What is your assessment of the development of the Niger Delta?
I must tell you, from my research round the Niger Delta communities and as far as I am concerned, there is no development in the Niger Delta. When I came here in the late 70s, I went round to what used to be called the old Rivers State and I was shocked to my marrow by what I saw. You don’t need to be from the region to see the injustice. I was in Lagos and I used to see the Third Mainland Bridge, then I asked myself what if one-third of this bridge was constructed here, then you could drive to Nembe and Bonny. You could drive to Ogbakiri, Buguma, Degama. The bridge they are constructing linking Adoni to Opobo is yet to be completed.
So, I can tell you there is no development yet because the riverine areas of this region have not been opened to link upland. One major road that links the Niger Delta states, which I see as a beautiful concept, is the East-West Road; that was one major idea though they made mistake because they didn’t dualise the road. It links the commercial zone of the region. It was a good idea but totally inadequate. Beyond this road, I don’t see anything, maybe Rivers, Calabar, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Edo, Bayalsa have all expanded, including other Niger Delta states and may have been beautiful. And some of the states today have airports but that is not what I called development. This is because the masses benefit nothing from it. What I am saying is that if a fisherman in Ogbia and other communities in the region has no access to link up the major cities to sell what they have produced, then we are not there yet. And if this set of people cannot sell what they have because of lack of infrastructure, then it added nothing to the economy. We have not reached where we ought to have reached as far as I am concerned.
What do you think is the prospect for lasting peace in the region?
What I have always talked about is that if you are taking oil from under somebody’s building or land, it is not a crime because the person has no equipment or grantee by law to tap the oil by himself. But, what is crime is when we forget that there should be certain recognition that this oil was taking from his land. Treat the person in a way that he will feel comfortable like the man who ends up making enough profit from the same oil. That is what I called justice and equity.
Don’t forget during the Peace Project, I told those who came to the training that you cannot talk about peace without talking about justice. There must be justice and equity to get peace. Anybody who comes to Niger Delta will arrive at the same conclusion: you don’t show wickedness to people because you are interested in profit. There was a time I challenged them and I told them that since they are always talking about profit without the concern for the people, suppose they exchange profit with the people. The people are dying, the people are suffering and you are talking about profit, and then replace a dying Niger Delta man with profit since you are interested in profit. And what these people do in Niger Delta is that if a particular people are shouting for injustice, they will use another group of people in the same community to shout them down; that is the politics. But, the truth is that you cannot have peace without justice.
As far as there is unjust system, it will be very difficult to achieve peace. The British were the ones that colonised us and they were also the people that are talking about human rights. First, our right ab initio has been taken away to govern and to look after ourselves. But, it didn’t work because it didn’t stop attack on British establishment. It is not a verbal issue; the African nation kept on fighting until they became independent. You are creating a situation that creates conflict and you are verbally talking of peace. It cannot work until you match your verbal theory with action.
What do you think we have achieved in our 53 years of nationhood?
Over the years, the only thing one can say Nigeria has achieved is by remaining as one indivisible country, whether that is by design or accident, especially after the civil war. But, Nigeria, somehow after that war, still remains one country. Then, one should also look at the various aspects of the economy. We are also very lucky that oil has been flowing. And we are also deriving major aspects of our economic to this great commodity. We have been able to keep that despite all kinds of hiccups and turbulence in the economic system. Again, Nigeria was able to project themselves in another ways like sports and the rest of them. The only thing that tends to cloud the entire system is politics. When you look at what politicians are doing, you will say nothing has happened and when you look at the violence that often erupts like the issue of Boko Harem, kidnapping, militancy and the rest of them, it creates the impression that we have not achieved anything. But, we are trying and we have achieved something since Nigeria got independence. All we need now is to reinvest the money looted in the system back to the system.
How do you think the challenge of unemployment can be tackled?
For you to do anything in an environment that is called a nation, there must be certain structures that will be provided by the government; that is why we elected them to represent us. The provision of infrastructure and other basic necessities of life which include water, electricity, hospital, market and school are not being targeted.
When government provides infrastructure, the people now function on the context. It is necessary that government or somebody must provide a starting point for you. Someone must give you a little push to begin life. There is no way you can start with nothing to become something. In life, there must be an initial push. If the government provides infrastructure, even if they don’t provide direct employment, a number of people will provide job for themselves. It has happened in my community. The first time we got electricity, some of the members of the community who were living in the town, such as welders, electricians, plumbers and so on, decided to relocate to the community. Those who relocated had apprentices working with them and people began to send their children to acquire skills.
So, youths will find it extremely difficult, if not impossible to survive without an initial push from your parents or the government. It costs the government nothing to provide a little allowance for out-of-school youths. When the government does this, their input will galvanise the system and make them productive to the society. Instead of vandalising the pipeline, kidnapping, stealing and all the rest of things that frustration pushes them to do. It is not a matter of minimum wage. I know people that if you give them N10, 000 every month, they will start life with it.
