Niger Delta: Collapse of Nigeria’s oil hub

Militants in action The discovery of oil in Nigeria in the 50s rather than being a blessing, has over the years remained a curse of a nation write OLU OSUNDE and ADETUNJI ADELEYE .

SINCE the inception of oil exploration in commercial quantity, Nigeria has known no peace. Perhaps, the biggest threat to Nigeria’s economic stability comes from the Niger Delta which is the home to the multi­billion dollar industry which accounts for 80 per cent of government revenue where armed militants have continued to be on rampage. Nigeria’s bid to appease the separatist forces threatening to tear her apart plunged her into crisis when all efforts to make the Federal Government respond to the age-long demand for infrastructure failed. Since the clamour for resource control and demand for increase in amount of oil revenue under President Obasanjo’s regime failed, the prospect that Nigeria, a land of over 140 million people which has suffered six coups and a civil war in only 47 years of independence, could face further turmoil will horrify those who see it as key to Africa’s development.

The strategic importance of the region to the ,global oil supply makes any unrest in the Niger Delta results in skyward rises in the world crude oil prices. The US Central Intelligence Agency’s report of March, 2005 warned that Nigeria could face “outright collapse” within 15 years. The reason adduced was that the deadlock in the reform drive may drive more Nigerians to support a growing alliance of radical factions bent on dissolving the union of Nigerian ethnic groups imposed on them in 1914 during British colonial rule. A coalition of these groups have continued to use lethal and non lethal means to drive home their demands.

Niger-Delta and the failure of development projects
The crisis in the Niger Delta was not only as a result of many years of neglect by various administrations of the region but the failure of development projects by both governments and the multinational oil companies in the region. According to Dr. Olawale Albert, “the crisis was as a result of the failure of the development projects. Misplaced priorities in die selection of projects in the Niger Delta which have nothing to do with the needs of the people of the area were the major cause of political agitation which has degenerated into hostage taking by the militants”.

The survey carried out by the Sunday Tribune shows that many of the projects did not put into consideration the strategic needs of oil producing communities in the Niger Delta before they were carried out. Both the Federal Government and the multinational oil companies have never for once carried out peace and conflict impact assessment of those development projects to see how they have impacted on socio-political, economic and military processes in the region in order to identify community based projects that could assuade or pacify the people concerned towards appreciating government’s effort at ameliorating the problems facing the region.

Attempt by government to impose development projects based on what they assumed to be the needs of the Niger Delta region in the past has resulted into politicians and government officials carrying out projects that would be financially beneficial to them to the detriment of the region.

One would wonder where several billions of naira said to be spent by both government and the oil producing companies have gone to. While speaking to Sunday Tribune, Professor ‘Layi Egunjobi, said “peace and conflict impact assessment of all projects being carried out by government and oil companies is critical to resolving the Niger Delta imbroglio,” adding that government had made several attempts in the past to resolve the environmental related problems without considering the conflict issues involved in the operations of all the oil companies.

It should be noted that it was the Obasanjo’s regime that made the first approach through dialogue and quarterly stakeholders’ meeting to serve as panacea towards evolving a strategic solution to the problem.

Politics of divide and rule
Tackling the Niger Delta crisis has to do with understanding the power matrix that has underdeveloped the area since exploration of oil began in the region. Different actions have immensely contributed to the problems in the region, namely: federal, state and local governments, the multinational oil companies, government’s officials and the local chiefs.

None of these actors can be exonerated for the myriads of problems that have bedeviled the region. The lack of policy framework by government from the beginning of the influx of all these powerful multinational oil companies, the lobbyist tendencies of these companies coupled with Nigerian factor of accepting bribe by both officials and local chiefs laid the foundation for all the crisis emanating from the region today. No wonder, many youths have refused to listen to sermon of non violence in driving home their crusade for better and just society, most especially in the Niger Delta.

While many people of the Niger Delta are living in abject poverty, some privileged few, whom by virtue of their positions, status and birth, have taken advantage of the opportunities offered by oil companies to reach those communities have ended up rich. These people by making money from this situation have become multi-millionaires and self made leaders representing millions of people who are daily deprived of nature’s endowment through environmental degradation and lack of infrastructure.

