Continuous youth restiveness in the Niger Delta region is informed by lack of genuine political will by the succeeding Federal Government in Nigeria to develop the region.
In the opinion of a human rights lawyer and public analyst, Mr. Olakunle Agbebi, if the will to develop the region has been there in the last eight years of the present civilian administration, it should have witnessed tangible results in the development of the coastal area because the nation has witnessed an unparalleled level of prosperity in the last seven years which comes from resources from the Niger Delta. He said the youth restiveness is essentially an act of self preservation by the people of the Niger Delta.
Agbebi stated that it is the absence of such a political will for the development of the region that is spurning further act of self preservation by the South- South people such as the determination to seek the presidency of Nigeria in 2007. It is almost impossible for the people of the Niger Delta to thrust their fate to the hands of other Nigerians after what appears to be decades of betrayal and what must surely be systematic genocide.
He further said the incessant youth restiveness in the region results from decades of abject neglect and total abandonment by the various governments at the centre of the Nigeria State of their responsibilities both social and moral to the people of the area.
The truth is that most Nigerians do not have any idea about the type of neglect, abject poverty and state of utter hopelessness that exist in the region because no one in good conscience would see what obtains in that region and yet fail to understand the outcry of its people’, the lawyer explained.
The human rights activist, who was addressing newsmen in Lagos on the situation in the Niger Delta, said it would appear that previous governments in Nigeria had adopted a policy to foist a situation of utter hopelessness on the people of the region.
Whilst condemning the ceaseless bloodletting that appear to now be the norm, he said it would take clear commitment on the part of the Federal Government to bring this situation under control. He was of the view that blood shed will never solved anything and for the reason the Government must make sacrifices in the area of commitment to development and not commitment of the live of armed forces personnel to the region.
He believes that the incessant abductions would abate and eventually cease when the people start seeing clear determination to move their lives forward.
According to Agbebi, so far all that the youths in the Niger Delta region have seen and felt of the Nigerian State are completely degradation of their environment and thus making life practically unlivable for them.
He said that if the youths of the Niger Delta did not raise their voices in protest one day Nigeria would have been guilty of the greatest act of genocide without necessarily firing a shot, because the people from the region world have just wasted away from disease, starvation and ignorance.
In the opinion of the AC chieftain, the unfolding scenario in the region was the main reason why the South – South is clamoring for the presidency in 2007, having felt short-changed by previous leaders, and with a view having direct control over their resources from the federal purse to ameliorate their situation.
On the allegation of corruption being leveled against leaders from the region, the public analyst reasoned that the pittance hitherto being given to the leaders of the community should not be seen as the reason why the youths should not be agitating for their rights, adding that the current allocations to region from the federal purse are still but a drop in the ocean with regards to the magnitude of the problems facing them.
He said corruption was not unique to the leaders of the Niger Delta, recalling that the North was in power for close to 35 years and yet that part of the country still remain largely underdeveloped so it would be unfair to cast aspersions on them or blame them wholly for the underdevelopment of the region.
He said it was unfortunate that the oil workers have been the targets of most of the acts of protest because by their basic nature people of the Niger Delta are probably the most hospitable people in Nigeria.
However, circumstances have forced the people of the region to see these expatriates as the face of exploitation and oppression particularly given the pittance the oil companies are contributing to the development of the area and their obvious connivance with the government of Nigeria.