After a meeting between President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the �Aaron Team� picked by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) to represent it in talks with the Federal Government took place, the militant group has for the first time spoken well of the authorities.
MEND, a group that has been a thorn in the flesh of the government, said the meeting shows the Federal Govern-ment’s seriousness on issues concerning the troubled Niger Delta region.
Spokesman of the group, Gbomo Jomo, said it was an opportunity to discuss issues long swept under the carpet. He also described the parley which he said lasted for over two hours as �cordial and useful�.
According to Jomo, its overall field commander, Mr. Farah Dagogo who had earlier embraced the amnesty offer of the government, thereby surrendering his arms at the Rivers State Headquarters of the State Security Service (SSS), was in attendance. Also at the meeting, he said, was another of its leaders, Henry Okah. Both men attended as observers.
The group noted through an email message that all members of the �Aaron Team� were in attendance but for Professor Sabella Abbide who could not make it.
�The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) can confirm that a formal first meeting between the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the MEND Aaron team took place on Saturday, November 14, 2009 in Abuja Nigeria. The parley which lasted for over two hours was frank, cordial and useful,” said the message.
It continued: “This meeting heralds the beginning of serious, meaningful dialogue between MEND and the Nigerian government to deal with and resolve root issues that have long been swept under the carpet. Present for the Aaron Team were Vice Admiral Mike Okhai Akhigbe (rtd), Major General Luke Kakadu Aprezi (rtd), Professor Wole Soyinka and Mr. Amagbe Denzel Kentebe.�
�We use this opportunity to thank the Aaron Team for their sacrifice in offering their time and the donors who sponsored their travel expenses but wish to remain anonymous,� MEND said in the statement.
The meeting was a reversal of the tough talk by Minister of Defence, Gen. Godwin Abbe, who had vowed that the government would not talk with the team put forward by MEND describing them as without a face.
The meeting which took place at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, also had Architect Denzi Amagbe Kentebe in attendance.
Presidential spokesman, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, had said it was held in furtherance of the president’s desire to find a lasting solution to the problem of the Niger Delta following his earlier promise to meet with any individual or group that would facilitate that goal.
Adeniyi said: �The president used the session to reiterate his commitment to the overall peace and development of the Niger-Delta.�
Following the end of the amnesty programme, the Federal Government was initially hesitant to engage in talks with the Aaron Team named by MEND to negotiate on its behalf.
Although, other militants were invited to Aso Rock to meet with the President, MEND insisted that it would engage in talks only through the team it put together.
The meeting has finally taken place with both sides expressing some sort of satisfaction with the new process that has kicked off towards the actualisation of post-amnesty plans.
Yar�Adua had offered a comprehensive development package as part of the government’s post-amnesty plan. They include community ownership which will give oil communities 10 per cent stake in all joint venture businesses.
Under the plan, five per cent stake in all joint venture businesses would be exclusively accessed by all Nigerians, of which people of Niger Delta will have up to one per cent direct individual participation.
Also, the government would embark on the dualisation and completion of the East-West highway. The construction of a fast train system from Calabar to Benin City, in the first phase, and from Benin City to Lagos, in the second phase is in the works as well.
There is the planned completion of the Ajaokuta � Warri rail system, which will be extended to Warri Port to give maritime traffic to the rail line and designated the central line. It will be extended from Ajaokuta to Abuja and a container terminal will be built in Owa-Oyibu, Delta State, to service the East.
The ownership scheme will be reflected in the new Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) while the infrastructural development plan was billed to be presented as a supplementary budget to the National Assembly after the input of Niger Delta stakeholders, including ex-militants.
Nov162009