WHEN Egypt and Israel sat down together in 1978 to negotiate peace, their positions were incompatible. Israel insisted on keeping some parts of the Sinai. Egypt, on the other hand, insisted that every inch of the Sinai be returned to Egyptian sovereignty.
First instance focus should be shifted toward securing commitment for the provision of infrastructural development and improvement in the living standards of the Niger-Delta people which is the primary objective of the struggle. The Federal Government on its part cannot continue to ignore an agitation which has resulted in loss of about $1billion in revenue to it in less than two months. So, in the interest of the economy, an agreement can be reached through a third party such as the United Nations which can guarantee that the release of the hostages will usher infrastructural development, not only through the efforts of the Federal Government but also through a global initiative such as a donors conference since oil and gas of which Niger Delta is a veritable source, is a global commodity.
A UN-endorsed donors’ conference is not a novelty as a similar measure was taken on behalf of Afghanistan and Iraq to promote stability in the region, which became volatile in the wake of a United States- led war against terrorism. If the world could get together to raise funds for Afghanistan and Iraq, there is no reason such a gesture should not be extended to the Niger Delta which is equally a part and parcel of the gulf of Guinea, one of the world’s strategic source of fossil fuel. Expectedly, the subsequent massive infusion of investment funds into the Niger Delta by donor agencies would far outstrip the $1.5 billion currently being demanded by the hostage-takers as compensation.
And with the anger of the Ijaws assuaged by the proposed provision of social amenities in the Niger Delta and a say in the management of oil and gas resource from their land (increase in derivation funds already being considered in the on-going constitutional amendments), charges on Asari Dokubo may be dropped as the raison d’etre for his struggle would be rendered obselete (and he would pose no further threat to government). Similarly, Alamieyeseigha’s incarceration could receive a political solution which is not a new approach in conflict resolution in our growing but fragile democracy as exemplified by the case of Salisu Buhari, the ex-speaker of the Federal House of Representatives who was convicted for certificate forgery and impeached but soon after pardoned. There are also the benevolent Supreme Court judgment on the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy and the brotherly settlement of the World Court judgement on Nigeria/Cameroun dispute over the Bakassi Peninsula.
Now back to the youths with shovels and axes digging up tunnels for distribution of fibre optic cables across the country introduced in the opening paragraph. The belief in some quarters is that by engaging the unskilled youths in that task, highway robbery on that axis has reduced drastically because the hitherto idle able-boded men who could have been lured into crime are now constructively and productively engaged in the telecommunications revolution.
This dovetails into the belief of a school of thought that if the Federal Government should embark on the construction of a highway from Lagos through Ondo, Edo, Delta and Bayelsa states, then through Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and Cross River as well as Abia states, like the telecom tunnel diggers, Niger Delta youths would be gainfully employed for the period of the construction, which clearly will spread into a rolling plan of at least ten-year period.
Just like the railway opened up Europe, construction of a highway in the Niger-Delta region could easily be the most critical purveyor of development in this treasure trove of the world that is home to a people suffering abject, indeed overt, negligence from a world that has forsaken them.
Mr. Onyibe is Commissioner for Special Duties in Delta State.