Prominent Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, tells OVIE OKPARE that massive infrastructural development in the Niger Delta will ensure peace in the oil-rich region
What has been the development in the Niger Delta after you led the Pan Niger Delta Stakeholders to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari?
I think the word dialogue is just being oversimplified. You can have a dialogue on issues when you know much about the issues. Many people, including government officials, do not appreciate what the people in the Niger Delta are passing through. This is not about calling for another dialogue because everything that is needed to achieve peace has been presented to the government at all levels and the International Oil Companies at different engagements. The Niger Delta area is a special region. It is a region which is on its own. Part of the Niger Delta is completely waterlogged and people who live on the land (government inclusive) do not understand or appreciate what the people who live on the water pass through. Sitting on top of water, yet there is no water to drink, and no form of water transportation. This fight has been on for long. It did not start with us. As far back as the 1950s, this issue led to the establishment of the Willy Commission of Inquiries. When Nigeria was asking for independence, the people of the Niger Delta said the people living on the land did not understand the problems of the Niger Delta people and, therefore, there was a need for the British government to assure the people of the area that they would not be left alone. That was the position from 1950 to 1956.
What is missing right now is that a group of people in government is now looking for new people to negotiate with. I was so sad when I heard the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, say on the television that Mr. President has set up a committee to look for the leaders of the various groups operating in the Niger Delta and the identities of the people causing problems there. That was a big insult to us. Anybody, who does not know that Chief Clark and other members of Pan Niger Delta Stakeholders’ Forum are the leaders of the Niger Delta should examine himself. When the pipeline bombings were taking place, I was the first to issue a statement. I travelled and came back. I issued another statement, nobody took notice. They were looking for people who they will hold dialogue with. They were looking for young men and ladies who will not indulge the military, so we kept quiet and the bombing continued that way until we called for a meeting because if the roof falls today, it will fall on our heads. Nigeria belongs to everybody. Nobody owns it more than the other, except you are using might. Otherwise, we are all equal in this country. So, we decided to call a meeting at the premises of the Petroleum Training Institute in Effurun, which was attended by over 500 delegates. There we agreed that the crisis should stop and we contacted the militants and they agreed. We were mandated to hold dialogue on their behalf. From that day, there was a pause. No more vandalism. Then we saw the attempt being made to divide us but they did not succeed and we quickly arranged a meeting in Abuja, where we met and decided to discuss with Mr. President. At that point, I commended the activities of Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu. If not for him, the dialogue would not have taken place. He was the one who went to Okerenkoko and other places when some of his colleagues wanted war.
We engaged in a series of consultations before the 16-point for discussion was done. We were over 100 delegates that went for the meeting but it was true that less than 24hours, there was bombing and we condemned it loudly. We called them criminals, enemies of the people. We held a meeting in Asaba recently and we called on the government again to take advantage of this opportunity. So, we call on the Federal Government to name the people who will hold dialogue with us. We have already prepared our own list anytime the President is ready for a dialogue. We are doing this on behalf of the people, including the militants who mandated us to do so. So, when they are looking for youths to hold dialogue with, they are taking us back. Some of these people are not sincere with what is going on. We have been in offices before so they are not the first to be holding public offices.
What are the top three issues to be addressed in the Niger Delta in 2017?
The first thing the Federal Government should do after the extension of the amnesty programme to educate our children should now be extended to infrastructural development as provide by the 45-member Technical Committee headed by Ledum Mitee, which was part of the amnesty programme. There must be an infrastructural development which is seriously lacking. As far back as 1998, General Kpokpoula, a military officer was appointed by Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar’s government to look into the agitations of our people and when he saw that no infrastructure development was taking place, he recommended so many things, including the stepping down of electricity in Yenagoa at a cost of N300m as of that time. He said there should be a university in the area but today, somebody is opposing the establishment of the university. He believes that new towns should be built.
