The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Niger-Delta

  • Boko Haram: FG urges northern leaders to be more courageous

    The Federal Government has challenged Northern leaders to be more courageous in the efforts to end the activities of the Boko Haram sect.

    The minister of Information, Labaran Maku also  reminded northern leaders that the peace in the Niger Delta did not come easy but for the courage and direct involvement of leaders from the region who went to the creeks to talk to the boys.

    The minister spoke during the pre-briefing on the planned Niger Delta stakeholders’ forum slated for Uyo, Akwa-Ibom state.

    The stakeholders conference and inaugural meeting of the National Council on Niger Delta is to launch the Niger Delta Action Plan, a set development milestones to be achieved in the next few years.

    The plan contains a comprehensive, integrated infrastructure framework which will involve everybody, which is meant to give ownership of projects in the region to the people through collective involvement.

    Speaking at the occasion, the minister stressed that the people must understand that it is impossible to have development when peace in the absence of peace.

    He noted that with the return of peace in Niger Delta, the region he said in the  next 10-15 years would have achieved a lot in terms of development.

    He urged all the leaders in the country who believed in one Nigeria to join in the search for peace in the country.

    “Whenever violence becomes a way of life development can never be visible”, he said stressing that resources of other region are equally significant, but without peace the country cannot see development.

    He therefore charged Northern leaders to follow the steps of Niger Delta leaders who had to go all the way even as far as into the creeks to talk to the militants to embrace peace.

    The result he said is evidential now as the country is benefiting from improved production of crude oil which translate to improve income for the country.

    He also added that for the fact that the Niger delta are moving forward,we all we move forward because if we move forward,Nigeria will move forward and if any part of this country is moving backward we can’t move forward so that if the Niger Delta  presents an example of what  we can achieve when leaders stand up and  become courageous and identify with the problems” in the country

  • Fresh signs of trouble in the Niger Delta

    Fresh signs of trouble in the Niger Delta

    At a time the Federal Government is persuading the insurgents in the North to accept amnesty, the Niger Delta, which is enjoying a similar package, seems set to return to its pre-amnesty days when kidnappings, killings and all manner of criminality was the order of the day, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU

     

    The winding creeks of the Niger Delta are rumbling again. And Abuja, the seat of government, is feeling the heat. The development is disturbing to the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration because it is coming at a time the government is trying to find a way around the insurgency which has made many states in the North killing fields.

    Last year, the country spent about $450 million on its amnesty programme for ex-Niger Delta militants, more than what it expended on basic education. More is expected to be spent this year, as more ex-militants have been admitted into the programme.

    On Sunday, a statement supposedly from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said the group was now prepared to launch attacks on mosques, hajj camps and Islamic clerics.

    MEND has been mostly inactive over the years, because most of its leaders accepted amnesty. Though oil theft did not stop totally because of the deal, it reduced and violence went down to an all-time low. But, the conviction of one of its leaders, Henry Okah, in South Africa for the 2010 bombing in Abuja, fuelled the anger of the aggrieved within its ranks.

    The Sunday statement said it planned to launch a bombing campaign tagged “Operation Barbarossa”.

    “The bombings of mosques, hajj camps, Islamic institutions, large congregations in Islamic events and assassinations of clerics that propagate doctrines of hate will form the core mission of this crusade,” its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, said in an e-mailed statement.

    May 31, according to the statement, has been set aside for the start of the operation, which, Gbomo said, is to save Christianity from extinction in the country. It earlier announced “Hurricane Exodus”, part of which was the attack in which 11 policemen were killed in Bayelsa State.

    It said for it to agree to a ceasefire, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Catholic Church and Okah must intervene.

    The MEND’s statement reads: “On behalf of the hapless Christian population in Nigeria, MEND will from Friday, May 31, 2013, embark on a crusade to save Christianity in Nigeria from annihilation…

    “This campaign will not in any way interfere with the ongoing ‘Hurricane Exodus’ – which on Saturday, April 13, 2013, at about 01:00 Hrs, swept through the Ewellesuo community, Nembe, Bayelsa State, leaving the destruction of Well 62, belonging to Shell Petroleum in its wake.

    “We may only consider a ceasefire of Operation Barbarossa if the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Catholic Church and Henry Okah, one of the few leaders in the Niger Delta region we respect for his integrity, intervene.

    “Also, the assurance for a cessation of hostilities targeted at Christians in their places of worship, made privately or publicly by the real Boko Haram leadership will make us call off this crusade.

    “We have no problems with their (Boko Haram sect’s) attacks on security agencies, including the prisons, for their role in extra-judicial killings, torture, deceit and corruption.”

