There is heightened trepidation among youths and stakeholders in the Niger Delta region as the terminal date for the amnesty programme for ex-militants from the region draws near. Catherine Agbo, Anayo Onukwugha and Michael Oche write that with 32 days left before the end of the year, the failure of government to roll out an exit strategy is becoming a source of worry.
“Today, the 25th day of June 2009, the Federal government takes another decisive step in our avowed commitment to bringing enduring peace, security, stability, and development to our nation’s Niger Delta. From inception, our administration has demonstrated unwavering commitment to evolving a holistic solution to the problems of the Niger Delta: securing the region for growth and development, while also effectively tackling the criminal dimension to the problem.
“We do recognise that the provision of the necessary infrastructure for the sorely needed socio-economic development of the area is dependent on an enduring atmosphere of peace and security. Constructive and frank engagements with all the stakeholders have defined our approach in the past two years. In line with the requisite priority which our Seven-point Agenda accords to the issue, and in furtherance of our determination to decisively deal with all the ramifications of the crisis, a Presidential Panel on Amnesty and Disarmament of Militants in the Niger Delta was set up on the 5th of May, 2009. With the Federal Government’s acceptance of the recommendations of the Presidential Panel setting out the terms, procedures, and processes of the grant of an amnesty to Niger Delta militants, the National Council of State was today duly consulted.
“The offer of amnesty is predicated on the willingness and readiness of the militants to give up all illegal arms in their possession, completely renounce militancy in all its ramifications unconditionally, and depose to an undertaking to this effect. It is my fervent hope that all militants in the Niger Delta will take advantage of this amnesty and come out to join in the quest for the transformation of our dear nation. The offer of amnesty is open to all militants for a period of sixty days. Fellow Nigerians, our twin-challenge of democratic consolidation and economic regeneration calls for unbridled patriotism and single-minded, people-focused, results-oriented, resolute and courageous leadership at all levels. We cannot afford to fail. Let us use today’s proclamation of amnesty to herald a new beginning for our Fatherland.
“As I append my signature to the Proclamation, I pray that Almighty God continues to bless our dear country, Nigeria,” with these words, former president of Nigeria, the late Umaru Musa Yar‘Adua, proclaimed amnesty for Niger Delta militants on June 25th, 2009.”
The declaration was pursuant to Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
Following the security challenges in the Niger Delta which arose largely from issues of underdevelopment of the region, leading to a militant agitation by the youths of the region, there arose the need for the government to intervene as it was losing oil revenue due of the volatility in the area.
In the document by the then president, indicating the decision of the government to grant amnesty to the Niger Delta militants, he stated that, “Whereas the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria acknowledges that the challenges of the Niger Delta arose mainly from the inadequacies of previous attempts at meeting the yearnings and aspiration of the people, and have set in motion machinery for the sustainable development of the Niger Delta States;
“Whereas certain elements of the Niger Delta populace have resorted to unlawful means of agitation for the development of the region including militancy thereby threatening peace, security, order and good governance and jeopardising the economy of the nation;
“Whereas the Government realises that many of the militants are able-bodied youths whose energies could be harnessed for the development of the Niger Delta and the nation at large; whereas the Government desires that all persons who have directly or indirectly participated in militancy in the Niger Delta should return to respect constituted authority; and whereas many persons who had so engaged in militancy now desire to apply for and obtain amnesty and pardon.
“Now therefore, I, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, after due consultation with the council of States and in exercise of the powers conferred upon me by the provisions of Section 175 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, make the following proclamation:
“I hereby grant amnesty and unconditional pardon to all persons who have directly or indirectly participated in the commission of offences associated with militant activities in the Niger Delta;
“The pardon shall take effect upon the surrender and handing over of all equipment, weapons, arms and ammunition and execution of the renunciation of Militancy Forms specified in the schedule hereto, by the affected persons at the nearest collection centre established for the purpose of Government in each of the Niger Delta States. The unconditional pardon granted pursuant to this proclamation shall extend to all persons presently being prosecuted for offences associated with militant activities; and
“This proclamation shall cease to have effect from Sunday, 4th October, 2009.”
In the beginning…
And so many youths of the region handed in their arms to the amnesty committee to take advantage of the olive branch extended by the Federal Government.
Between August and October 2009, militants who handed in their weapons were pardoned for their crimes, trained in non-violence activities and offered vocational training in various trades. In the first instance, 26,000 young people took advantage of the amnesty package. Following an extension, more youths enrolled, bringing the number to about 30,000.
Many youths who embraced the amnesty programme have been empowered through skills acquisition programmes sponsored by the federal government through the amnesty office.
Those interested in acquiring higher education were trained in schools abroad including in the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Russia, South Africa and the United States of America. LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that some of them are still in school as they are yet to complete their programmes.
It was further gathered that a good number of youths were also sent to Israel for agricultural training; India, for information and communication technology (ICT) and to Poland, for crane operation and pipeline welding, skills said to be of strategic economic interest of the nation and the oil-rich Niger Delta region. Beneficiaries were also trained in ocean diving in Sri-Lanka, under-water welding in Ghana, boat building and sea-faring in the Philippines and piloting in South Africa.
