www.akumafiete.org :: Asari's Arrest

THE NIGER DELTA PEOPLES VOLUNTEER FORCE

The Niger Delta have been consigned to perpetual penury, servitude, underdevelopment and neglect. This is the genesis and birth of the people’s volunteer force under the leadership of Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari.

The unprecedented heroic welcome of Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari by the people of the Niger Delta is a confirmation that the demands of the NDPVF for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference, Resources Control and Self-Determination are the true desires of the people of the region.

Return of peace to Niger Delta

Basil Esin, Cross River State, [Daily Independent Newspapers]

The Niger Delta Perspective:

Back to NDPVF headlines

"Going by the events taking place in the Niger Delta in recent times, one can say that the area remains the powder keg of the country. In truth, not even the inarticulate spirit of Biafra as expressed by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MOSSOB), the passing reference to Oduduwa by the Oodua People’s Congress and other ethnic militia pose a major problem to the country as the Niger Delta Volunteer Force and other forces in the area.

Those who know Chief Olusegun Obasanjo were pretty surprised by his approach, last year, to the crisis in the Niger Delta. Surprisingly, the leader of one of the most rascally of the groups in Niger Delta was flown into Abuja in Presidential jet for a high level peace meeting. As I write this piece, the man in question, Dokubo Asari, has since returned, not to the trenches, but to the Niger Delta and has been busy reconciling, calling for peace, regretting the untoward consequences of his misguided exuberance, and the surrendering of guns and other ammunition.

To most keen observers, the news of Asari’s presence in Abuja was taken with cautious pessimism. In fact, I was one of those who said that the man had foolishly given himself out. I thought he was simply lured to Abuja to the captured, forced to expose the mechanics of his operation, so that his group and similar groups will be finally decimated. From the benefit of hindsight, I do not blame myself or others who nursed similar trend of thoughts. In the ancient times, the Roman General, Didius repeated the exploit of Garba: he lured a whole tribe to troublesome natives into Roman camp by pretending a peace deal. When they came, he had them all slaughtered. Obasanjo was a military man and sometimes forgets he had left the army a long time ago, as he still behaves typical of military men.

The manner of peace Obasanjo made with the rascals of the Niger Delta is instructive. I call them rascals because the opposition were using them to destabilitse the government of the day. The peace deal is a pleasant reminder that sometimes a leader needs to stoop in order to conquer. This was the secret of Pericles, once the leaders of Athens of old. A citizen who did not like his manner of governance, it was said, peddled Pericles, with foul words. The persistent citizen followed him to his house, whereupon, we are told, Pericles rather than ordering his aides to beat him asked them to take a lantern and escort him back to his house lest he get injured because it was dark. Upon seeing how Pericles returned his insolence, he became one of his fans. Unknowingly Baba, by his recent peace moves, inviting troublemakers to Abuja, and admonishing them like a father, has replicated the Periclean wisdom.

If this type of wisdom is applied to other groups, I have no doubt that they will be made to understand their folly, not the foolishness of fighting against injustice as some of them claim, but the foolishness of carrying guns, snuffing off life without compunction, terrorising the nation on account of trifles.I have said the foregoing because, in truth, injustices abound in the country. It has thus became normal for ambitious Nigerians and disenchanted youth to ferment trouble as a smokescreen for fighting those injustices. A clear case is the Niger Delta issue that is the subject of this article.

No doubt, the Niger Delta has become the proverbial geese that lay the Nigerian golden egg. About 70 per cent of the wealth of the nation today comes from that region. But before that wealth is produced, there is always the consequent damage to the environment, the ecosystem, the flora and fauna. The damage is such that their rivers are polluted through spillages, thus making it difficult for an otherwise aquatic rich areas to sustain aquatic lives. Studies in the past reveal the absence of planktons, vital to aquatic lives, in the ocean and rivers. Most of the areas are swampy and the activities of the oil companies make farming unattractive. When these areas are left miserable and their youths see the wealth of the nation building Lagos and Abuja, they are right to demand a fair deal.

But the point to note is that the past governments made efforts to add value to the area, but the efforts were still born. Obasanjo, recognising the truth set up the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Unlike similar agencies in the past, the NDDC of Obasanjo is better funded and it justifies it as shown by its achievements in infrastructure and the provision of other used in social amenities.

If the ‘rascals’ in the Delta as represented by Dokubo and others are allowed to thrive, the gains of NDDC and the increased government presence in the area will be jeopardized. Likewise, the use of force, even though it will eventually succeed in the light of superior power, will achieve only but Pyrrhic victory. The peace diplomacy as Obasanjo opted for last year remains the best option, should be continued and encouraged."

The Niger Delta Perspective:

A word is enough for the wise:

"Going by the events taking place in the Niger Delta in recent times, one can say that the area remains the powder keg of the country. No other ethnic militia pose a major problem to the country as the Niger Delta Volunteer Force and other forces in the area.

In truth, injustices abound in the country. No doubt, the Niger Delta has become the proverbial geese that lay the Nigerian golden egg. About 70 per cent of the wealth of the nation today comes from that region. But before that wealth is produced, there is always the consequent damage to the environment, the ecosystem, the flora and fauna. The damage is such that their rivers are polluted through spillages, thus making it difficult for an otherwise aquatic rich areas to sustain aquatic lives. Studies in the past reveal the absence of planktons, vital to aquatic lives, in the ocean and rivers. Most of the areas are swampy and the activities of the oil companies make farming unattractive. When these areas are left miserable and their youths see the wealth of the nation building Lagos and Abuja, they are right to demand a fair deal."