Amnesty-Easiest way out for the militants.

I’m sorry it took so long for the update to come. Like I mentioned in the last publication, I made mention of education as a potent tool to fighting the menace in the Niger Delta. Fortunately, the FG has gone this way, though, really slow in their execution but at least they are on the right track. But that doesn’t mean that we can let the issue to rest like that as it is a very important issue that must be discussed in its details.
You see, the issue of education in Nigeria has unfortunately, been relegated to the background which has put the majority into darkness, especially in the Niger Delta. I know this not from TV but from the fact that I lived in the region for a year-thanks to the NYSC scheme.
If you live among this people you’ll understand them and cannot help but to pity these people. Why? Because majority of the people are illiterates and among those who are not, most didn’t go beyond the secondary school level. This is pathetic especially when you consider the fact that even those who are graduates too are not really different from those who aren’t. This isn’t surprising to me really, because from my experience with them I discovered that education isn’t a priority. How did I know that?
There was a day in the school where I serve that a student from SSS1 was brought to the staff room and was reported to be ignorant of current affairs. He doesn’t know the name of the governor of his state! This was surprising, but to our shock, he cannot even spell his name correctly, in fact, he couldn’t even write the alphabets correctly. Now, this is not to look down on the people of Niger Delta in anyway rather, its for the sake of simplification that I make such an example. I want you to see the extent to which these people are deprived.
I use the word ‘deprived’ because of the known fact that knowledge is power , knowledge is light, a guidance and assurance of a better tomorrow. Without knowledge humans are no different from the animal world, no plans, no focus, no hope for a better future and the worst of all, they wait in vain for a miracle that is never meant to be. It is as bad as that!
I took pity of these people because of the ignorance that has spread through the region so much so that even the graduates, doctors and professors from this area lack the much needed sense of direction. They believe so much in the militant activities that they have kept quiet over the issue and make complaints only when the militants are at the receiving end. I mean no one is talking of developing the area, they seem to enjoy the drama and have no intention to resolve the conflicts. Even the amnesty program was negatively criticized.
I pity them for their worst enemy is their elite who use their own people to achieve their selfish interests. Though ignorance of these type is a general problem of Nigerians but its more pronounced down there in the Niger Delta.
Instead of focusing on profitable engagement of the youth of the area and seizing the opportunity of the presence of oil giants in the area in setting up SMEs all over the region, the elite chose to back the already misguided youths of the area to wreck more damages, FIRSTLY ,to their OWN people and consequently to Nigerians in general owing to our carelessness of course! We fail to diversify our income source. We depend solely on oil revenue gotten from exploration taking place in the area. We’ve lost our Agricultural streak, all the ground nut pyramids of the North all that cocoa money from which the Ibadan stadium was built not to mention the fact that we use to be one of the largest producers of Agric products in the world. All that are history now.
My people, the success of our founding fathers was possible only as a result of their high level of education. They were highly educated people who know what it takes to rule, what it takes to serve and the consequences of falling short of their responsibility as leaders. These people understand something that is very vital, something most politicians don’t know for a fact-that in selfless service lies your richness the true treasure that we all seek. It was in selfless service that people like “Awo”, the great “Zik “, Tafa Balewa and Saudana of Sokoto that they were able to write their name in GOLD on the GOLD pages of our country’s history. These people cannot be forgotten in Nigerian history. They played vital roles in our “bloodless” independence struggle. Unlike in other African countries where there has to be a fight or struggle that leads to arms taking and in some cases, a massacre was necessary to gain independency. These men of honor were able to win the Country’s independency without a blood shed. This unique feat was only possible ONLY through diplomacy a method that can only be adopted by people of understanding – the safest and by far the most efficient method of conflict resolution.
It is worth mentioning that the outstanding performances of our past heroes during the independence struggle can be attributed to their perfect understanding of the power of peaceful resolution of differences which is impossible if they were not educated and enlightened by education.
In conclusion, I would say that so far so good, efforts are currently made in the right direction and I would only recommend that it should be taken more seriously and execution of the skill acquisition training should be carried out with more speed and the state and local governments in the region should be involved to a very high extent. They should be closely monitored to ensure that the extra allocation they get is judiciously spent and not embezzled. Because, in my own opinion the problems of the Niger Delta is as a result of their failure and not that of the FG. Take Lagos as an example. Lagos state missed their allocation for more than a year and still was able to cater for her citizens without complaints. Now, compare that with the Niger Delta states who get EXTRA chunk of the national cake and NDDC to go with it yet still complain so bitterly about marginalization!
But I know for sure that they complain ignorantly and hence, fight so blindly and get nothing but more devastating situation on their hands. Its a pity really, it’s a pity that they have punished themselves for so long without realizing it because no one felt the pains of militancy as they did. But at least ,they are back on track for good!
Abdurrahman,
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