Tomorrow the 2nd of June, President Muhammadu Buhari will be in Bodo, Ogoniland to officially kick off the environmental clean-up of oil polluted sites in the Niger Delta region. This is consistent with the recommendation of an assessment conducted by the United Nations Environmental Program(UNEP). That visit will lay to rest speculations about whether the Nigerian President will fulfil the promise he made to Ogoni people during his campaign visit to Bori, the headquarters of Ogoniland. The timing and political symbolism of the visit are multidimensional. After one year of Buhari’s administration, part of the criticism is that he has paid insufficient attention to some parts of the country who did not vote substantially for him. Although as an individual, I have always argued against such prevailing but misleading narrative, I hope this visit will help challenge it. No one part of the country contributed more to Buhari’s victory than the other. That is a fact. The block votes from Northern Nigeria and the resistance against rigging mounted by the opposition leaders in the Southern Nigeria contributed equally to the defeat of the ruling People’s Democratic Party in 2015.
One important takeaway from the last election is that no one part of the country can make it to the Presidency until it learns to take other sections along. I am sure the President knows this but anyone who is still in doubt should look at the numbers from the results of that Presidential elections in 2011 and 2015 and make comparisons. That is why I will remain grateful to President Buhari and Niger Delta leaders like immediate past governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi and Senator Magnus Abe for their roles in making the clean-up happen. It is important that all citizens to get a feeling of dividends of democracy. The UNEP Report we celebrate today is a product of the foresight of some people. We must put on record that as governor of Rivers State, it was Amaechi who insisted that the UNEP investigators should be provided community access to do their work and gave them adequate security throughout their stay. His role exemplifies the level of progress that is possible in the region when there is positive vision, selfless sacrifice and enduring political will. Those who understand the history of agitations of marginalisation in the region will appreciate that the damage that arose from the ecological footprints of oil exploration originally defined what will later be known as the struggle. Therefore, anyone (like Buhari and Amaechi) associated with remedial measures on the Niger Delta environment should be given their right places in the annals of history.
We know that the situation is now slightly different and more complicated. We know that what started as an environmental struggle has now been hijacked, commercialised and criminalised. Many young people have taken to arms to advance their own interpretation of the struggle- no matter how delusional. It is now a full-fledged conflict economy with sophisticated and well-resourced networks. Their sponsors and patrons are merchants of instability in our midst who use violence as their own bargaining chip for access to power and the powerful. Today, whatever remains of the Niger Delta struggle leaves more questions than answers. It is often said that the struggle is about the ordinary Niger Delta citizen. However, since the struggle started, no one has ever bothered to do an honest cost -benefit analysis and stock taking. Is the average Niger Delta citizen better off now than before the struggle? Is the environment of the region more polluted now or then? Are the communities not more fragmented, dislocated, devastated and more desolate than ever before?
No comments:
Post a Comment