GOVERNORS of the South-South region disagreed, yesterday, in Calabar on whether Niger-Delta militants are all criminals, and should be treated as such.
While Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state maintained that militants are criminals and should be dealt with by security agents, his Delta State counterpart, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan said not all of them were criminals and the genuine freedom fighters should be separated and be productively engaged.
Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa-Ibom state said certain things gave rise to the agitation by the militants in other parts of Niger-Delta but in his state, it was a case of pure criminality and he had sent a bill to the State House of Assembly for death sentence on armed robbers and other criminals.
He faulted the claim by Governor Amaechi that the Niger-Delta struggle was not ideological, saying there was a general understanding at a point that the region was being marginalized and the “boys” went into the creeks with the support of the people to wage a crusade.
However, Governor Timipre Sylva said the quarrel
Governor Amaechi who was the first to speak after a lunch conversation by the former Prime Minister of Ireland, Bertie Ahern delivered his lecture said Niger-Delta militants were not ideological and that they were pursuing their own selfish economic agenda.
In his words, “My view is that the boys are not ideological, they are pursuing their own economic goals, and they are growing poverty instead of growing the economy of the region”.
He said it was wrong to negotiate with the criminals and that was why the Delta State Government was not interested in negotiating with them.
In his opinion, what the country was lacking is law enforcement and even if the country was marginalizing the South-South, the people should not kidnap and kill themselves the way the militants were doing.
He called for a halt to the criminality by militants, saying it was destroying the economy of the Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Akwa-Ibom, Edo and Cross River states.
Governor Uduaghan who spoke next said it was not true as Amaechi tried to impute that other people were negotiating with criminals, pointing out the problem started in the form of inter-ethnic problem in Warri and later developed into a much bigger crisis and the issue now was how to manage it.
According to him, after reviewing the issues involved, particularly as guns were being deployed to other purposes after the Warri war, the state government took some identified youth leaders that participated in the crisis to Northern Ireland, which had a similar crisis and resolved it with some of the people who took part in the “war” as drivers for peace to understudy the peace process in that country.
He said it was based on the findings that he set up the Delta Waterways Security Committee (DWSC), which since its formation has helped in bringing peace to the state by moving into the militant camps to talk to the boys to drop their arms.
Governor Uduaghan said the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) was constituted to bring development to the person since that was the major reason for the crises and at the moment, it was working wonders in the state.
He kicked against the excessive use of military might, saying, “Do you want to kill everybody”, adding that he had no problem with the actual criminals being dealt with.
Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State likened Nigeria to an aeroplane in which so many people were inside, some in the first class, others in the business and economy classes, but, since 1960 when they boarded the plane, it had not taking off and nobody has bothered to find out if there was a pilot everybody was quarrelling.
He said so many leaders of the country have been consumed by the war, starting from Aguiyi Ironsi, and Murtala Mohammed but up till date, the problem still persisted, and said what brought about the economic summit was that the South-South was tired of the rigmarole and now wants to harness its brains in the different field to give a direction.
Governor Akpahio of Akwa Ibom state said it was 50 per cent derivation in the past when the resources were being produced by the other regions but when it came to oil, belonging to the South-South, the principle of derivation changed and even the 13 per cent that was fought for before it was approved was initially not implemented because of the marginalization of the region by the powers that be.
To end the Niger-Delta crisis, he asked the Federal Government to stop beating about the bush and discuss with the boys carrying the arms because they were the ones fighting in the creeks. In his words,
“As Abiola used to say, we should shave the hair of the militants in their absence”.
He said his state was affected because it does not have much of oil but those operating therein were criminals.
“In my state, we have submitted a bill for death sentence. I am going to kill those that carry guns. Akwa-Ibom child has no reason to be involved in criminality because I have provided free education for him…”, he said.
We could not rise from this meeting with the mind that a system that worked in Northern Island and think it will work here.
Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross State said it was unfortunate that the plane was bought with the resources of the South-South people have remained in the economy class ever since.
He asserted that there was something wrong with a system that operates in that way and that something has to be done to redress the imbalance.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole enumerated the finances that come to the South-South region and stressed the need for the money to be used prudently for the development of the people.
He said that nobody would give political power to the South-South people and so, the region should fight for it and take it.
Governor of Borno State, Alhaji A Sheriff said the South-South has every right to be giving at least 50 per cent derivation to enable it develop the region.