FEATURE ARTICLE


Leburah GanagoFriday, August 1, 2003
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Atlanta, GA, USA

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HOSTAGE TAKING AS A DIVERSION FROM THE OIL STRUGGLES


here is no contesting the fact that the callous insensitivity of the slick allies of the Nigerian ruling cabal and the multi-national oil corporations in the Niger delta in the face of pristine living condition of the people is capable of driving even the most docile of human beings into acts of desperation.

It is universally acknowledged that the Niger delta region accounts for over ninety-five per cent of the oil wealth which is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. It is equally an open secret that the Niger delta region is the least developed area of Nigeria as the oil wealth from the area is being carted away by the ruling cabal who come from the majority ethnic groups to develop their own regions.

It has to be acknowledged that the peoples of the oil �bearing Niger delta region have real fear- apart from what they are presently passing through they fear for the future. The argument is: if the people can be so criminally neglected while the oil is still flowing what happens when the oil dries up? Oloibiri, that coastal town which produced the first oil well in Nigeria in 1956, is today an epitome of neglect of the oil producing areas.

The recent increase in prices of petroleum products in the country by the Obasanjo led PDP government looks like the last nail driven into the coffins of the already overexploited Nigerian masses . And one can guess right that those who would be worse hit by this latest onslaught on the people by the ruling bandits are the Niger delta peoples who are groaning under the yoke of abject poverty. The least expected of any sensitive government should have been to allow this traumatized people who bear the brunt of oil exploitation access to this product of their land at affordable prices. A situation where my grand mother who has been perpetually denied the � privilege� of electricity light in spite of the fact that it is our oil wealth that lights the Abuja skyline. can no longer afford to light her local �bush� lamp when darkness descends in the village because she cannot afford kerosene at N32 a litre is totally unacceptable. And what do one make of the stupid argument that the Nigerian government have been subsidizing petroleum products to the Nigerian people to the tune of two hundred plus billion Naira annually? Meaning the government has been losing and seeks to recoup this loss by hiking the price of the products. Actually, we are being told that it is the marketers or rightly put, importers of petroleum products that have been losing on thei r profits.

In the first place, Nigeria which is rated severally as the fifth or seventh in the rank of petroleum exporting countries in the world with four giant refineries has no business importing finished petroleum products back into the country.

Truth is that the country�s oil refineries are being programmed to malfunction. This way, import of finished petroleum products would be a brisk business for those in high places and their well-connected business friends. Yet even if it is true that government has been subsidizing petroleum products prices for the people what about that ? What about those countries who run welfare programs for its citizens? Obasanjo has refused to appoint a Minister for the petroleum ministry. instead choosing to administer it himself in the midst of the stinking mess out there and corruption riddled mal administration which is crippling the industry. It is widely rumored that no one knows the actual sales figure of the Nigerian crude. The government only declare whatever figure it deems fit. In any case, the already pauperized Nigerian masses are continually been made to pay for the free -for �all looting of oil money by government officials and their well connected dubious contractors. The government is always eager to tell us how much the economy has been losing by way of subsidy on petroleum products and how much is being lost to the activities of illegal oil bunkering and sabotage of oil facilities but it has not been able to tell us how much the economy is losing from unaccounted official figures from the country�s oil sales . Neither have we been told how even the declared official figures are being spent. The Auditor �general of the Federation whose Audit Report last year disclosed across the board large scale misappropriation of funds in government ministries and departments was promptly fired for � embarrassing� the all-conquering PDP government.

While the oil producing communities of the Niger delta has little or nothing to show for their oil wealth they have plenty of woes to contend with arising from decades of reckless oil operations in the area. The most pronounced form of hazard of oil production here is environmental devastation. And oil spillage readily comes to mind here. Oil spillage is a regular occurrence in the Niger delta.

A Human Rights Watch publication: THE PRICE OF OIL: Corporate Responsibility and Human Rights Violations in Nigeria�s Oil Producing Communities quoting NNPC, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, sources reported that an appropriately 2,300 cubic meters of oil are spilled in 300 separate incidents annually. The report further went on to say that this is a very conservative estimate, arising from under- reporting, as the actual figure is believed to be about ten times higher.

The report reads inter alia : � Statistics from the Department of Petroleum Resources indicate that between 1976 and 1996 a total of 4,835 incidents resulted in spillage of at least 2,446,322 barrels (102.7 million U.S gallons), of which an estimated 1,896, 930 barrels ( 79.7 million U.S gallons ; 77 percent ) were lost to the environment "

However, oil spillage has always been a contentious issue between the oil producing communities on one side and the oil companies and the government on the other side. The oil companies and government always blame oil spillage on sabotage of oil facilities by elements of the host communities while locals point to neglect of facilities and reckless operations on the part of the oil companies as being responsible .

