Editorials Opinion and Analysis
A Visit to Nigeria's Nighttime 'Parliament'
By WILL CONNORS
On a recent Saturday night in this small oil town in the Niger Delta, a dozen men gathered to drink beer and discuss local issues like ethnic violence, armed militancy and oil politics. Down the partially flooded dirt road from the bar, a nighttime church service was in full swing and the men struggled to be heard over a preacher screaming into a megaphone about hellfire.
This is Parliament, the name of the bar and the informal name for the group of journalists, civil servants, artists and tradesmen that gather here almost nightly. But what started as a drinking group among friends about eight years ago has become something more significant: Parliament now has an elected chairman, a spokesman and a secretary, and politicians visit the group regularly to share a beer, answer questions, and seek influence.
On Saturday night the discussion focused on the recent visit to Yenagoa by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who is from a small village outside town. During Mr. Jonathan's visit on Oct. 21, youths pelted the state governor, Timipre Sylva, with water sachets during a speech in what was by most accounts a rare and spontaneous display of frustration at the lack of development in the state.
"No one is happy with Sylva's performance in the state, and he knows it," said Wilson Bodise, a former journalist now working in IT. "But Jonathan should realize that they won't support him forever, either, even if he is from here."
Yenagoa is the capital of Bayelsa State, one of the key oil-producing states in the Niger Delta region, and has been beset by political turmoil and violence for years. Just last week two oil pipelines in Bayelsa belonging to the Italian oil company AGIP were attacked by armed youths angry about a surveillance contract that had been awarded to a rival.
Despite its natural wealth and recent efforts by the state government to improve education, health care and infrastructure, Bayelsa remains poor. Most locals scrape by on subsistence farming and fishing, though environmental damage from oil spills has affected both industries, according to local and international rights groups. One member of Parliament clad in a knitted vest decorated in the colors of the Ethiopian flag, who said he was a talent scout for European soccer teams, dismissed the government's recent development efforts with a chortle and a few expletives.
In Otuoke, the village outside Yenagoa where Mr. Jonathan was raised by a farmer mother and canoe-carver father and where Mr. Jonathan himself would help carve canoes during school breaks, little has changed over the years. According to locals and the men of Parliament, the only significant development happening in the village now is a new roof that is being built for Mr. Jonathan's childhood home. Mr. Jonathan's home was bombed by militants in 2007 when he was the Bayelsa State governor.
At several points during the course of the night, a group member would stand up for an impromptu speech. To get the group's attention, the speaker would shout, "Great Parliament!" To acknowledge the speaker, the group would shout back, "Great!"
Pius Waritimi, a sculptor whose work often deals with the suffering of the people of the Niger Delta—a recent piece depicted an oil rig adorned with wooden skulls and topped by a working flame—was back at Parliament after a few months away.
"I am happy to be back and among friends at the great Parliament," Mr. Waritimi said."But these people in government still don't know what to do. They still don't use public funds for the people."
Will Connors
Wall Street Journal / Dow Jones Newswires Correspondent
Lagos, Nigeria
