Elusive peace in Nigeria's oil Delta
By Andrew Walker
BBC News, Port Harcourt
An effort by the Nigerian government to bring peace to the oil-rich Niger Delta region hangs in the balance even before it has officially begun.
The government of President Umaru Yar'Adua is trying to organise a giant peace summit to end violence by gangs of armed youths that have disrupted oil production and seen it cut by around a quarter............
Last week, an attack by militants close to the Bonny Island Liquefied Natural Gas export terminal killed nine people, including a pregnant woman and four soldiers.................
Losing billions
The government plans to try and get thousands of key decision makers, including militants, to a summit where they hope a solution can be agreed to the problems of the Niger Delta.
Because oil prices are so high, the reduction in the country's oil production is costing it billions of dollars.
Unemployment is rampant.
Any young man on the streets will tell you, as oil militants also do, that oil companies and state governments have cheated the people of development and opportunities.
...The real problem, they say, is the connection between politics and violence.
Corrupt politicians and military officers use armed militants to steal oil and protect their lucrative positions in government.
"Most of what is going on here is sheer criminality," says Anyakwee Nsirimovu, a human rights activist based in Port Harcourt.
"If a state of emergency was declared and all the governors removed and independent-minded people put in, they could end this thing."
Without things like reliable power supplies, transport infrastructure and employment, people will remain dependent on the patronage of corrupt leaders and will be unable to speak out against them, he says.
"Not many people can speak the way I do, because they are afraid. Plenty of people spoke out in the day and were killed at night."
He says the government's intention to get militants to put their arms out of use is "absolute nonsense".
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/7492870.stm