No one is advocating for
more funds to the Niger Delta, in the same vein no one advocating for less than
they were taking before PMB came into power. But at the beginning of this
administration, we heard of moves to stop the "Amnesty" payments, we
heard "Amnesty" was not included in the 2016 budget, etc. "?
In the pursuit of political
grandstanding and subservient loyalty, people like Amaechi who understand the
terrain and the mindset of the populace, supported with ease the roll back of
whatever benefit some Niger Delta indigenes had under the past administration. Now,
have we not lost more through this militancy and the cost of trying to fight it
than the cost of "Amnesty
I think we shouldn't
treat the Niger Delta as a conquered territory and, even while saying we're not
paying them more money, we should try to be less arrogant in our language and
attitude to their demands for a more equitable treatment. What the oil money
has done for Abuja and Lagos, it should also do for some cities in the Niger
Delta.
Let's all adopt a less
arrogant posture in addressing this problem. And importantly, the time has come
for us to think of life after oil. We had many years' notice but, as is usual
of Nigeria, we ignored the notice and now, we're caught pants down.
There's no easy way out
now but these current challenges should bring the best out of us, all of us, in
innovative thinking and hard work, not in everyone fighting for more share of
the fast disappearing oil money.
Enough said.
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