If the North had Oil

I have consistently warned MEND and other militant groups in the Niger Delta (ND) to beware of the hypocrisy of the South-West (SW) over the crisis in the region. The SW is eager to encourage the Niger Delta to destroy their (own) land but is not ready to share in the destructive aftermath of the crisis. This much has been revealed by MENDS first and single attack outside the ND region, on the Atlas Cove Jetty. The YCE came out to declare the attack a provocation for inter-tribal war. This is indeed an eye-opener to the Millitants, that when the chips are really down, the Yoruba will not be ready to sacrifice any thing or suffer any discomfort of whatever kind in support of the ND cause.

To the SW, the crisis is good as long as the attacks, kidnappings, and other vices remain in the ND creeks and perhaps extended to the North (N). Had MEND carried out their threat to attack Abuja, the statement from the YCE could have read something like this: ‘YCE herby calls on the Federal Government to urgently address the yearnings of the Niger Delta and other ‘ethnic nationalities’ for the enthronement of true federalism, which is the only antidote to violent agitations. While understanding the genuine cause for the Niger Delta struggle, we appeal to MEND forces to exercise restraint in their attacks to minimise civilian casualties’

The statement could have gone further to accuse the Federal Government of fuelling the crisis by being deaf to the calls for a Sovereign National Conference and failing to speed up development in the Niger Delta creeks. To cap it all, the statement would have blamed the North for stealing and squandering the wealth of the Niger Delta at the detriment of the Geese that lays the golden eggs.

What the YCE would never tell MEND is that three out of every five jobs in the oil industry are given to their (YCE) sons. That 60% of petroleum products are consumed in Lagos even though no drop of oil is produced from the SW. That 70% of manufacturing industries in Nigeria, of course built with oil wealth, are cited in Lagos. That 60% of all electricity generated in the country is consumed in Lago; that all the landmark infrastructures in Lagos (the bridges, the highways etc) were built with oil money. MEND in targeting Lagos in that attack probably had all these facts in mind.

One commentator (Dr. Olusegun Fakoya) in a piece titled ‘the drumbeats of an escalating war’ put it so vulgarly that ‘If the focus of the MEND struggle is an orchestrated uprising against Hausa – Fulani domination and their cohorts, then bombing the commonly available oil-money projects in Northern Nigeria makes sense!’ Not done yet, he went on to state that the attack on Lagos is ‘... a deliberate attempt to drag the often recalcitrant but nevertheless important arm of the federation into the struggle’ After making these divisive statements this Author still mysteriously found the voice to state in his conclusion that he ‘still believe firmly in the concept of one Nigeria.’ This writer is obviously struggling with the double personality of the Yoruba nation- constantly (but hypocritically) affirming to believe in one Nigeria (when it favours them) yet working assiduously to distance themselves from it when it doesn’t. At such times, it becomes a Northern problem.

When Obasanjo was president for 8 years in which he placed his kinsmen in all the strategic positions in the federation including the oil industry, which he retained the portfolio as Minister and his ‘brother’ (Kupolokun) headed the NNPC, the apostles of equity suddenly went mute. Those who commented on the biased appointments actually claimed they were based on merit and therefore justified as to them the federal character principle was inimical to the promotion of handwork and intelligence-two attributes to which they hold the patent to the exclusion of the rest of the country. The hibernation mode however ended in May 2007 when Yar’Adua took over.

If the north had oil, the Yoruba would surely have regarded the Northerners as brothers just the way they now see the ND as their kinsmen. They could have found 101 reasons to work together as one ‘family’ to build a great nation. But as it is now, the strategy is, ‘let’s exorcise the aliens from the north and fall back on ‘our’ oil wealth, seeing that we are ‘cousins’.

The subtle attempt by the YCE to reduce Lagos from the commercial capital of Nigeria to a city for the Yoruba race is quite funny but not altogether strange. The Yoruba are always eager to identify with and take credit for everything good that happens in Nigeria and quick to point a finger elsewhere for all that is wrong with the federation. Thus it is in their conceited reasoning that they (Yoruba) having laboured to build Lagos to where it is today (is this true?) would not now fold their arms to watch it destroyed by MEND.

It is this same attitude that killed June 12. Abiola was voted by millions of Nigerians across geographical boundaries and when the result was annulled, the whole nation was ready to fight the injustice. For instance Dr. Iyorchia Ayu lost his seat as Senate President at that time due to his Pro-June 12 stand and he is not a Yoruba man. But when the Yoruba’s decided to make the June 12 struggle a Yoruba problem; it lost the national appeal as other sections of the country felt alienated. They backed off because, they had voted for a National president rather than a Yoruba President that the Yoruba reduced Abiola to.

When MEND was handing out threats to bomb FG interests outside the ND, the YCE never put Lagos in focus as a possible target. If they did, they would probably have cautioned them against it. But rather they were busy stoking up the embers of hate with skewed commentaries designed to portray the North as the real and only enemies of progress in the ND. Reading reports from most of the newspapers from the south-western press one could not miss the glorification of violence and strife, in calling the militants weighty names like ‘warlords’, ‘rebels’ or troops and such other titles that tends to portray Nigeria as being in a state of a war with the Nigerian (read Northern Army) pitched against the (breakaway) army of the ND. Reading most of these newspapers one would come away with the impression that another Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the making in Africa.

The conflict is also given a bi-ethnic colouration whereby the North is portrayed as the aggressor, the Niger Delta; the victim while the Southwest is an observer. Quite convenient! Isn’t it? And I wish the matter were as simple as that. But it isn’t. There is a complex web of intrigues around the ND question that transcends tribal sentiments.

So when MEND attacked Lagos, a more sensible reaction from the YCE should have been to look beyond the Yorubas in Lagos and see a national commercial centre of Nigeria with as a multiethnic population composed of both ND indigenes, Easterners as well as Northerners and a host on foreign nationals. It is like terrorists attacking the WTC in NewYork being the problem of Washington and not just of NY City. The Ibo for instance have extensive business investments in Lagos, perhaps even more than that of the Yorubas put together.

And then the OPC took a step further to issue a warning of retaliation should a similar attack re-occur. This to me is the dumbest thing to do. The OPC does not in my estimation have the wherewithal to engage MEND should they declare war on Lagos. Governor Fashola too gaffed when he towed the line of the OPC and YCE. With which army does he intend to defend Lagos should MEND repeat the attack? I guess it is OPC? Fashola is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, for goodness sake, and he should have known better than that.

If the ND crisis degenerates to a full-blown war, the Yoruba nation will pitch their tents with the winning side. That is why my earlier advise to MEND in an article titled ‘Hypocrisy Of The South-West On The Niger Delta Crisis’ still stands apposite that: ‘Niger Delta Youth should beware of the hypocrisy of these self-appointed lovers of the Niger Delta who are pushing them in the direction of war instead of dialogue.These later day Niger Delta enthusiasts cannot claim to love the people of the Niger Delta more than the Niger Delta people themselves.’ And the angry reactions from the SW over the Atlas Cove Jetty attack have now proved this to be true. And I believe MEND will begin to see through the facade been put up by the Yorubas who claim to support their struggle with their lips but their hearts are elsewhere.