    Before MEND’s latest threat, it claimed responsibility for the April 5 assault, which led to the killing of 11 policemen. Twelve were initially thought dead, until one of them re-appeared. The officers were allegedly escorting a former militant leader, who is now an adviser to the Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson when they were waylaid by a group of men wielding AK-47s.

    According to a police account, the attackers fired from a jetty before two speedboats bearing other assailants arrived and also shot at the officers.

    Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police Kingsley Omire told the AFP, in a report yesterday: “They (the police) were overwhelmed.”

    Between 2007 and 2009, the Niger Delta was simply on fire. Pipeline vandalism, oil theft, kidnappings, bombings and all manner of criminality was the order of the day. Hardly did a day go by without cries being heard in the creeks of the impoverished oil-rich region.

    Then in 2009, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua came up with an amnesty deal, allowing the militants to submit their weapons and enjoy monetary reward and vocational training in return. Until recently, the deal appeared to have worked, as the country was able to regain its place as Africa’s biggest oil producer.

    Through the programme, over 13,000 ex-militants have been deployed in local and foreign institutes for training, skill acquisition and other formal education. No fewer than 2,500 of them are in higher institutions of learning. About 4,608 are undergoing skill acquisition training, and 9,192 have  graduated in various fields, including agriculture, automobile, welding and fabrication, entrepreneurship, carpentry, plumbing, oil drilling and marine related courses; electrical installation, ICT and other areas.

    Sure that the leaders of the ex-militants needed more than the stipends paid to their leg men, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), awarded them lucrative contracts to ensure the safety of oil installations in the Niger Delta.

    The mouth-watering deal, worth N6.5 billion, did not completely stop oil theft. This deal, which was cancelled early in the year to the chagrin of the ex-kingpins, saw good times rolling in for the former Niger Delta militants.

    The leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, Mujahhid Dokubo-Asari, who rejected amnesty because he was not a militant but a freedom fighter, was not left out of the lucrative deal. While it lasted, Asari-Dokubo earned N1.420billion.

    A report in the Wall Street Journal said: “Nigeria’s state oil company began paying him $9 million a year, by Mr. Dokubo-Asari’s account, to pay his 4,000 former foot soldiers to protect the pipelines they once attacked. He shrugs off the unusual turn of events. ‘I don’t see anything wrong with it,’ said the thickly built former gunman, lounging in a house gown at his home here in Nigeria’s capital.”

    About N599.64million was paid annually apiece to Ebikabowei “Boyloaf” Victor Ben and Ateke Tom, to guard pipelines. Government “Tompolo” Ekpumopolo enjoyed a N3.614billion contract to do the same job.

    This, according to presidential aides, was to end a situation where as a result of oil theft to bombings to kidnappings, oil production reduced to as low as 500,000 barrels on some days.

    Special Adviser to the President on Research and Documentation Oronto Douglas told WSJ then that there was no alternative to the amnesty programme. “If it’s too huge, what are the alternatives?” he asked.

    Really, oil theft fell sharply. But it did not take long before it blossomed again, even with ex-militants guarding oil pipelines. It seems to have now been seen as a gold mine. This is a major threat to the country, which relies on oil for about 80 percent of its revenue and almost all its foreign exchange earnings.

    Last Thursday, the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, said oil theft and illegal refining in the Niger Delta had reached unprecedented levels.

    In a statement published on Shell’s website, Sunmonu said the size of the problem indicated “a well-financed and highly organised criminal enterprise” that uses “influence, corruption and violence to protect (its) interests.”

    President Goodluck Jonathan said the situation is alarming, noting: “It is only in Nigeria that people go to all length to steal crude oil and its by-products through breaking pipelines and other associated means of oil bunkering. And most times, these illegal activities lead to huge economic waste, environmental degradation and loss of lives within minutes. This administration is out to stop this and we are going to take decisive steps to make this evil which is becoming a habit, a thing of the past.”

    Senate President David Mark recently said death penalty may be a way out, a development some lawyers have described as too harsh.

    An estimated 60,000 barrels of oil are stolen a day from Shell’s local joint venture, according to the company. The estimate for all oil companies is given as 150,000 barrels a day, which represent 7.5 per cent of the country’s crude-oil production.

    With this level of oil theft and fresh signs of violence in the creeks, many fear a return to the pre-amnesty days, which will deal a heavy blow on a country already suffering from the deadly blows of an amnesty-weary sect called Boko Haram.

     

  • JTF impounds vessels with stolen crude, destroys 35 illegal refineries

    JTF impounds vessels with stolen crude, destroys 35 illegal refineries

    The Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta has arrested a fishing trawler converted into a bunkering vessel and used for conveying stolen crude .

    Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, Media Coordinator of JTF Operation Pulo Shield, said on Friday that the arrest was made on the Akassa waterways in Bayelsa during multiple raids held between April 1, and April 10.

    “The fishing trawler, Christened DALLAL, was arrested laden with stolen crude oil product, when it was intercepted by operatives of NNS Delta, a maritime component of the Joint Task Force.

    “The trawler has been towed to Brass Terminal and secured pending further investigations. Two barges laden with stolen petroleum products have also been arrested by operatives of Sector 2 of the Joint Task Force.

    “The barges, named COASTAL 22 PEACE RIVER and MUDIGBA 1 are now berthed at the AGIP Brass Terminal pending their handover to prosecuting agencies at the completion of preliminary investigations,” Nwachukwu said

    He said that 20 pumping machines, one Lister generator and one cargo pumping generator were also seized by the JTF during the operation.

    The JTF spokesman said that 35 illegal refineries discovered in Rivers and Bayelsa coastal communities were destroyed within the period.

    According to Nwachukwu, JTF also destroyed 150 large plastic tanks and 23 pumping machines used by the oil thieves in another camp at Ogidigbem Village at Escravos in Delta.

    On the number of arrests made, he said 18 suspects were arrested in the various anti-oil theft operations.

    He said two of the 18 suspects were handed over to the Rivers State Command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps for prosecution, while 16 were still undergoing preliminary investigations.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Shell Petroleum Development Company had threatened to shut down its Nembe Trunk line because of rising incidents of oil theft through its pipeline network in Bayelsa.

    Mr Mutiu Sumonu, the Managing Director of SPDC, on March 4, urged the JTF to step up its activities to reduce oil theft, currently standing at about 60,000 barrels daily.

  • Oshiomhole, Ogbemudia, others shun Niger Delta Award Dinner

    THE Steering and Organising Committee of Niger Delta Awards in the much publicised exclusive dinner/fund raising event was almost marred when notable political invitees declined to honour the invitation nor send any emissarcy.

    Among guests slated to attend the occasion who were conspicuously absent included the Benin Monarch, Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, former governor of old Bendel, Dr Samuel Ogbemudia, Edo State Speaker, Hon Uyi Igbe, and Chief Mike Ozekhome.

    However, guest speaker at the event, Dr Akpo Mudiaga Odje, a constitutional lawyer, expressed concern when organisers in the country only recognise politicians who in turn use it for showmanship and ostentatious pretences.

     

  • 12 shocking facts about Nigeria

    12 shocking facts about Nigeria

    Some years ago, a brilliant lecturer of mine (now late) said something about Nigeria that I waved aside as an exaggerated expression of patriotism. He told my class then that he had travelled to many places in the world and had finally come to the conclusion that Nigeria is the most blessed nation on the planet. I knew Nigeria was blessed but I couldn’t understand how he could boldly claim that top position for Nigeria: yes we have oil, gas, landmass–in fact, abundant natural and human resources, but was that enough?

    Fast-forward to September, 2011. By this time, my doubt had given rise to a burning desire to know the specific things that make us great as a nation–that make us the most blessed people on earth. I felt if I did find these specific facts, they would need to be shared with Nigerians and the world in spectacular ways. To achieve this aim, I discussed the idea with my friend, George Okewih, and our subsequent brainstorming led to the birth of The Green Heritage page on Facebook to promote our cultural and natural heritage to Nigerians and the world. It’s been eighteen months of rigorous research since, and now I am convinced that my late lecturer was right.

    Here are some facts from our common heritage that should make you proud to be called a Nigerian:

    1. Nigeria is home to seven percent (7%) of the total languages spoken on earth. Taraba state alone has more languages than 30 African countries. The importance of this fact is appreciated when one understands that language is the “soul of culture” (as Ngugi wa Thiongo famously said). It is language that births the proverbs, riddles, stories and other aspects of culture that give us identity. UNESCO puts forward that the world’s languages represents an extraordinary wealth of creativity. Linguistic diversity correlates with cultural diversity. This means Nigeria can look inwards and drive itself to become the greatest hub for cultural tourism on earth, and consequently empower its citizens tremendously in the process.

    2. The Walls of Benin (800-1400AD), in present day Edo State, are the longest ancient earthworks in the world, and probably the largest man-made structure on earth. They enclose 6500 square kilometers of community lands that connected about 500 communities. At over 16000km long, it was thought to be twice the length of the Great Wall of China, until it was announced in 2012 (after five years of meticulous measurement by Chinese surveyors) that the Great Wall is about 21,000km long.

    3. The Yoruba tribe has the highest rate of twin births in the world. Igbo-Ora, a little town in Oyo state, has been nicknamed Twin capital of the World because of its unusually high rate of twins that is put as high as 158 twins per 1000 births. In a video I watched last year on YouTube presented by Titi (a white lady who speaks Yoruba), and which was centred on twin births in Igbo-Ora, one of the locals boasted that every family in the town has at least one twin!