Implications for Nigeria’s economic stability
Ever since Nigeria’s 1974 independence anniversary, transnational oil corporations like Shell and Chevron have been extracting oil from the Niger Delta whilst amassing enormous profit along the way. As one of the most bio-diverse and natural resource rich nations in Africa, Nigeria would logically be an obvious target for the centres of capitalist dominance; the United States government and corporatocracy, World Bank, and IMF, to coerce and entice national ‘leaders’ with lofty projection of economic growth and promises of prosperity through mass construction of infrastructure and oil extraction intervention.

These international corporate contracts, according to Max Kantar, serve as a glowing example of the unexplainable, so called miracles of economic growth. Aside from a few elite families, the privatisation of Nigeria oil in US form has wreaked havoc on the local, and essentially, national population of Nigeria. American oil companies are supported by, or are supporting depending on how you look at it, the Nigerian military whose chief responsibility is to protect corporate oil interests by repressing the people’s resistance and dissent to conditions put upon them by corporate exploitation during military era.

Nigerians have been witnesses to gross environmental catastrophes in the Niger Delta, begetting the suppression of many people’s means of survival through fishing and agricultural destruction.

The crisis of environmental degradation and impoverishment have led to increasing waves of violence in the region which pose grave danger to economic stability.

As long as the region continues to witness political and military unrest, the economic activities of the nation will continue to experience instability.

The future lies in tackling the crisis in the region. All the power plants being presently built need gas supply from the region to be operational. If the plants are cut from supplies from the area, the nation would experience a terrible power outage that would grossly affect the manufacturing and other economic atrocities.

It is not an over statement for instance to assert that the oil and gas sector of the economy is vibrant and profitable especially when viewed from the standpoint of the extent it has helped in national development.

With the discovery of oil in the 50s Nigeria economy had a steady rise far beyond the agrarian era with the additional benefit being the positive placement of the nation among the comity of nations.

However, important as the oil and gas sector appear to be, the domination of the sector by a clique who manipulate all its gains for self-actualization depriving a larger part of the country the feel of the giant profitability of the sector now appears to be the cause of the tension being presently witnessed in many parts of the country especially the Niger Delta areas.

For instance, an author, Prince Isaac Preboye in his book, “The Core Delta”, explains that the anger of the region ie the Niger Delta area stems from the “neglect and punishment suffered under the British traders and colonizer, and the accentuation of the anger in terms of the escalation of the tempo of violent revolt since the 1980s to the using and dumping of the Isaac Adaka Boro’s boys during the civil war”.

He sees the other factors as unemployment, structural adjustment and suffocating economic reforms, corruption, bad governance, the fraudulent and criminal activities of the oil companies and government” preference for repressive rather than reconciliatory and peaceful strategies of conflict management”. According to him, all of these accounted for the deterioration of the situation. In his words as captured by Professor Eghosa E. Osaghae, a professor of political science and a Vice-Chancellor, Igbinedion University, Okada, in his forward to the book.“The terrain in the Core Delta is not different from that of Lagos and if Lagos could be made a paradise and if Abuja can be transformed from its jungle state to what it is today, then what is stopping the Federal Government from physically developing the Core Delta area? The government does not have any excuse at all”.

According to the Professor, “this almost typical core Delta refrain grew out of the desecration of federalism by the military which decimated the State and local governments and made the Federal Government the only determinate level of governments. It is therefore not surprising that Preboye attributed the problems to the failure of the federal government, but his recipe of equalisation and redress by the federal government is not consistent with the true federalism whose absence he so loudly laments”.

The deductable indice from the above statement is the curse brought to the entire nation by the military which long tenure witnessed a grandeur shift from true federalism which would have effected even development through good economy enhanced by comparative advantage.”

Because of the military unhealthy intervention in the 60s, the structure of the country took a unitary form in line with the military command structure jeopardising the federal system which could easily have allowed each of the states to develop at its own pace using the available resources accruing from its area while conceding some percentage to the centre.

With that gory situation, it has increasingly become difficult to absolve the federal government from the problems presently associated with the under development of the embattled Niger Delta areas.

