Grandiose Parlor

Every now and then, I get to read statements that make me cringe, this is one of them, coming from the Minister of State State for Energy (Petroleum), Mr. Odein Ajumogobia:

“If the oil companies operating in the Niger Delta had laid emphasis on capacity-building, there would have been limited crisis in the area [Niger Delta] today.”

Talk of relegation of duties.

When did capacity building become the responsibility of the oil companies? I do understand corporate social responsibility, but what about government social responsibility to the people they govern?

The Minister must have forgotten that it’s part of government social responsibility to watch and hold the oil companies accountable to the people in the Niger Delta!

I tried to think of a moment when this was done diligently… and I couldn’t remember any!

It is becoming increasingly difficult to blog on Nigeria from a positive perspective. This is one of the reasons:

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pays $6 million to Niger Delta militants as “protection fee’ monthly, the House of Representatives Committee on Finance investigating the alleged non remittance of revenue collected by government agencies from 1999 to March 2008 heard yesterday.

The NNPC in its submission to the committee yesterday said it was forced to pay the sum of $6 million monthly to militants who threatened to “deal” with the corporation.

Daily Trust has the full coverage.

The government attempt at resolving the Niger delat crisis recorded a major hitch with the resignation of the government-appointed negotiator Ibrahim Gambari. Apparently Gambari’s reputation as top United Nation’s negotiator and special envoy does not resonate very well with the Niger-Delta folks. It does not with me either!

While reading a post on Nigerian Curiosity blog on June 9, this statement on Gambari caught my attention:

“I am hearing that the United Nations will indeed release Nigerian born Ibrahim Gambari to head the special Niger Delta Summit Steering Committee. This should further convince all necessary parties to the issues of the Niger Delta that this administration plans to address the problems decisively.”

I retorted as follows:

“…I see another clever use of power.

What is the advantage of bring a man who is not familiar with the issues and terrain over someone who is local and can relate to the problems beyond just reading the briefs?

We have Utomi, Soyinka, etc if the feds wants a neutral person. Gambari has spent the bulk of his diplomatic carrier outside Nigeria, he is an establishment man. He is not going to make any difference. He has no moral capital to deal with locals.”

While one is not an expert in conflict resolution, there are ample historical precedence and anecdotal evidence available when making calls on Nigerian matters such as Gambari’s.

The suitability of Gambari is a concern shared by several other parties, including the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), which expressed its position succinctly and unequivocally via these words:

“We believe that the Summit will not be a success if the person who chairs it is a subject of controversy, especially amongst key stakeholders. Having made offensive comments in relation to the self-determination struggle of the people of the Niger Delta in the past, Prof. Gambari’s suitability is questionable…”

The take-home message following the resignation of Gambari should be clear to the government: It must snap out of its state of delusion and listen to the grassroots clearly. After all, this is the premise on which conflict resolution is based.

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua calls for international help on Niger Delta to solve the military crisis in the region.

Nigerian Economist Chudi Chukwuani retorts on VOA:

“The reaction here is that we are at a lost. The call is a clear failure on the part of the government to properly secure our national asset, to protect our sovereignty and our territorial waters. All of us know that the origin of the so-called Niger Delta militancy started from political thuggery.”

Listen in full:

One of the readers of this blog sent in an email asking why there hasn’t been postings on Nigeria as it used to be, specifically wanted to know what I think of Margaret Hill, the three year old girl who was seized from a car on her way to school in the Niger-Delta city of Port Harcourt. I responded thusly:

There is really nothing to blog about Nigeria lately that hasn’t been blogged about already. Well, maybe not quite. There is a new ‘low’ in town - snatch and kidnap a toddler and demand ransom! And anyone can do this - not just some rag-tag bandits operating in the back waters of the Nigerian oil cities - it could be striking teachers and university professors, transporters, and even medical practitioners - after all they all have beef with the feds. In fact we all do.

The events in the Niger-Delta have gone from worst to ‘worst squared’, mathematically speaking. That the scams of the kidnappers have persisted this long is a reflection of one thing: Failed intelligence, no, non-existent intelligence gathering more aptly describes the situation. The often dreaded State Security Service (SSS) and the other security and intelligence gathering apparatus of the Nigerian nation have remained impotent in dousing the fire of the Niger-Delta insurgents - criminals I mean. With the zeal and speed with which planned social protests are thwarted in Nigeria, one would have expected the same treatment for the water bandits. How wrong. Nigerian security operatives have not the balls nor teeth to muster a good fight.
One thing is clear: The ransom dollars that have been paid over the years have complicated matters in the Niger-Delta. Now, the next thing is to have the camouflaged boys roll out their tanks once again and level the towns and villages - as usual. This is how to save Nigeria, this is how it’s been done in the past and how it will be done again. This is the Nigerian standard procedure.

This following was insured by folks at Global Voices (GV):

On Thursday May 24, Reuters will be holding another of their Newsmaker events, this time on the subject of Darfur.
The event takes place in New York, staring 930am EST, and the event page is here -

• http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/newsmakerDarfur. I’ve also pasted the basic information below. If any of you happens to be in New York and wishes to attend, here’s a link through which you can RSVP - http://www.about.reuters.com/events/darfur/.

Unfortunately there won’t be a live videocast this time, and we’re still awaiting word about an audiocast/IRC, but you can still participate by:

1) leaving a comment on the entry I’ll be posting on GV by the end of today (EST)

2) sending any questions or comments to Reuters via the “Join the Debate” link on the event website

3) Blogging on the topic of Darfur and sending the link to Sub-Saharan Africa Ndesanjo Macha at africa@globalvoicesonline.org, so he can link you at Global Voices (the event page has a link to a GV feed). Ndesanjo will be attending the event and may also live-blog it.
4) sending any questions or comments to Reuters via the “Join the Debate” link on the event website

The post -”Miss Landmine [Angola]: A Grotesque Display of Insensitivity” generated a feedback from another NGO working to rid Mozambique and Angola of landmines.

Earlier today, Kai Von Pannier the Managing Director of Mineseeker Foundation S.A, the NGO that runs “The Sole of Africa” campaign, gives a summary of their mission via email. Here is the gist:

“Our campaign is to use new technology using airships to scan the
ground. However, this is just one part of the problem, once we have
identified and declared land safe from landmines, what then? This is why we
have partner with other NGO’s to form a program that’s vision is ‘Africa
feeding Africa’…

“We are currently at the start of our global awareness campaign and we
are focussed on raising the [tag]landmine[/tag] issue to the highest levels.
We have the backing of Nelson Mandela and high level patrons,
so we are confident that we will succeed.”

Mineseeker Foundation aims “to raise sufficient funds from Governments, commercial concerns and funding agencies to survey and map mine affected areas and through it’s initiative “[tag]The Sole of Africa[/tag]“, to return liberated land back to food production.”