Promises Unkept : Key Factor To Renewed Ethnic Agitation ln The Niger Delta Region

 

By Wilson Macaulay 

This Piece is an attempt to  chronicle  a  Catalogue of  lofty ground breaking  projects initiated in the  Niger Delta Region only for such  Smart  initiatives  to be abandoned by the government  without    any plausible reason to  justify  their 

" I don't Care Attitude "  for their reckless action or inaction. 

Today ,  informed  opinions concurred across board  that it   is an incontrovertible truth that   if  these  abandoned projects in the Niger Delta  are executed  in record time,   the narratives  of the  region  could 

have been different. . 

Head or tail, many pundits have  reaffirmed   that if  abandoned projects are given the needed attention the persistent ethnic agitations will fizzle out without  any persuasion. 

In the spring of 2018, 12th April to be precise , l red in the News Rangers Online Magazine  with constellation and a huge sigh of relief that finally the Federal government after a powerful delegation of the Olu of Warri, HRM Ikenwoli l met with President Muhammadu Buhari , the presidency was authoritatively reported to have approved N 13 billion to dredge the Escravos Bar and also to finance the replacement of bad navigational aids at the Warri Sea Port . 

As we speak , two solid years have rolled over ,we are still at cross road over what will be the fate of the abandoned Warri Port project . When government seek political solutions to economic problems, the result is always very unpalatable ,

 which is where we are right now in the Niger Delta. 

Instead of priotizing the  economic importance  of the Warri  Port  , and thus show   concern as a 

government,  the people in the helm of affairs are looking at the Warri Port with  partisan political binoculars thereby preferring the Port to be moribund. 

Many attempts  made  in  the past by the Niger Delta People to get the Port Harcourt , Calabar and Warri Ports  to function optimally has  not seen the light of the day. .This deliberate action of the Federal Authorities which is averse to the functionality of Port activities in the Niger Delta  region is one bottled emotion that will keep producing out burst , fuelling agitations until  the "Caesars' of Lagos and Abuja " who have unwritrtten constitution to keep the Niger Delta Ports Comatose ,stops pulling their evil strings against the region .

The anger now is why should the Federal government allow strategic assets like Sea Ports which controls  trade  and Commerce to lie fallow  and be- clouded in the Web of politics. 

Take it or leave it,  the action or inaction  of the Federal  government over  the sorry state of Ports in the Niger Delta   is enough to generate agitations that would not end  until the right and needful thing is done. 

Those who want this skewed statusquo to remain by ensuring that the Ports in the Niger Delta  do not work ,  have brought so much  'Hunger and Anger'  created by the hardship experienced by the people due to the abandoned Sea Ports. 

Before we forget, the  N13 billion approved for the upscale of facilities to revive the Warri Port is one compulsory demand , that must see the light of the day to mellow down the renewed spate of agitations. 

 , May I also add that this demand have the potential to unlock  the economy of Edo, Delta and Bayelsa states if properly harmonised. 

Other promises unkept which are  fundamental factors  to the renewed ethnic agitation in  the Niger Delta are the   EPZ project, the Gbaramatu Deep sea Port , the Community based Modular Refineries, trained  and certified ten  thousand youths of HOSCON on pipeine surveillance  that have nowhere to work all  keep in view KIP is indeed enough to strain the nerves of the people and keep the  Niger Delta region in a feet of perpetual rage. 

 I   recalled with paspiration the laudable and historic ground breaking EPZ Project by the  then President GoodLuck Jonathan  now stalled five years after .That gigantic  economic stride killed by this administration is enough to set the rattled people of the Niger Delta on the fringes of agitation. I sincerely bemoan   the cluelessness of  the people in power as they appear  not to know what a functional  EPZ  means to our economy in terms of the investment potential of the project. 

One salient question people have been asking is, if the government claim that they want to borrow to fund AKK why not do same for EPZ

 May i reistate here and now that it is  an irony  that we have multi billion dry docks functioning in Kaduna and lbadan where there are no natural docksides   but we  cannot do any thing for    the natural harbours  in the Niger Delta to  function  as  sea ports.

 Those who are bent on keeping the  Niger Delta behind should understand the power in protest and speaking up against evil practice. 

Chauvin the mad American Cop who killed George Floyd in Mineapolis Minesota was dismissed after a strong protest from the Afro American Community.

The inevitable question is when shall the lords of the minor , the pharaohs  of our time , represented by  the ruling  Nigerian government  cabal see the plundered Niger Delta as national burden. ?.

From my little knowledge of trade and Commerce, the sea port is the heart of the business hub. Once the political actors allow themselves to be beclouded in the Web of politics ,then the economy of such a state is bound to suffer hiccups until it will break down irretrievably. 

The economic indicators  clearly shows that we are right now at the lowest ebb with so much hardership in Warri and environs .Information from dependable mariners disclosed that even captive cargoes are no longer available at the Warri port. 

I make bold to say that   relevant stakeholders , like the shippers Council.  the  Ports  Authority Management, , the Federal Ministry of transport, 

Ministry of Trade and Commerce must all work round the clock to ensure that  the Warri Port and others in the region are brought back to life no matter the position of the Caesars of Lagos and Abuja. 

We  truly desire the  transformation of  the economy of Warri in all facets but a functional Port is fundamental and critical to the actualisation of that dream .

How can agitations end when there are repeated failed attempts to move the headquarters of Nigeria Gas from Ekpan to Lagos or Abuja. ?

The removal of the Dry Dock /Ship Yard that was already at Okerenkoko for the purpose of practical sessions for the Maritime University to Lagos lying fallow  without any explanation is enough  to kindle  the anger of the  irked people of the Niger region to register their  their renewed agitation. 

Shore Protection projects of oil and gas producing Coastal  Communities  abandoned by government in the Niger Delta  have turned one time football fields and play grounds for children into  centre of river  as ocean surge from the atlantic washes away their land as a result of neglect.  

No one in the right frame of mind will settle for anything  less than a wide protest to announce to the whole world that the goose that lays the black gold is being threatened by problems that can make the  Communities go in oblivion. 

Those who  may want to argue that fact  should retrospect  in  history that the antlantic was once a civilization until the continental drift  created the five conventional continents and the vast of the seas. 

The unkept promises by the governing authorities to embark on shore protection projects that ended as exercise in futility  will always turn out to be a key factor for agitation until such projects are executed with  the dispatch they deserve. 

This long trend of abandoning projects keep building  up  the demand cureve for projects ,at the end what we have are promises unkept which is the main  root of agitations in the region. 

The recent American Wonder Marginal Field bidding  Process issue actually worsened an already bad situation which resulted in the current spate of ultimatum from various ethnic nationality. 

I strongly converse the view that PMB should listen to the Niger Delta people who are now trapped in the shackles of economic drudgery which definitely will produce nothing than demands. The solution of course is not far fetched.  The Federal government must have a change of tactics with a resolve to keep promises like a bond. 

The PMB administration need to know fast that when people are in endless span of despondence, economic trauma and environmental injustice heaped upon them by the governing system we will continue to see  phases of agitations until  the equation is balanced.