In the creeks of the Niger Delta, the news of a peace deal between President Buhari and Niger Delta leaders is nothing. Loyalty is what reigns here and loyalty is determined by the need for survival.
To win the peace in the creeks, the Nigerian state has to win the loyalty of those in the creeks and that loyalty is now sharply divided between two of the Niger Delta
sons at the federal level. The question on the lips of the militants in the creeks and indeed other members of society in the region, is who best represents their interest at the federal level? Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu is a green horn in politics but his apolitical approach in trying
to quench the anger in the creeks is winning hearts.
On the other side is Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, a seasoned politician with a proven political clout both in the Niger Delta and at the federal level. The debate in the creeks is who of the sons and daughters of the South-South in the Muhammadu Buhari administration has the ears of the President
in the matters that affect the South-South zone.
On the back of the Tuesday, November 1, 2016 meeting, postulations are rife that the deal is the first step in the return of the Niger Delta to the mainstream of the Federal Government. It has been interpreted as a huge reconciliation step that may bring about peace and political stability to pave the way for full oil exploration and exploitation back to the 2.4mbp or the targeted 4mbp.
Recall that oil production had dipped in the Niger Delta to about 800,000mbp, owing to repeated bombings by militants in the area. This has also lowered the yield into government coffers. The success of the meeting at the Villa, as it were, has forced analysts to wonder who could be the arrowhead in this move back to the centre, between Rotimi Amaechi, transport minister and Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state, petroleum.
It is believed that whoever achieves this feat would definitely assume leadership of the sensitive bloc known as the Niger Delta.While the supporters of Amaechi say the former governor of Rivers State remains the rallying point, those of Kachikwu insist that the Delta-born technocrat holds the ace.
However, BDSUNDAY authoritatively gathered from a source in the Aso Rock Villa that the two men are not
fighting for the President’s attention because each of them has it in different ways.
According to the Villa source, “Amaechi and Kachikwu have their separate roles. Amaechi still remains one of the President’s right hand men, while Kachikwu
also plays his role in trying to solve the issues in the Niger Delta.
The source however, explained that it was easier for those from the region “to listen to Kachikwu seeing him as a neutral person perceived to be apolitical in the
intrigues of the region. On the other hand, the average Niger Delta man would have none of Ameachi because of the role he played during the last election, selling out his own people as it were. They had expected him to stick with former President Goodluck Jonathan to defeat Buhari but Amaechi who had fallen out
of love with the former president decamped and threw his weight behind Buhari who eventually won. This appears to be a serious sin yet to be forgiven by the region.
Kachikwu on the other hand is considered to have gained the trust of the people of the region opening the route for talks with the leaders.” BDSUNDAY investigation
in the zone indicates that the masses of the Niger Delta are really not at whose instance the Abuja meeting was called but on what the outcome of the meeting would mean to them.
A young man in his 40s, who introduced himself as Debo and claimed to be a former militant, said he was not ready to comment on issues of intrigues or no intrigues over the Abuja meeting, adding, “Unless I see result of the meeting, then I would know we have representatives in government.”
Timothy Evans, an under graduate student of a state university in Edo State, said he’s looking forward to seeing his life improved by the outcome of the meeting as that’s the only thing that would interest him in the deal. “I read the report about the meeting and the 16-point demands made by the elders; that was fine, but my interest is what is there for me.
The politics of who called the meeting, for me, is immaterial. Both Amaechi and Kachikwu are in government and they should know what is good for their people. That’s how I see it,” Evans said. Kingsley Onos, a Port Harcourt-based business, who said he had seen the good, the bad and ugly days in the Niger Delta, told BDSUNDAY that the news making the rounds in the Garden City was that the meeting was at the instance of Mr. Kachikwu.
According to Onos, “I think what must have brought about this debate over who called the meeting or otherwise had to do with the bad blood politicians had allowed to run deep in the South-South region. Today, politicians are generally seen in the region as bad people. Ofcourse, you have been hearing and reading about killings
in Rivers State for instance, and people believe they are the handiwork of politicians.
So, people are now skeptical when they hear things about politicians and they appear to be shifting attention to those who have not been so much corrupted by politics. Don’t forget that people believe that the issue of militancy in the zone in the first place became real business by the activities of politicians, who either to develop the place or raised the boys as their hit squad.
That is why when they come now to say they are trying to end hostilities in the Niger Delta people no longer take them seriously. I think that may have been the reason why some people are thinking the deal is better handled by the petroleum minister, at least, for now.”
Blessing Onyima, a school proprietress in Port Harcourt, said politicians had failed the people and that it was high time the people of Niger Delta looked for a lesser evil to champion their cause. She refused to explain what she meant. BDSUNDAY sought the views of more politically exposed individuals on the issue. Below are their responses.