    4. Sarki Muhammad Kanta The Great of Kebbi, was the only ruler who resisted control by Songhai, West Africa’s greatest empire at that time. He founded and ruled the Hausa city-state of Kebbi around 1600 A.D and built Surame its capital, a planned city which was almost impossible to penetrate during war. In fact UNESCO describes Surame as “one of the wonders of human history, creativity and ingenuity”, and probably the most massive stone-walled constructions in West Africa. He is listed in Robin Walker’s 50 Greatest Africans.

    5. Africa’s oldest known boat is The Dufuna canoe which was discovered in Dufuna village, Yobe state, by a Fulani Herdsman in May 1987, while he dug a well. Various radio-carbon tests conducted in laboratories of reputable universities in Europe and America indicate that the canoe is over 8,000 years old, thus making it the oldest in Africa and 3rd oldest in the world. The discovery of the canoe has completely changed accepted theories of the history and sophistication of marine technology in Africa.

    6. Sungbo’s Eredo, a 160 km rampart equipped with guard houses and moats, is reputed to be the largest single pre-colonial monument (or ancient fortification if you like) in Africa. It is located in present-day Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State and when it was built a millennium ago, it required more earth to be moved during construction than that used for building the Great Pyramid of Giza (one of the Seven Wonders of The Ancient World). The most astonishing thing is that Sungbo’s Eredo was the biggest city in the world (bigger than Rome and Cairo) during the Middle Ages when it was built!

    7. Sarki Abdullah Burja of Kano (ruled 1438-1452 AD), the 18th ruler of Ancient Kano, created the first Golden Age in Northern Nigeria and ushered in a period of great prosperity. During his reign, Hausa became the biggest indigenous language spoken in Africa after Swahili. He is on the list of 50

    Greatest Africans in Robin Walker’s wonderful book, “When We Ruled”.

    8. The Jos Plateau Indigobird, a small reddish-brown bird, is found nowhere else on the planet but Plateau state, Nigeria.

    9. The Anambra waxbill, a small bird of many beautiful colours, is found only in Southern Nigeria and nowhere else on earth.

    10. The Niger Delta (which is the second largest delta on the planet), has the highest concentration of monotypic fish families in the world, and is

    also home to sixty percent of Nigeria’s mangrove forests. You should know too that Nigeria’s mangrove forests are the largest in Africa and third largest on earth.

    11. According to the World Resources Institute, Nigeria is home to 4,715 different types of plant species, and over 550 species of breeding birds and mammals, making it one of the most ecologically vibrant places of the planet.

    12. Ile-Ife, in present day Osun State, was paved as early as 1000AD, with decorations that originated from Ancient America suggesting there might have been contact between the Yorubas and the Ancient Americans half a millenium before Columbus ‘discovered’ America.

    Now, what if we tell you seventy-five other amazing facts about Nigeria that The Green Heritage has discovered over the past eighteen months? Would you not be thrilled to watch a movie that resurrects and projects, in stunning visuals, the historical, cultural and natural heritage of Nigeria? This is the idea behind the movie project titled, “The Green Heritage 3D: 87 Marvels From Nigeria”. And the ball has begun rolling. A teaser that demonstrates some of the advanced 3D modelling and animation that would be partly employed to recreate parts of our heritage and project it to the world, has been uploaded on our YouTube channel. With a talented team of young Nigerian writers, programmers, artists, architects and producers, all given visual life to a massive amount of research about and for Nigeria, you can rest assured that this might just be the most important movie of our generation, from Nigeria.

    Samuel Okopi is the writer/director of The Green Heritage 3D: 87 Marvels, From Nigeria. He can be reached on 08066037453.

    Watch the teaser on YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheGreenHeritage

    Direct link to teaser: http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=plcp&v=UMzNjVE6aKU

    Join The Green Heritage on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheGreenHeritage

  • Our amnesty and pardon culture

    Our amnesty and pardon culture

    Having to pardon Alamieyeseigha for his role in the Niger Delta suggests that we may need to do the same thing for Onanafe Ibori if he too chooses as an Urhobo leader to help prevent young people in Delta State from stopping the flow of petroleum. 

    Two words are rife today in political governance and public communication in our country. Both are words that are used by powerful men to give the impression of solving fundamental problems in the country. These words represent policies that the federal government in particular believes can put an end to some of the basic challenges facing the country’s security-economic, political, and physical. In consonance with the proverbial Nigeria Factor, these words quickly assume magical powers capable of serving as panacea to all problems. The words are Amnesty and Pardon.

