Et tu, avengers?

Shakespearean scholars would understand the title of this peace as a similar phrase was used by William Shakespeare in his book “Julius Caesar.”It was used by the Roman dictator Julius Caesar to express shock and sadness at the treachery of a good friend- Brutus, at the moment of the former’s assassination. At a time when Nigeria’s economy is depressed, some Nigerians would have expressed shock and sadness that fellow Nigerians are involved in incessant destruction of oil pipelines in the Niger Delta.

Surprisingly, they would have asked if Niger Delta Avengers too were involved in militancy in Nigeria. There are other Nigerians who are not surprised at this criminal act because they suspected that the 2009 Amnesty Program instituted by former President Musa Yar’adua will not solve the problem of underdevelopment in the Niger Delta Region. Why? It is because wealth distribution to few individuals does not evoke economic development.

For some time, Nigeria has been fighting against terrorism and also making efforts to address other security challenges in some parts of the nation. When you wake up in the morning, grab a copy of your favourite daily newspaper only to be greeted by the headline- “Niger Delta Avengers bombed oil installations in Nembe,” you may want to ask: who are these avengers and what are they avenging?

It is observed overtime that the interests of most individuals in Nigeria tend to be short term in nature. Very rarely do these interests coincide with national objectives. The observation flows principally from the get-rich-quick syndrome of Nigerians in which most individuals generally want to grow by the easiest possible means especially by the extraction of wealth that is merely an acquisition.

It is true that the number of the poor in the society is increasing. It has however, been observed overtime that a man is poor not because he does not have money. A man is poor because he does not have a vision in his mind and heart. It is because these young men and women lack vision that is why they cannot understand that the greater victory for them in their struggle for economic emancipation requires no war.

In order to deter the Niger Delta Avengers from incessant destruction of oil installations, the federal government has deployed the military with sophisticated defence equipment. Will this action of the federal government deter the militants? Your guess is as good as mine. Those in government must however, draw inspiration from Sun Tzu’s philosophy that “the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” Deploying the military is necessary but it may not be sufficient to bring peace to the Niger Delta region.

Who are these avengers? They are unemployed youths of the Niger Delta region. What are these young men and women avenging? There are several reasons given for perpetrating this criminal act. The tragedy of the nation at the moment is that whilst a few ethnic groups within the country are ceaselessly preoccupied by kidnapping and killings that are of no strategic relevance to national economic development, herdsmen are using weapons manufactured by developed nations but smuggled into the country to kill innocent citizens. Meanwhile, the Niger Delta Avengers are bombing oil installations with a view to bringing a nation that is broke to a standstill economically. The perpetrators of these heinous crimes have forgotten that the ultimate war should be the survival of all Nigerians with full rights irrespective of tribe and tongue- which has been ignored overtime.

The agitation by the Niger Delta Avengers and other ethnic nationalities is politically motivated. It is doubtful if they have considered the economic and social implications of their actions. The choice to bomb oil installations has consequences. The bombing of oil installations is criminal against the nation and humanity. This senseless action will further compound the pollution problem within the Niger Delta Region. The question that I have always asked is this: if they blow all oil installations, will that provide wealth for the region? No! When the nation does not sell crude oil, what will state governors from the Niger Delta region get from Abuja at the end of the month? Nothing!

Have these agitators not been told that the federal government has promised to begin implementation of the United Nations Environmental Protection (UNEP) Report? This action will cost Nigeria a huge amount of funds. A commentator argued that when the former President Goodluck Jonathan was in power, why was there no bombing of oil installations. Was there a conspiracy of silence at that time? President Buhari has promised that his government would start with environmental cleaning of Ogoni on 2 June 2016. Mr President, this is a promise that must be kept faithfully.

Nigeria cannot continue to use arms and ammunition to settle political differences with ethnic groups. The federal government of Nigeria needs to do something different to enable the nation get a better result in governance. Mr President must start the process of restructuring the entire nation and give control to the states. Consequently, it is strongly recommended that the option of non-violence should be pursued by both the federal government and the aggrieved Niger Delta Avengers. Non-violence will be the best option for survival of the people of the Niger Delta region.

 

MA Johnson