Though some stakeholders in the region described the action of government as buying peace, and that the peace being enjoyed in the region was very fragile and would break down once the amnesty programme winds up, the relative peace being enjoyed across the states in the region is arguably one of the impacts of the amnesty programme. Violent crimes and kidnapping, especially of expatriates, has reduced considerably in the region.
But it has not been all rosy. In an earlier interview with LEADERSHIP, a Warri, Delta State-based lawyer who has represented militant groups for nearly six years, Casely Omon-Irabor, said “boys who accepted amnesty later went back to the creeks and carried guns again.”
Omon-Irabor whose clients include leader of the militant Niger Delta Liberation Front, John Togo, who took amnesty but later returned to fighting, said the precarious peace could crumble.
“The militants are already back – they just don’t have enough arms yet,” he stated.
LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that though violence has declined in the region, it has not been eliminated.
It was gathered that some former militants are turning their skills to piracy.
“A lot of the militancy has simply moved offshore – piracy is the new site for the armed militants’ activities,” Ben Amunwa, a researcher at Platform, an international human rights NGO, told LEADERSHIP in an earlier interview.
Some described the generous cash hand-outs as “buying” peace.
Kempare Ebipade, a former militant from Delta State, had told LEADERSHIP that he now helps turn thieves and kidnappers in his community over to the authorities, and is keen to find paid work.
“Now is the time for peace but if the government stops the payments, (there will be) crisis,” he said.
Yet, some insist that the government has not addressed the root causes of the conflict and that the amnesty programme cannot lead to sustainable peace.
“Why did they go to the creeks? Why did they carry guns? Because we believed there was a monumental neglect of the region that produced the oil. There is no infrastructure, no roads, development, schools, bridges or employment for the youth, and this is the region that produces the wealth of the nation. When the government wanted to reconcile, we thought they would address the issues (but) they started paying the boys as if that was the issue in the first place,” Omon-Irabor added.
While many youths were happy to take the amnesty with the benefits it offered, in Oporoza, a village in Delta State’s Gbaramatu Kingdom, people said they were intimidated into accepting it through extensive military attacks on local communities in May 2009 which left thousands homeless.
The chairman of Oporoza community, Elekute Macaulay, told LEADERSHIP in an interview that people were frightened of further military attacks if they declined amnesty and that despite accepting the amnesty and stopping the violence, it did not mean people felt any of the issues had been resolved.
“Everybody here is still a freedom fighter,” he stated at the time.
Who set December 2015 terminal date?
There is also controversy by over who fixed the 2015 terminal date for the amnesty programme. Many agitators from the region have attributed it to President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, checks by LEADERSHIP Sunday revealed that former President Goodluck Jonathan fixed the December 2015 terminal date for the programme.
Former special adviser to the Jonathan on Niger Delta and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr Kingsley Kuku, made the government’s position known at the 7th Business Law Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Lagos.
To end or not to end?
As the December deadline for the expiration of the amnesty programme draws near, there is large apprehension, especially from ex-agitators, about the fate of the programme. Several agitators from the Niger Delta region say terminating the programme now is not feasible.
Kuku had last June, warned that failure to draw the curtain on the programme by December will bring about instability in the region.
Kuku noted that the gains of the programme could be eroded if government failed to close the programme by 2015 because of fresh agitations for enlistment by youths of the region, who now see militancy as a way of accessing public funds, even as he canvassed a reduction in the N65,000 monthly stipend paid to beneficiaries in training to the statutory N18,000 minimum wage, so that those undergoing training did not earn more than those awaiting training.
The former presidential adviser, who noted that the Amnesty Office was currently grappling with exit strategy challenges, said that the present scenario was not envisaged at the time of the presidential amnesty proclamation in 2009.
He said, “it will be in the best interest of Nigeria for government to terminate the presidential amnesty programme by 2015. If it is not closed by 2015, it will lose its taste. This is because it will become an alternative government in the Niger Delta.
“We are currently battling exit strategy challenges. If we reduce the monthly stipend to those in training to the prescribed minimum wage for the country, which is N18,000, it will discourage more people from taking to militancy. We should have stopped paying N65,000 after pulling the agitators from the creeks and fixing it at the minimum wage could have been ideal. To avoid further crisis, the programme should end in 2015. We must be ready to exit the programme. It is for this reason that governors of the region must support alternative programmes for youth engagement.
He said that his office was at present, exploring possibilities of getting trained ex-militants engaged to prevent them from returning to agitation.
President Muhammadu Buhari had during his inaugural address on May 29, 2015, while acknowledging that the amnesty programme was due to end in December, however assured that government intends to invest heavily in the projects and programmes currently in place.
Also, in July, while speaking at a meeting with senior officials of Chevron led by the company’s President for Africa and Latin America, Mr. Ali Moshiri, in Abuja, Buhari assured that rather than scrap the amnesty programme in the Niger Delta as being advocated in some quarters, his administration would build on the good aspects of the programme initiated by the late President Yar’Adua to reduce violence in the volatile region.
