Niger Delta's window for change
The largest militant group in Nigeria's volatile oil-rich region called for a truce this week after the country's new president promised improvements for the people.
from the June 7, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
"When we went into the delta, we found a huge number of failed or abandoned projects," says Bill Knight of Pro-Natura International, a Paris-based development group that has operated in the delta since 1997. Often communities are not consulted about their needs, or development is driven by contractors who build things that nobody wants, says Mr. Knight.
Corruption is often to blame, too, he says, pointing out that an interstate highway proposed decades ago – and paid for by the federal government a number of times – has yet to be built.
"Nigeria is very hierarchical, and people enjoy hierarchy and like business as usual," says Knight. "People inside oil companies, politicians, and government – they were all benefiting from the system."
Knight says the key to successful development lies in asking what they want and getting them involved in its delivery. Although it's not a new idea, it's increasingly catching on with stakeholders in the delta, he says.
A new strategy?
"Certainly in the last few months there are signs of a terrific change in the way that oil companies are thinking," says Knight, who adds that his group is increasingly being sought out as the implementing partner for oil companies with funds for development. And it's not just oil firms. Pro-Natura's work has also caught the attention of politicians such as the new vice president Goodluck Jonathan, who was a delta state governor.
Promises of change are being made at the very top of Nigeria's political pyramid, too. At his inauguration last week, Mr. Yar'Adua promised to find a solution for the delta crisis within his first three months.
Yar'Adua's first initiative – a Niger Delta Summit – has already been postponed. Still, the new president's calls for dialogue contrast with his predecessor who repeatedly said "criminals" and "miscreants" were the root cause of the trouble in the delta.
On Saturday, the delta's largest militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it would halt attacks on oil installations for a month to give dialogue a chance.
Bring substantive economic development and the militancy will melt away, the MEND spokesman told The Monitor by e-mail: "When a city is prosperous, few care who is king."
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