Indications emerged yesterday that the major oil companies operating in the country have shunned the amnesty programme put in place by President Umaru Yar’Adua as a panacea to the lingering Niger Delta crisis.
LEADERSHIP gathered authoritatively that the largest oil company in the country, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp., together with Chevron and Eni SpA, have refused to participate in the amnesty programme, scheduled to begin today, on the grounds that they have already spent huge sums of money in community programmes in the troubled region.
It was learnt that Yar’Adua had appointed some prominent members of his cabinet, in addition to the Amnesty Committee members, to lobby the oil companies to make financial contributions to the programme, which is expected to gulp $63 million.
However, the government lobbyists were said to have been frustrated by the oil companies, who described the programme as a purely government affair.
Government officials were alleged to have proposed a method through which the companies could contribute to the programme without any uproar, by paying under the guise of community development. The oil majors were said to have turned this down on the grounds that it was capable of affecting their image internationally.
The refusal of the companies, who have been mostly affected by militant activities in the Niger Delta, is currently sparking a fury within government circles and among oil industry operators, who do not see any rationale behind their refusal to raise funds for the programme.
A source at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) blamed the position of the oil companies on the amnesty programme on its unpopularity among the Niger Delta governors, the militants and some important stakeholders in the industry.
However, the source said the government could succeed without contributions from oil companies, but it was significant for all the stakeholders in the Niger Delta to agree on a definite programme to address the problems of the region.
The amnesty programme has been a subject of criticism by some state governors and prominent Nigerians who do not see the initiative as one capable of addressing the Niger Delta problem.
State governors from the Niger Delta region, a very powerful and influential group, especially in the oil and gas sector, last week threatened to withdraw from the amnesty programme because they saw it as having no provision for a definite post-amnesty development plan for the region.
The Niger Delta problem has lingered for many years, with several governments proposing and implementing different plans that could bring solutions to the area that houses the oil and gas resources of the country, which is its main source of revenue.
Nigeria, once Africa’s number one oil producer, now lags behind Angola. Its revenue from oil has continued to dwindle as a result of continued militant attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta. The government proposed the amnesty deal, believing that it was capable of getting the militants to stop the criminality in the region.
Analysts have warned that Nigeria desperately needs a lasting solution to the problem. Yesterday, experts warned that the world’s oil fields were depleting and the world would certainly lose oil some day.
However, as the amnesty programme commences, thousands of militants are expected to benefit and it is being hoped that it would help, somehow, in tackling the region’s problem, otherwise the government would have wasted another effort.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government Committee on Amnesty said yesterday that it has designated arms and ammunition collection centres and camps for repentant militants as the amnesty starts today.
A statement issued in Abuja by the Media Coordinator of the committee, Dr Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, stated the conditions and sites for the programme.
It said that persons covered under the amnesty proclamation should go to the nearest registration centre to turn in their arms, register, take the oath of renunciation and receive the presidential amnesty and unconditional pardon.
She said, “Thereafter, these persons are to register for the reintegration programme”.
Agary said further that the programme was aimed at providing amnesty and unconditional pardon to all persons who had directly or indirectly participated in militant activities, adding that the programme covered those who committed offences in the Niger Delta.
“We urge them (militants) to formalise their acceptance of the offer within the stipulated period; for those who may still be harbouring second thoughts, we ask them to follow the example of the MEND leader, Henry Okah, who has not only taken the amnesty offer but is today a free citizen of our country and the world,” Agary stated.
The centres are located as follows:
Bayelsa State
Collection points: Former LG Canteen, Ekeremor; King Koko Square, Nembe; Southern Ijaw Secondary School, Oporoma; Road Safety Office, Sagbama
Holding camps: Fed. Government Girls College, Imiringi; Fed. Government Science & Technical College, Tungbo
Delta State
Collection points: Otujeremi Secondary School Off Ugbweka Rd
Off Market Rd, Ughelli South L.G.A; Warri North L.G. Secretariat, Koko
Holding camp: Federal Government College, Warri.
Rivers State:
Collection points: Govt. Secondary School, Kaa, Khana L.G.A; Abonnema Girls Secondary School, Abonnema L.G.A; Govt. Secondary School, Okungba-Anna Ogoloma, Okrika; Govt. Primary School, Shell Road, Bonny
Holding camp: Leadership and Citizen Training Centre, Allu, Port Harcourt
Edo State
Collection points: Egbema Secondary School, Ofuneama.
Holding camp: F.G.G.S. Ugbowa, Benin City
Ondo State
Collection points: Okitipupa Oil Palm Coy, Okitipupa LGA, Ondo State
Holding camp: Unity Secondary School, Odeaye, Okitipupa L.G.A
Akwa Ibom State
Collection point: Eket Local Govt. Staff Quarters.
Holding camp: Federal Science and Technology College, Ukan Offot, Uyo
The statement also urged media houses and civil society organisations wishing to cover the process to go to the under-listed addresses for accreditation: 86 Woji Road, G.R.A. Phase 2, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and Inter-agency Coordinating Centre, Air Force Station, Enugu.
Yar’Adua offered a 60-day amnesty to the militants on June 24.
MEND declared a 60-day ceasefire on July 15 after its leader Henry Okah’s release to allow for peace talks with the government.
Agary said last week that some rebel leaders were prepared to lay down their weapons but feared for their safety.
She said hundreds of militants had expressed interest in taking the clemency, including a commander in the Bakassi area who said he and 800 fighters were ready to accept the offer.
Militants who accepted amnesty would be given a stipend of N65,000 a month for food and living expenses during the rehabilitation programme, which runs from August 6 to October 4.