When I say infrastructure, there is nothing to show if you drive to the riverine areas; nothing has changed. The school walls are collapsing; there are no health centres and roads. As far back as 1959, the Federal Government had riverine transportation system moving passengers and goods from Warri, Burutu and Lagos to Onitsha but today, even the state government has no water transportation system for the people. Can you imagine a situation whereby fuel is cheaper in Sokoto than in Yenagoa? How would you look at it that it is cheaper to buy groundnut oil from Warri than it is in Kano? These are the irregularities people are opposing. Whatever we have should be used for our benefits. The people are living in a very difficult area. Reclamation of the area is necessary so that we can build new towns for them; let them see the benefits of oil. We all see what is going on in Dubai and many other parts of the world. Why should people, who produce oil, be poorer than people who do not produce oil?
This is a very serious situation. The Federal Government should start work on its proposed rail project from Calabar to Lagos, the East–West Road should be completed, while new towns should be established. The people should feel that they come from where there is wealth and not be impoverished. They should build more schools. The Federal Government claims that it is already building primary schools but there is no evidence that these buildings exist in the region. In other parts of the country, so much money is being voted for the building of primary schools, training of teachers, and so on and so forth; so education is going down in the region. Is it not ridiculous that on the land at Abuja, you have over 2,000 bridges and it is difficult to extend same to the riverine areas where you can build bridges to enable the people to move from place to place? These are issues the Federal Government should not leave for the state government.
People talk about the 13 per cent derivation that is being paid to the Niger Delta; the government of the various the states in the Niger Delta must be made to account for how they have been spending the derivation funds. This is not part of their normal allocation. This money is meant to be spent on the oil-producing communities in the area. So, we are going to call on the Federal Government to revisit Section 162, which provides for the payment of the minimum of 13 per cent to the host communities. This money (13 per cent derivation) should be paid and a formula should be worked out whereby people would benefit directly from it and not for the governors to keep as their pocket money, spending it on their own without recourse to anybody.
In our last meeting in Asaba, this issue was discussed and we are going to revisit it because each time we went to the national conferences, both in 2005 and 2014, the reply from other regions is this, “Your governors (Niger Delta) receive 13 per cent derivation, what have they done with the money? We usually responded by saying it was an internal matter that we would deal with. We will do that this year.
How best can the Federal Government expedite action to actualise the construction of development projects in the area?
I think this is part of our dialogue. We will give our contributions on what to do. That’s why we put in infrastructural development of the area in the demands. We’ll hold dialogue with Mr. President. The Federal Government cannot do everything overnight but we want to see goodwill. We want to see that something is being done to alleviate the suffering of the people of the region.
How can the government help the people feel more rewarded for their contributions to the economy?
Well, the present recession is affecting everybody in the country but whatever the Federal Government is generating, part of it should be spent on the people where the oil is being produced. This is apart from the 13 per cent (derivation) because we are part of this country. When the Federal Government plans a budget, it must show what each region is going to get. How many roads are going to be built and that should include us. The fact that 13 per cent is being paid is not a replacement. This is special to the area where oil is being produced to ameliorate their sufferings. Some of the spillages and attacks on oil facilities would stop because of the development that is taking place in the area.
How can the security of the waterways be improved?
What is going on right now in the region is like a jamboree. The number of military personnel in the Niger Delta as far back as 1997 could be easily counted, even when the waterways were small and very safe. Now, that number has been increased. I think a proper organisation of the military is necessary. They should remain in their barracks and specific places, not to be moving around and harassing the people. There is no reason why the people cannot live side-by-side with the military. I understand that the state government has its own waterways security. They (military) should be working together with the Federal Government troops.
What can help speed up the clean-up of Ogoniland and other parts of the Niger Delta?
The failure to carry out the cleanup of Ogoni is a shame. The same Federal Government authorised United Nations experts to produce a report. This Ogoni report was produced by United Nations organ. Now that they have submitted their report, they said they need $20 million to implement it. No one is saying that the money should be paid but the government should show goodwill by starting something. We heard Mr. President was going to Ogoni to flag off the clean-up; we were very happy but since then, nothing has happened. A situation where the people no longer have water to drink due to mass spillages is unacceptable. I understand that when you dig the soil, what comes out is oil and the whole land is polluted and nothing can grow on such land. The water they drink from such land is not safe.
Education is believed to be ignored in the region, for the most part, compared to other parts of the country. How can the government turn the situation around?
