The Federal Government has been accused of insincerity on moves geared towards resolving the perennial crisis of militancy in the Niger Delta.
The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), one of the militant groups agitating for resource autonomy for the people of the oil-rich region, made the accusation yesterday while reacting to Buhari’s latest pronouncement on the proposed dialogue between the Federal Government and leaders of the Niger Delta.
Buhari had, at the weekend, told some visitors to the State House that his administration will persuade the leaders of the Niger Delta “that they should please sit down with us and agree to manage our resources rather than think of fighting it out.”
But the NDA, the group that has claimed responsibility for most of the vandalism visited on oil and gas facilities, expressed disappointment at the predetermined position of government towards the dialogue, saying the administration has displayed insincerity on matters concerning the Niger Delta.
Spokesman for the Supreme Consultative Council (SCC) of the Eastern and Central Divisions of the NDA, Mr. Ballantyne Agiri, told New Telegraph that the Federal Government, in a bid to attract public sympathy, was playing politics with the issues in the Niger Delta.
“President Buhari alone knows those he has been talking with in the Niger Delta. I tell you the truth, there is no sincerity in him on matters concerning the Niger Delta, but politicking to attract public sympathy.
The world will clearly see the day he comes out genuinely to seek dialogue with our people,” he said.
The president had in October, invited the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PNDF), a group promoted by Chief Edwin Clark and some other Niger Delta leaders, to a meeting in Abuja.
The meeting was meant to set the templates for an acceptable dialogue with the stakeholders and representatives of militant groups.
However, two months after, there has been no further action as the Federal Government has so far failed to set up its own dialogue team to discuss with the team set up by the stakeholders in the Niger Delta.
Indications emerged shortly after the meeting that not much progress would be made as Buhari merely received the PANDEF delegation, but made no commitments to the 16-point demands of the group.
The delegation from the Niger Delta, led by a former Federal Commissioner (minister) of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, had tabled a 16-point demand, which included a review of the ownership of oil blocs to include the states of the Niger Delta.
At the high level marathon meeting, New Telegraph learnt, Buhari reportedly harped on the relationship between peace, security, investment and prosperity and urged the Niger Delta leaders to ensure that peace reigned in their domain to encourage investors to invest as “nobody will invest in an insecure environment.”
While receiving the 16-point request presented for negotiation by the Niger Delta leaders, Buhari said he was still expecting reports from officials he had instructed to review the implementation of the amnesty programme to determine where government fell short so that amends can be made.
The president said the service chiefs were putting together their own assessment of the militancy situation, saying “when I have these reports, including this one (just presented), we will revisit the situation (in the region) to ensure that we succeed this time.”
He, however, cautioned the leaders of the Niger Delta that they had more to do than anyone else to bring peace to the region, given the influence they have on militant groups.
A source at the meeting confided in one of our correspondents that the Niger Delta delegation left the meeting venue downcast as there were no signs that the Federal Government was prepared to entertain any of the items on their shopping list.
“There is really nothing cheery for now. We presented our position vividly. We urged the president to set up a government negotiation team. I didn’t hear him say he would.
We will watch, what follows,” one of the leaders said. New Telegraph also inquired from another stakeholder who was also at the meeting and the response went thus: “From my point of view, it was a fiasco. The president is not interested in dialogue.
He wants only peace and more oil revenue.” It was learnt that the general feeling of the delegation was that the Federal Government was not prepared to listen to the representatives of the oil bearing communities, a posture that could only lead to more violence and resultant economic sabotage from the various militant groups operating in the creeks of the Niger Delta.
New Telegraph