    When the youths of Niger Delta chose to carry arms to reinforce their leaders’ demand for economic justice some years back, the federal government came up with amnesty as the way to end a long-standing problem. Niger Delta militants that were fighting for more revenue to oil-producing states and communities were persuaded to receive special stipends in lieu of what should have come to compensate the Niger Delta for ecological disaster spawned by oil drilling and gas flaring. Unlike the political demands of Niger Delta leaders that were ignored for years, the militants were assuaged with amnesty payments, special scholarships, and occasional contracts to high-profile militants. For Niger Delta militants to qualify for amnesty payments, they were asked to hand over their guns to federal government agents in exchange for forgiveness for attempting to disrupt the flow of oil. Of course, the issue of economic justice to the Niger Delta remains unsolved after granting of amnesty to militants who agreed to surrender their weapons.

    Shortly after implementation of amnesty payments to thousands of militants, a new group emerged in the North, Boko Haram (Western education is sin). This group hit the ground harder than Niger Delta militants. Boko Haram has for about two years acted as terrorists in every sense of the word, killing innocent Nigerians and non-Nigerians. In response to Boko Haram, high-profile Nigerians are calling for amnesty as a way to restore peace and security to the country. The case for amnesty has been built on mass poverty and illiteracy in the North: the birth-place of Nigeria’s foremost terrorist group. It is being suggested that empowering and educating the masses in the North will pacify Boko Haram warriors and end the culture of terror in the country.

    The belief that amnesty has solved the problem of the Niger Delta must have influenced the thinking of leaders who now believe that amnesty would also end the challenges created by Boko Haram. Amnesty as panacea to the country’s problems focuses not on resolution of conflict but on assuaging the feelings of individuals by giving them material inducement to abandon the cause that led to physical struggle against the Nigerian state. It does not matter to proponents of amnesty as panacea to Nigeria’s social problems if those given amnesty actually change their orientation or if the cause that led to militancy or terrorism that is to be doused by amnesty is addressed. Apart from President Jonathan’s statement that he is not ready to negotiate with ghosts, he too seems to believe that amnesty is an option for his government to end the security challenge posed by Boko Haram. Having been a part of the government that used amnesty to address the demands of Niger Delta militants, it is not surprising that the President thinks that amnesty is an option to change the minds of Boko Haramists, once they show their faces.

    It is, therefore, surprising that the presidency is using the pardon of Diepreye Alamieyeseigha to warn the country that amnesty given to Niger Delta militants has addressed just symptoms rather than cause. Giving official pardon to Alamieyeseigha is, according to the presidency, in the interest of Nigeria’s economy: “Alamieyeseigha is a foremost leader of the Ijaw nation, and his political and stabilising influence in that region has impacted positively on the overall economy of the nation, bringing crude oil exports from the abysmally low level of 700,000bpd to over 2.4 million bpd, …Therefore, it is obvious that, Alamieyeseigha has been a major player since his release from prison in ensuring that the blood that runs through the artery of the Nigerian economy is not cut off.”

    The import of the statement above is that President Jonathan needs to pardon Alamieyeseigha, to prevent the country’s oil-dependent economy from dying. In other words, the first governor of Bayelsa must have been helpful in ending the fight of militants against Nigeria before the adoption of the policy of amnesty. We are also being told that, without Alamieyeseigha’s freedom to interact with Niger Delta militants, the flow of oil may be stopped, with the consequence of killing what holds the country together: uninterrupted flow of petroleum. The presidency is unequivocal about letting Nigerians know that President Jonathan is doing Nigeria a big favour by giving his former boss official pardon. The fact that Alamieyeseigha was convicted for crime against the state is no longer as important as the role that he can play in ensuring that militants in the Niger Delta are kept at bay.

    From the role the presidency claims that Alameyeseigha is playing to keep the country’s economy afloat, it is clear that even the over cited amnesty has not worked. If anything, it has only addressed the symptom of the problem that led youths to carry arms against the state for neglecting the oil-producing states of the Niger Delta. In addition, the fear that new militants may spring up if Alameyeseigha is not given the freedom and respect to rein in potential militants suggests that amnesty is not an effective way to respond to calls for justice in the Niger Delta. It is also conceivable that if amnesty is given to Boko Haram terrorists, it may not work beyond bribing terrorists temporarily to abstain from violence.

    The right approach to solving problems is to face the cause and not symptoms of such problems, as we have done in the last few years. We threw money at Niger Delta militants but failed to put an end to demands for principle of derivation. Instead, we were able to pay off militants at work at that time without having any way of preventing other younger people from becoming militants, thus having to need perpetually the service of Alamieyeseigha to ensure the flow of petroleum. We are also being encouraged to give amnesty to Boko Haramists, without ensuring that they denounce their desire to extend Sharia all over Nigeria; their hate of Christians in a multi-religious and multiethnic country; and the sect’s opposition to Western education or civilisation, the origin of Nigeria itself.