I feel very confident that our people want to be educated but the facilities are not there. I have gone through the riverine areas when I was a commissioner for education. I used to be a headmaster of a modern school as far back 1952 and I was also a principal, so, I know what education means. Going round the area today, there are no more schools. When people talk about the Almajiris in the North, what they have there is even better than what you have here. Therefore, the Federal Government should map out a special scheme to educate the children in the Niger Delta, especially in the riverine area. In the past, there was transport in the riverine area to convey children to school, to and fro, but today, all that is gone. The children today still sit under the trees. There are no furniture, desks and no teachers. Nobody wants to stay in the riverine area to teach because there are no waters for them to drink, no electricity and roads to drive their cars. These are some of the problems our people are facing. So, I am calling on the Federal Government to design a special scheme done for the Amajiris; if it is possible to spend part of the 13 per cent derivation money on education alone, I will be too happy. If you ask me to compare education now to when I was a commissioner for education and a principal, I will tell you the standard of education has gone far down. But it has to be resuscitated.
What measures do you think will enable international oil companies in the region to be more responsible in their area of operations?
What is going on in the Niger Delta today is a big shame on the International Oil Companies. Situations where you operate in an area of a community and there is light (at the companies) while the rest of such a community is in perpetual darkness, no schools and water to drink, only exemplify wickedness. These are some of the reasons that gave birth to militancy. The scenario between IOCs and host communities is that of heaven and hell fire. The oil companies must do a lot of community works in the region. One of the oil companies was queried in its own country when it falsified what it was doing for host communities in Nigeria. We don’t have a health centre but they are telling their country that they have given the people health centre. When they build boreholes, the pipes most times are not running. Or is it when they provide electricity and want the people to buy diesel to operate it, knowing full well that they don’t have the money to power it?
In 2001, militants held a meeting where they criticised theIOCs and the Federal Government for causing troubles in their areas when there is compensation to be paid. Instead of paying the compensation to the communities, they pay it to an individual and that individual will now have trouble with the community. I know of a situation whereby about four million naira (in those days) was paid to a traditional ruler and he failed to deliver the money to his people. They did not just kill him; they dragged him into a Volkswagen and burnt (him)dead. The kingdom just had another traditional ruler. One of the points I mentioned is that pipeline surveillance should be given to the communities. If a pipeline passes through your place, look after it and you will be paid. If anything is destroyed, let the community be held responsible. I spoke to some of the companies, including Shell and Chevron, and they bought the idea. I also spoke with then President OlusegunObasanjo and I still have the minutes where he said such an idea should be explored immediately. Obasanjo asked the MD of NDDC that time to convey such a meeting and it was done but not through NDDC and it didn’t last long. The policy brought about peace because each community was looking after their pipelines until amnesty came in and the project was awarded to a few individuals among the militants which caused serious troubles. But sooner than later, they discovered that leaving the pipeline protection with the people was much better than hiring foreigners to guide them. I’m asking the government to resuscitate this idea of various communities guarding the pipelines. Whatever that will be paid to foreign contractors should be paid to surveillance. A situation where such a contract is given to one militant group’s head is wrong. There should be cluster groups where by such contracts are shared among community youths and nobody envies the other.
The second aspect why we oppose or disagree with the international oil companies is their refusal to have their headquarters where the oil is produced. They stay in Lagos and operate in helicopters or boats where the oil is. A situation whereby Chevron has everything in Lagos is bad. There will be no Lekki today without Chevron. Many people have built estates in Lekki because of the presence of Chevron. Chevron built estate for his workers in Gbagada and has hundreds of buses they used to carry them. We are going to find out why Chevron workers do not pay taxes in the area of operation. We are going to ask Mr. President to allow Shell move to Port Harcourt and let Chevron move to Warri as their headquarters. If they can operate in the area, why can’t they stay in the area? If they stay in the area, more people will be employed why market women would witness improved sales. Let Agip move to Bayelsa State and let ExxonMobil move to Akwa Ibom state. Once we have that, there will be peace in the area and there will places for people to work. They will be happy that oil is being produced in their domain.
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