The president added that his administration would also implement other measures to enhance security in the Niger Delta and optimise investments in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
The assurances of the president have apparently not convinced former militant leaders of the region of his plans for them and for the region.
In October 2015, some ex-militant leaders from the six states of the Niger Delta region expressed concern over the December, 2015 termination deadline for the amnesty programme, declaring that the termination date is not feasible and should be extended.
The ex-militant leaders, under the aegis of the Leadership,, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI), said though the performance of the special adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig Gen. Paul Boroh, is so far commendable, the timeline proposed is not feasible due to lingering issues of non-payment of outstanding allowances and unfulfilled promises by the federal government.
National president of the group, Gen. Reuben Wilson, known along the creeks as General Pastor, said before the federal government can decide on a termination date for the Amnesty programme, it should consider the immediate release of the required funds for the payment of outstanding tuition fees of amnesty students in institutions of higher learning and training centres both at home and abroad.
According to LPCDI, “the federal government should release timeously the allocations to the Presidential Amnesty Office in order to pay the beneficiaries their monthly stipends on time. The Presidential Amnesty Programme be extended beyond December, 2015 as earlier envisaged as expiry date. The incentives promised the ex-generals and leaders of the various militant camps by the late President Yar’Adua in form of lifeline, security, accommodation and mobility be fulfilled with immediate effect.
“The federal government should pay, with immediate effect, the three months outstanding payments for the pipeline surveillance contract awarded to the ex- agitators by the immediate past administration.”
Also, recently, a group, the Bayelsa Elders Council (BEC), in a statement by their chairman, Chief Francis Doukpola, and the publicity secretary, Chief TKO Okorotie, warned that ending the amnesty programme in December would have serious security implications for the Niger Delta area.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP Sunday in Port Harcourt, spokesman of the former agitators and leader of the Association for Non-Violence in the Niger Delta (ANND), Ambassador Kennedy West, said those who initiated the programme did not disclose when it was going to end.
West said, “There are a lot of issues that are on ground. Basically, look at this; most of the boys have not been trained and if you want to end the amnesty programme, you cannot end it abruptly. Ordinarily, those that initiated the amnesty programme did not say it is going to end in 2015; they didn’t say it is going to end in 2016.
“Remember, when I spoke to you last year, I told you it was not possible for the programme to end that time. How many people, the figure Kingsley Kuku gave that they trained, was it the true reflection of the people that were trained? No. Secondly, you said you want to train people, you have 30,000 persons, and you trained only 10,000 persons; how would you want to end the programme?” he queried.
Continuing, West noted, “is it not after training all of them and then you say we have trained these number of persons and therefore, we are going to end the programme after training these number of persons and empowering them and therefore, they are no more part of the programme? So, if you come up to say you are ending this on this date, you are actually going to cause some problems because you have not addressed the matter the way it ought to end.
“Everybody knows that when you start a building, you must finish it. You cannot start a building and you have not even roofed it and you say you are ending it. This is just like people putting up makeshift programmes and saying we are ending the amnesty programme. No, it is not; this is not how to do it.”
He further opined that the amnesty programme was never part of the problems of the Niger Delta region, and emphasised the need for the Amnesty Office to come up with a blueprint on how to conclude training of youths in the region and end the programme.
“How are you ending it? Is it that the things you promised the ex-militants in the region have been fulfilled? Remember, they promised the former militants that they will train them, empower them, so that we can have peace to mobilise to site. That was it. The amnesty programme was not even part of the problem in the Niger Delta.
“By saying that they are ending the Amnesty programme, you are tactically telling the whole world that all that they promised the region have been fulfilled and the only aspect that is remaining is this programme.
“When people say they want to end the amnesty programme, one needs to ask if the issues that brought about the agitation have been resolved in any way; in terms of environmental degradation or in terms of high rate of poverty? Have all these issues that triggered the agitation been addressed? They have not been addressed?
“Buhari came up with some level of integrity and he has appointed Brigadier-General Boroh who also has some integrity and pedigree. Now, I thought what Buhari would have asked Boroh is to give him a sincere blueprint with marching order on how we can end this programme, probably in two years’ time and then you can beat your chest and say in two years, time, you would have trained all these people, including the ones that are in the university. Remember, there are ones in the university. What about the ones who wrote JAMB recently and are hoping that they will be able to go there,” he added.
As the agitations continue, the federal government has assured that it would not abandon ex-militants undergoing programmes.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP Sunday, the head of media of the presidential amnesty programme, Owei Lakemfa, said the programme will still take care of ex-agitators who are still on scholarship programme. He assured that students currently running various degree programmes would not be abandoned.
The Federal Government is however yet to make a pronouncement in view of the recent agitations. This is just as it is yet to reveal the exit strategy for the programme.
Efforts to get government’s position on the issue were unsuccessful at the time of going to press, as members of President Buhari’s media team, who are on his entourage to Malta, were yet to respond to emails sent to them requesting government’s position.
No comments:
Post a Comment