    We will not be able to fight corruption if we have to pardon corrupt politicians for being in a position to appease militants, just as we may not be able to fight religious bigotry if we only choose to give amnesty to citizens that have waged war against the Nigerian state and its citizens. Having to pardon Alamieyeseigha for his role in the Niger Delta suggests that we may need to do the same thing for Onanafe Ibori if he too chooses as an Urhobo leader to help prevent young people in Delta State from stopping the flow of petroleum. The federal government needs to address problems frontally instead of treating symptoms.

  • Visual focus on Niger Delta

    Visual focus on Niger Delta

    Text to the old Benin Empire and, the present-day Benin Kingdom which the world has been aware of for more than five centuries, the old and genuine Niger Delta is the second best known (for centuries as well) territory of what has now become the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Benin Kingdom became world-famous for its great art of bronze casting as well as ivory and wood carvings. The ‘geographic’ Niger Delta was prominent for its Atlantic commerce; the infamous Slave Trade, then the Palm Oil Trade and, now for its high-quality crude oil and natural gas.

    The Niger Delta is also now being recognised and respected for its arts, traditional and contemporary culture. Its spectacular water masquerades like the Odum from Okrika and Ogwein from Ogu have become world-famous for their breathtaking aquatic displays. It has produced internationally-acclaimed poets, writers, dramatists, popular and classical musicians in Gabriel Okara, Elechi Amadi, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Rex Lawson and Adam Fiberesima; and in the plastic arts, sculptor Sokari Douglas-Camp among others.

    Recent research by Anderson, Aronson and Alagoa have pointed to the fact that the Niger Delta; Bonny to be specific, might well be the birthplace of indigenous photography in Nigeria. Jonathan Adagogo Green of Bonny has been identified as the pioneer Nigerian photographer. There was, naturally, the ripple effect of other trained photographers, as from the turn of the 20th century, emerging from Bonny and moving to other parts of the Niger Delta and the Ibo hinterland to establish the profession of photography; in tandem with the spread from Calabar into Ibibio land and beyond.

    As from the seventies, eighties and nineties the photographers from the core/geographical Niger Delta working professionally in Lagos were myself Don Barber and James Agori and they became foundation members of the Photographers’Association of Nigeria-PAN. Since then a wider/political Niger Delta has been created which roughly corresponds to a quirky Nigerian-invented geographic zone called the South-South. Many of the outstanding Nigerian photographers who come from this political Niger Delta now include George Esiri, George Osodi and a younger generation of creative professionals that include the female Bonny-bred Eremina Jumbo.

    But currently the exhibiting photographers in Circus Of Encounter belong to a new group called f/stop which is a collective of photographers based in the Niger Delta; “creating images to promote the Niger Delta,” as they claim! They are Perez Tigida. Ebiwari Okiy, Israel Ophori, Tuoyo Omagba and Timipre Willis Amah. They are technically from the ‘new ‘Niger Delta per se.

    Their laudable mission is, “to nurture and promote” their talents as artists working in the Niger Delta; while their primary motivation is, “to exhibit photographic works by way of advocating the diverse cultures, life style and scenery within the Niger Delta.” Their vision, they claim, is “to promote, inspire, innovate, exhibit and collaborate with any organisation, group and individual that is interested in advocating of the Niger Delta.”

    These photographers and f/stop have come a long way to recognise past efforts and, to now acknowledge the need to continue the much-important visual artistic advocacy to vigorously counter the erroneous and ‘ímposed’ image of the Niger Delta as (its great oil and gas wealth apart) solely a place of violence, kidnapping and murder and, the wrong political perception that the people of the Niger Delta are all violence-mongering militants only concerned about economically upsetting the Niger Delta; the golden goose of Nigeria’s economy!

    In 2006, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the creation of Bayelsa State, Emeritus Prof. E. J. Alagoa’s Onyoma Research with my humble self collaborated with Dr. G. Igali (Secretary to the State Government) and Governor Goodluck E. Jonathan of Bayelsa State to organise and mount a multi-genre (including photography) Art exhibition Bayelsa @10 in Yenagoa and Abuja.

    The main thrust of the exhibition was to promote the fact that Bayelsa State and the Niger Delta abound with beauty and a vibrant and rich culture. A new strategy in employing the arts as a political tool to establish a new image for the Niger Delta and to reposition the area as a major creative hub of contemporary arts in Nigeria was thus established. It was a huge success!