However, in a repulsive manner, Professor Osaghae still in his forward queried the responsibility of the state and the local government, in the developmental process saying that “it is well known that the old regions took responsibility for regional development and were locked in a healthy rivalry in the provision of public goods and services. Even under military rule, he said, “state governors like Osaigbovo Ogbemudia (Midwest), David Comwalk (Benue-Plateau) Audu Bako (Kano) continued along the trajectory and even surpassed some of the strides recorded by regional governments”.

He added that, “at that time, citizens of states like East-Central and Rivers while governors were not performing held them and the state government - rather than the federal government responsible for the lack of development. So what has happened? Why does everyone accuse the federal government of neglect but fail to ask what the state and the local government have done? he queried.

By popular belief in the Niger Delta areas, the oil sector has since been dominated by a few people whose activities cannot be easily monitored and assessed in national interest - yet, the sector is one of the most lucrative of the entire national economy. The masses as it is often claimed have not enjoyed the fruits while gas flaring has been one source of the problems.

With over dependence on the oil (sector) Nigeria has over the years suffered some air of disatisfaction. For instance, there has been loss of economic value of other products chiefly from the agricultural sector while high rate of unemployment has also been linked with absence of good policy formulation by government at all level. The direct result of that is youths restiveness with exploitation and militancy asserted. The youths are displeased by the new set of billionaires created by the oil industry most of whom have become exporters of our crude oil while the rest of Nigerian are hungry, famished and side lined.

With oil and gas, some of the higher agricultural products like hides and skin, timber, cocoa etc. which used to be the pride of the nation have almost gone into extinction. The government think of oil everytime while neglecting the other sectors. Perhaps the only noticeable period when the solid miniral sector was mentioned was during the late General Abacha administration . The demise of that government brought an abrupt end to that commendable effort at developing the nation independent of the oil sector.

Today, oil has become the Chief promoter of militancy in Niger Delta with kidnapping, maiming and killing becoming the order of the day. Because of the rising prices of oil in the international markets with its attendant rise in Nigeria’s financial profile, politics at home has become dirty with the political position becoming more and more attractive. With plenty of oil money to throw around, therefore, more people are daily attracted to the position of leadership where cheap money is easy to come-by. With that, service to the nation is now synonimous with wealth creation.

In Nigeria today, flambouyancy has become the symbol of leadership. Because of the enormity of corruption the oil and gas sector have created within the polity, service to the people has become a do-or-die affair while those outside the corridor of power aid and abet self imposition into position of authority through indulgence in various forms of criminality. For instance, the youths most of whom often turned out to be hangers-on, pay their prices through involvement in political thuggery where opposing groups are intimidated to pave way for electioneering crime.

In the oil industry, corruption is being encouraged in number of ways. Managers of the industry ie (NNPC) have been accused severally of corruption and mismanagement. Money meant for societal development are starched in foreign banks by those appointed to oversee the sector while the government of various states are daily accused of wastages and financial recklessness.

To alleviate the poverty in the Niger Delta through developmental programmes, NDDC was set up to balance the wealth of oil. But unfortunately, local politics has not allowed things to work out. The commission rather than being a source of relief turned out to be a centre of corruption, nepotism and lack of accountability. Recently, the boss of NDDC, Sam Edem was alleged to have used over a billion naira to hire the services of a herbalist while the entire oil producing states are suffering.

Equally, oil producing states which have better budgetary allocations have not been known to accept challenge of development, rather, the state governors are corrupt, selfish and lack spirit of prudence while members of their oil communities are neglected. There are no roads, electricity, bridges and no food.

Also, education, health and agriculture are dead and water is hardly even available. To ameliorate the situation, the Federal government recently established the Ministry of Niger Delta mainly for proper management of the states’ wealth.

Although a lot of people including the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, Sonny Okogwu, a presidential candidate of RPN and Governor Uduaghan amongst others have come hard on the Ministry initiative saying it was not enough solution, one only hope that it will be a step forward towards a lasting solution to the problems if, accordingly to Governor Daniel of Ogun State, the leadership is purposeful.