Admittedly, a few cases of oil spillage have been traced to the activities of vandals. However most of the incidents of oil spillage have actually been confirmed to be caused by aging facilities in states of disrepair. On this, the Human Rights Watch reports : � AS a result of the small size of the oilfields in the Niger delta, there is an extensive network of pipelines between the fields, as well as numerous small networks of flow lines- the narrow diameter pipes that carry oil from wellheads to flow stations-allowing many opportunities for leaks. In onshore areas, most pipelines and flow lines are laid above the ground. Many pipelines and flow lines are old and subject to corrosion : fifteen years is the estimated safe lifespan of a pipeline. but in numerous places in the delta pipelines aged twenty or twenty-five years can be found�

Water and land pollution arising from oil spills have left devastating impacts on the ecosystem of the Niger delta. This underscores the endemic hazards that host communities have had to live with for decades of oil exploitation in the area.

In April 1997, Project Underground, an Environmental and Human rights advocacy group based in California, United States, sneaked into Nigeria, undetected by the late General Abacha dreaded security network and collected water samples from parts of the Niger delta . The water samples were analyzed in U.S. and the results were startling. Analysis from the water sample which was taken from Luawii in Ogoni showed that it contained 18ppm of hydrocarbons. which is 360 times the level allowed in drinking water in the European union. In that study a water sample from Ukpeleide, Ikwere in Rivers State revealed an even more alarming condition. It contained 34 ppm which is 680 times the European Union Standard.

Land pollution is no less devastating. The Human Rights Watch publication also cited the case of the Ebubu oil spill of 1970. It reported as follows: � A study of a major spill at Ebubu. in Ogoni on the other hand, carried out nineteen years after it had been set ablaze, leaving a five-meter thick crust, found that vegetation was recovering, but that vegetation in the areas downstream of the spill was still being degraded due to a slow seepage of crude oil from the spill site�.

What appears as the worst case of oil blow out in Nigeria occurred in Kegbara Dere. Ogoni in 1970. The blow out which occurred on July 19, 1970 has left its impact on the soil and vegetation of the community to this day. The impact of this blow out was so devastating that studies carried out twenty years after the incident showed that the soil was still impaired. And several years later, films of crude oil was still flowing on the rivers even as local fishermen diving for underwater fishing would still have their heads covered with crude oil.

The Christmas tree ( well-head) was uprooted as a mixture of crude oil and granite stones gushed out of the well . The mixture of crude oil and granite stones emitted from the oil well rained onto the roof of buildings in the village some six miles away. The blow- out also resulted in earth tremor that shook buildings in the village and caused panic among the inhabitants. It took over two weeks for the fire service to put out the fire which accompanied the blow out. Farmlands of up to four miles radius were flooded with crude oil. The streams and creeks were covered with thick layers of crude oil as the crude flowed in like rain flood. Marine lives were destroyed just as stream water the community�s only source of drinking water was rendered unusable. Crops were effectively buried under the sea of crude oil.

In a protest letter to Shell dated July 27, 1970, the Dere Students union wrote inter alia : � On Sunday 19th July 1970 a ghastly, grave situation completely out of control broke loose. Due to gross negligence on the part of SHELL- B.P., pressure overdeveloped in one of her Well-Heads (CHRISTMAS TREE) and erupted into a volcano of Crude Oil. It�s running into its second week of an uncontrolled FOUTAIN of CRUDE OIL flooding farmlands, ravaging crops, polishing fishing ports; creeks. rivers and riverlets, mangrove forests, suffocating plants. Streams and the entire air space are dangerously polluted. In earnest, we are all breathing vaporized crude oil in DERE at present and for how long, indefinite. This is horror and disaster at bay� . ( Genocide in Nigeria: The Ogoni Tragedy- Ken Saro Wiwa, 1985).

Their political and numerical disadvantages coupled with an entrenched fraudulent electoral system continue to keep the Southern minorities out of the country�s power matrix. When it comes to the usually quasi civil democracy the majority ethnic groups who do not produce oil continue to use their numerical advantage in the national Assembly to pass obnoxious bills which further expropriate the oil wealth of the Niger delta to themselves and denying the owners of the land access to their God-given resource

In a so-called representative democracy, the oil producing ethnic minorities are being denied credible representation as the ruling cabal apply naked violence and electoral fraud of unimaginable proportions to impose their stooges on the people. This way, the loyal stooges who know that they do not have the mandate of their people only go to the National Assembly to do the biddings of their neo-colonial sponsors and mortgage the interest of their people.

It is still the majority ethnic groups who produce the army generals that plot coups and shoot their way to political power through the barrels of the gun. They enact decrees that are inimical to the survival of the oil producing minorities such as the controversial Land Use Decree of February 1978, which has been incorporated into all subsequent Nigerian constitutions.