    The Yenagoa exhibition in 2006 was opened by Governor Jonathan. The Abuja exhibition in 2007 was opened by then Science and Technology Minister Professor Turner Isoun and closed by the American Ambassador Mr Campbell. The Bayelsa State Government acquired the art works which were then distributed and mounted in the Governor’s, Deputy-Governor’s, SSG’s offices in Yenagoa as well as the Bayelsa State Liaison’s Office and Vice-President’s Office in Abuja. The presence of these artworks in such important spaces of state and national political office holders continues to make a statement about the Niger Delta’s immense contribution to artistic and cultural development in Nigeria.

    The birth of f/stop, their first group exhibition CIRCUS OF ENCOUNTER and, their aims and objectives are therefore very welcome. They confirm that a younger generation of very talented and progressive photographers from the Niger Delta have seized the initiative to explore the visual opportunities available in their environment and, are also magnanimous enough to share their visual narratives with the rest of the world.

    These are very enriching visual narratives bristling with captivating images both symbolic and historic. The mood, colours and environmental textures of the Niger Delta are also conceptually and creatively captured.

    Ebiwari Okiy is an established photographer. He is also a pioneer digital-studio photographer in Benin City whose body of art and documentary photographs have been exhibited in DakArt Senegal, group exhibitions as well as his own prominent and groundbreaking solo exhibitions-A Day in Time: The People, The Comrade [with an accompanying book] and Colture In Motion in Benin City.

    A Day in Time is part of one-half of Okiy’s visual study of traditional and modern political institutions in Nigeria; particularly in Benin City. It is an exhilarating documentation of the “wild jubilations and madness of the huge crowds on the streets of Benin City on November 11, 2008 when a court verdict declared Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as the new Governor of Edo State. Okiy’s portrait of Oba Erediauwa of the Benin Kingdom in this exhibition; showing the Oba in his splendid all-red royal regalia is part of his extensive work on the Oba in court and during important annual traditional cultural festivals like the Igue Festival.

    It is very instructive to note that the Obas of Benin have become the most consistently photographed royalty and celebrity in the history of indigenous photography in Nigeria. Back in 1897 Jonathan Adagogo Green photographed Oba Ovonramwen in Bonny on his way to exile in Calabar. These photographs were published in prestigious European newspapers and magazines like The London Illustrated. Ovonramwen’s grandson Oba Akenzua I1 was as from his coronation in 1932 extensively photographed by Alonge (the court photographer) including Queen Elizabeth 11’s visit in the 1950s to Benin City to meet Oba Akenzua. I (A Benin Coronation: Oba Erediauwa) and many others photographed the coronation ceremonies of Akenzua’s son Oba Erediauwa in 1979 and, since then the photographic pilgrimage has continued by streams of Nigerian photographers who yearly go to Benin City to photograph the Oba and his activities.

    Okiy’s second solo Colture In Motion, “a visual probe that brought into prominence the close relationship and interdependence between colours and culture in Nigeria,” also featured photographs of Oba Erediauwa. Participants in this exhibition, Israel Ophori and Tuoyo Omagba have also done photographic studies on Oba Erediauwa’s cultural activities.

    Timipre Willis Amah has exhibited at DakArt in Senegal and ARESUVA at Abuja Nigeria. He has also been a pioneer in championing the need for photography exhibitions in Bayelsa. His most outstanding body of work; the subject of his first solo exhibition in Yenagoa is the documentation of waterscapes/landscapes in Bayelsa.

    In my review of the exhibition Beautiful Bayelsa In Colour ‘I made observations that are still very valid. “Timipre Amah is an astonishing artist photographer who has shown admirable signs of his mastery of the interplay of light, space and form, in creating colour waterscapes. Amah’s body of waterscapes/landscapes confirm the sensitivity and confident touch required to translate how natural light, at sunrise and sunset, illuminate the inherent colours, hues and resultant contrasts that give specific locations spectacular visual vibrancy.” Works from this body of work are in this exhibition.

    Recently, Amah undertook an extensive study of the ravages of the floods that affected many parts of Nigeria, including Bayelsa and the Niger Delta. These intimate photographs of people and places in distress encapsulate his prowess as a sensitive photojournalist with an eye for factual and heart rendering situations within an environmental disaster.

    Perez tigida is a Port Harcourt-based photographer whose work in this exhibition explores the conceptual symbolisms associated with certain riverine myths or superstitions. According to him, “people in a city like Port Harcourt believe that very pretty girls and women are mami-waters.” The concept of mami-waters or mermaids is a deep-rooted long-held belief in the Niger Delta and riverine communities in southern Nigeria.

