(Reuters) – The Nigerian government said on Thursday it would set up a committee of Niger Delta leaders to propose recommendations on ending violence in the oil-producing region so that long-awaited peace talks can take place. President Umaru Yar’Adua last month said a summit between the government and militants would be held in July, but the plan fell into disarray after a key member organising the talks resigned last week amid sharp criticism from some Delta leaders. “The issues agitating the region date back to the period before Nigeria’s independence and cannot be solved overnight,” said Peter Obidiegwu, a spokesman for Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, announcing the plans for the committee.
The bombing of pipelines and kidnapping of oil workers in the Niger Delta, whose oil output makes Nigeria the world’s eighth biggest exporter, have cut production by a fifth since early 2006, helping to push world oil prices to record highs.
Local residents blew up a Nigerian oil pipeline operated by Italy’s Eni in the delta on Thursday, further cutting output.
Analysts said they hoped the new commission had the clout to make tangible progress instead of just creating more paperwork.
Yar’Adua, who has been in power for more than a year, has made little progress in peace efforts, and the main militant group — the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) — has accused the government of making insincere promises.
The government said the new committee’s job would be to pinpoint the underlying problems in the delta and come up with a plan to end the violence so talks can be held. No deadline has been given to the group, which will consist of at least three leaders from each of the nine oil-producing states, spokesman Ima Niboro said.
“There was a lack of confidence in those guiding the peace talks (before) and also what the peace talks were designed to achieve,” said John Adeleke, an independent analyst.
Top U.N. official Ibrahim Gambari last week resigned as head of the committee organising the peace talks after widespread criticism from some Niger Delta leaders over his record as Nigeria’s U.N. envoy under former army dictator Sani Abacha.
Previous administrations have published in-depth reports on the Niger Delta problem, but their efforts to solve it failed.
“I would like to see something beyond another committee or report,” said Bismarck Rewane, chief executive of Financial Derivatives, a Lagos-based consultancy. “What we need is a master plan.”