After over three decades of docility the oppressed minorities of the Oil rich Niger delta led by the Ogoni people. said enough is enough and decided to confront their oppressors. However, in confronting their oppressors, MOSOP. Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, according to its leader, Ken Saro Wiwa, chose the weapon the oppressors do not possess- truth and non-violence. The multinational oil corporations and the Nigerian ruling cabal are both violent institutions who use violence and blackmail to suppress and rob their victims. They have the wherewithal to mobilize and deploy instruments of violence against a defenseless people. Conventional wisdom therefore informs that it would be foolhardy to attempt to apply a method which your oppressors have absolute advantage over you, in fighting them.

However, the Ogoni was later to learn that their non-violence approach has done little or nothing to assuage the blood- lust of the slick allies, the multi-national oil corporations and the Nigerian ruling cabal. They were bloodied as a whole generation of their leadership was wiped out in a desperate attempt to break the resolve of the people and to deter other Niger delta communities from following the Ogoni example. But again, the slick allies were soon to learn of the futility of their own methods as the Ogoni bloodbath only served as a tonic for a just struggle whose time has come. The fire of agitation is sweeping across the Niger delta and the slick allies are bungling again, still relying on the old-fashioned brutal suppression. They are engaging in massive deployment of troops into the area. turning it into a battlefield.

But the beauty of non-violence is that you would have decent people the world over, standing behind you . History will be on your side. And in the final analysis, light will always prevail over darkness. Truth will prevail over falsehood and blackmail . And victory will be yours. no matter how long it takes.

Like Chief Edwin Clark pointed out the other day, the tragi-drama of hostage taking in parts of the Niger delta has nothing to do with the legitimate struggles of the Niger delta peoples to invite attention to their plight and to seek justice from their exploiters. We have observed over the years that those groups engaged in the struggle for justice for the Niger delta peoples have continued to conduct their protests in a non-violent and peaceful manner even in the face of violent provocations by their oppressors.

The hostage-taking phenomenon is a total misrepresentation of the legitimate struggles in the Niger delta. What we are seeing is a group of misguided youths who may be taking advantage of a bad situation to play mischief in the creeks. In contrast to the organizational settings of groups involved in the oil struggles, the hostage �takers seem to operate on disoriented and adhoc arrangements . They go on � operation�, hold some oil workers as hostages, make frivolous demands of paltry monetary prizes and release their hostages when their demands have been met. This is an obvious trivialization and negation of the demands of the Niger delta peoples-that of restitution demanded of the oil thieves and cabal exploiters who have been plundering our oil wealth and murdering our people . We are asking for access to our God-given resources to be used to develop our development-starved communities and for the resuscitation of our devastated environments. We are asking for self-determination and local autonomy so we can define our developmental priorities . We vehemently protest a slave status being accorded us in our supposedly land of our birth whereby our God-given resource is being seized by those who have imposed themselves on us as rulers and remnants of same being rationed to us from Abuja .We still detest a situation whereby the remnants of our stolen oil money that have been rationed to us from Abuja is in turn being siphoned by the errand boys of Aso Rock in the state Government Houses, leaving us with nothing. We demand a stop to the wanton looting of our oil money.

What is now needed at this stage of the oil struggles in the Niger delta is massive mobilization of the people at the grass-roots by visible, focused and well-coordinated agitation groups who can present formidable non-violent opposition to the wanton looting of our oil-wealth in the face of contemptible neglect of the area. The various ethnic based agitation groups should be able to establish a network of interaction and cooperation in order to present a common bloc.

To realize effective cooperation among these groups the issue of inter and intra ethnic clashes has to be addressed.

In a Communique issued after the maiden Niger delta Ethnic Nationalities Conference held in Port Harcourt in February 1999, the conference noted as follows: � The Conference is seriously concerned with the spate of intra and inter communal crisis within the Niger delta and notes that the conflicts are more often than not sponsored by the state and the multi-national oil companies with the sole aim of dividing and ruling the people. The Conference therefore sets up the Niger delta Peace Initiative, which shall work with other bodies to create a credible mediation process.� . But given the unabated perennial inter communal clashes in the area it is yet to be seen how much impact the Niger delta Peace initiative has made. That is, if it ever took off.

Like the Conference rightly noted, it is the state and the oil companies who are sponsoring these intra and inter communal conflicts to keep the people perpetually divided so they cannot speak with one voice in confronting their common oppressors. It therefore behooves the Niger delta peoples to take the initiative themselves in resolving to resist being used against one another and agreeing to live together in peace. This is the only way we can together prosecute our just struggles for economic and political emancipation.