    Israel ophori is a veteran of many group shoots with fellow photographers of his generation. Some of these shoots include the Calabar and Abuja carnivals, the Benin City Igue Festival, the Voodo Festival in the Republic of Benin as well as his own documentary photography. Based in Ughelli, Ophori’s works in this exhibition are from his Carnival/Festival studies.

    Tuoyo omagba is a photographer based in the Sapele-Warri axis of the Niger Delta. He is quite conversant with daily riverine activities and their human angle implications as well as the myths that surround them. His photograph of school children in uniform; backpack and all, collectively paddling their canoe on their way to school speaks volumes on their confident familiarity with their environment yet raises questions of their safety. Overcoming natural odds is a daily way of life in the Niger Delta!

    The good, the bad, the odd, the beautiful, the reflective, the challenging and even the disturbing are the images in this exhibition that present the viewer with options of interpretations to unravel the essence of the mysterious space known as the Niger Delta of Nigeria and the world! f/stop we hope will continue to show us the ‘limitless’ faces of one of the world’s most intriguing deltas.

    In many ways indigenous photography in Nigeria; particularly in the Niger Delta will soon come full circle when my suggestion to Vice Chancellor Professor Ajienka; to establish a Jonathan Adagogo School of Photography at the University of Port Harcourt yields fruit!

     

    •Tam Fiofori is a Lagos-base photo jonurnlist

  • Pirates kidnap three in Niger Delta

    Pirates attacked an oil industry supply vessel in Nigerian waters this week and kidnapped three crew members, security sources told Reuters on Thursday.

    This is the latest attack off the coast of Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer.

    The captain, chief engineer and second engineer were abducted on Monday when gunmen boarded the Malaysia-flagged Armada Tuah 22 around 50 nautical miles off the coast of the Brass region in the Niger Delta, three security sources said.

    One of the sailors kidnapped was Indonesian, the sources said.

    The vessel is a tugboat contracted to supply an offshore oil platform.

    Nigeria’s navy spokesman gave no comment.

    A fishing vessel, Orange 7, was attacked on March 2 in a similar position and one of the crew was killed, sources told Reuters.

  • AfDB plans $1.5b projects for Niger Delta, others

    AfDB plans $1.5b projects for Niger Delta, others

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) is to spend $1.5 billion on projects in the Niger Delta region, Abuja and some states, the bank’s representative in Nigeria, Dr. Ousmane Dore, has said.

    He told The Nation that the projects include the construction of East-West highway in the Niger Delta region, financing of Abuja urban transportation programmes and agriculture.

    He said: “We are developing new operations for Nigeria to enable us to finance road projects in the Niger Delta region, Abuja urban transportation programmes, and agricultural initiatives.

    “These projects are contained in the new developmental strategy being mapped out for Nigeria. They are projects the bank is preparing for the country.

    “We will go to the board of the bank for approval soon. Immediately the board approves it, implementation of the projects would start as part of our ongoing concern to improve infrastructure in the country.”

    He said the projects would have a gestation period of four years (2013-2016), adding that they are short term.

    He said the decision to evolve a new financing strategy for the country was borne out of the need to encourage growth of some sensitive areas.

    He said the projects are new and different from the ones earlier approved and executed by the bank. The projects, he said, are not only developmental, but underscore the bank’s plans and programmes for member states.

    Dore said the bank had earlier approved $2.2 billion for infrastructural projects in Nigeria, adding that the money was meant to finance privately and publicly-driven projects in the country.

    He said $1.3 billion was earmarked for private projects, while the public projects got $900 million.

    “Altogether, we are spending $2.2 billion on projects in Nigeria. We have started implementing some projects, while others have not been executed.”

     

  • MEND disowns Okah, Azizi

    There was a fresh twist to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta plan to unleash mayhem in the region over last Monday’s conviction of a founder of the group, Mr. Henry Okah as another faction of the militant group disowned the threat on Tuesday.

    A spokesperson’ of the group, Commander Azizi, said the group would attack oil facilities and target South African business interests in the region in retaliation for the conviction.

    However, Jomo Gbomo, the known spokesperson of the group, on Tuesday issued a statement disowning the threat.

    He said, “MEND wishes to advise Nigerians and the media to disregard the pathetic attempt at propaganda by a so-called Comrade Azizi and his statements, which are not authentic and statements emanating from MEND.”

    Jomo Gbomo also disowned Henry Okah, who will be convicted on January 31 in Johannesburg, South African.

    The statement described Okah as a sympathiser of the group’s cause and not a founder as claimed by Azizi’s statement.

    He corrected the impression created by the said Comrade Azizi that MEND was championing a cause to tear the country apart, saying they are only freedom fighters fighting for the injustice in the Niger Delta and control of the resources derivable from the region.

    He said that in due time the original MEND would react to prevailing circumstance in the country.