including giving the communities the opportunity to realise that the federal government is not just turning its back on them and that it is not just all about military action. And as a matter of fact, some of the misconception that they did have has been laid to rest especially with regards to the Maritime University at Okerenkoko. This is because the little information that was available to them at the federal level was that there were irregularities, but I think the Acting President’s visit to that site gave a different opinion. So I think somebody did pass some wrong information and the attempt to close down the university was actually the real factor behind the renewed militancy in the region. I believe that with the current relationship between the federal government, the state and the community in the Gbaramatu Kingdom and the visits to other states, will definitely give better reassurance. The federal government does realize that that peace process is very important for us to be able to ensure that largely the oil facilities and the oil companies are given the best of environment to thrive.
I believe the federal government has realise that it has lost a lot and the state government has also lost a lot. As at today we have gone down to the fourth oil producing state that ordinary should not be. I also agree that while they are criminal elements in this pipeline vandalism, some of them are actually more interested in the agitations because when elders of a kingdom or community get frustrated and they can’t exercise any form of control over their youths. But now that the elders have been encouraged, I believe they are talking with the youths and the youths didn’t hide that fact during the Acting president’s visit that they believe in their elders and that the talks going on with the elders is something they welcome and they hope that it will progress.
How distracting has this militancy been in your efforts to bring development to your state?
It’s been very distracting. Delta state has had the greater bite of this militancy and unfortunately about 80 percent of the pipeline destruction did occur in the state. That is why you must look at what could be the factors behind this. The Maritime university that was being closed down is in Delta state, in a community which already felt aggrieved that something was going wrong, also the fact that it was so obvious that the immediate past president is from a particular ethnic group and the university which he inaugurated shortly before he left was being shut down, also made them more aggrieved. In terms of security, the uncertainties of security, the destruction, the loss in terms of derivation because as you know states are entitled to 13 percent derivation, also had a huge impact on us. The destruction of the environment is a huge impact on us, even supporting the security agencies to be able to maintain peace, to be able to carry enough surveillance, to stop further attacks on the oil pipelines and to be able to protect the oil exploration companies is a whole lot of expenditure. So here you have a situation where the monies have gone down remarkably because of the oil prices, there’s a lot of shutdowns and shut-ins, a lot of destruction particularly with the pump lines at Forcados. Since February 2016 we have had 250,000 barrels per day shut-ins because there is no means of transporting it for export. With all these you find out that you are getting much less and you are spending a lot more on security. It’s absolutely a very big distraction.
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