It is Kachikwu BDSUNDAY gathered that admirers of the petroleum minister may have already put on a smile of triumph,, saying their man is now the new prince of the Delta and cornered the money meant a force in Aso Rock. They say they had for some time been under the shadow of the Rivers-born Amaechi, a former governor for that matter, who seems to pull all the political weight in favour of the Rivers section against the Delta/Edo section. Also, groups in Rivers State who have been uncomfortable with an Amaechi rise have joined in pointing to Kachikwu as the proper voice of the region.
The support for Kachikwu seems to cut across the political spectrum. The Delta State chairman of the Labour Party, Tony Ezeagwu, told BDSUNDAY that the petroleum minister has emerged as a force to reckon with, even believing that he must have been the rallying force for the successful meeting in
Aso Rock. He said most political leaders in the Niger Delta were comfortable with him.
Ezeagwu said: “Kachikwu has the charisma to convince the region to join with Mr.President. If he is supported by President Buhari to do more, he would surely lead
the region to the Federal Government. He is at home with all sections of the region”. The Labour Party boss said Kachikwu had touched many lives even before he became a minister. “He is a well-known person. We are prepared to give him the necessary support”.
Many others do not want to speak in the open at this moment but they showed a willingness to give Kachikwu support. The minister’s stand on the vexed issue of the
maritime university in Delta State seems to have swayed a high number of people to his views, and he seems to pursue his luck further. Most of the militants have since seen him as their hope to gaining lost influence in the centre.
‘Amaechi still holds the ace’
Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, a media consultant in Port Harcourt, believes there’s no basis for comparison between the two ministers in terms of political astuteness and sagacity.
Eze said: “Amaechi was the rallying force behind mobilising the governors under PDP to support the presidential aspiration of President Jonathan during
the PDP Presidential Primaries that produced Jonathan as the PDP Flag-bearer and during the 2011 presidential election properly ensured that President Jonathan got over 2 million votes from Rivers State, the highest by any state in Nigeria.
“The commitment of Amaechi towards the future of the region is never in doubt. One thing I must state is that Amaechi is not a politician in the context of the type of politics we practise in Nigeria. The politics in Nigeria is hinged on falsehood and propaganda and these virtues are so detested by Amaechi; that’s why his type of politics is not acceptable to those who can’t stand the truth and appreciate his unique virtues and principles. These are the people plotting to destroy and downplay his inputs in the politics of Niger Delta.”
“Attending to the basics of your question, when I look through the list of those that attended the meeting with Buhari, they were the same key actors that attended
Amaechi’s ‘forum for peace’ on 24th September 2016. Check the list. So, with Amaechi gathering these great sons and daughters of the region to President Buhari, would anybody still want to listen to those who do not see any good in Amaechi? “When I also look through the 16 demands presented to Buhari by the Niger Delta leaders, again their demands were copied from the resolutions reached at Amaechi’s programme. Even the Maritime University was stated in both meetings, among others.”
Moderate views Some leaders even in the Amaechi camp such as Franklyn Mleruchi, a former DGof Bureau of Public Procurement (BoPP), simply do not want any sensationalism or positioning that may hamper the development of the Niger Delta.
“I see the idea of comparing Amaechi and Kachikwu as very unnecessary and immature. What Niger Delta needs is effective leadership for its development. Why
shouldn’t the focus of the
discourse be how to leverage all the persons from the region that have access to the President to advance the proper development of the region? This comparison, rivalry and the incidental schism and camp akin to the ‘Paul and Apollos’ camps syndrome will only exacerbate the challenges of the region
rather than bring succour.
We need selfless leadership to get out of the vicious circle of underdevelopment, not leadership tussle. History will always handle the matter of
contributions. This is my candid position,” Mleruchi said.
An observer who chose not to be mentioned told BDSUNDAY that “whatever may be the position of anybody, I must reiterate that both Amaechi and Kachikwu are great assets and sons of Niger Delta region. The two are interested and committed to the progress and emancipation of the region and have different strategies to achieve their common vision in this regard.
‘Rivers monarchs’ absence at the meeting ominous’
Many others say outside Rivers and some few other states, there seems to be no popular hostility towards Amaechi. They say the north still see him as a politician of
truth who stood for power shift, the same principle that brought the power to the oil region in the first place. In Rivers State, they say there is a greater political war of attrition with inclination to self-survival versus self-attrition. Sources say the fear of an Amaechi rise in Abuja could lead to the demise of certain camps in a state that has resolved that only total annihilation would be the logical conclusion to the ongoing division in the former Amaechi camp that has produced Governor
Nyesom Wike as head of the other faction of the once-united kitchen that broke away from Peter Odili.
This, however, does not explain the decision of the Wike camp to stop the Rivers’ monarchs from attending the Abuja meeting on November 1, by fixing a meeting with the state’s council of chiefs. If the governor truly objected to a peace meeting via Amaechi, he would eagerly support and mobilise for the one spear headed by Kachikwu. The failure to do this sends signals of unknown strategies so far. Or could it be that truly, it was Amaechi that was behind the Aso Rock meeting?
Did Amaechi betray the Niger Delta? The greater issue is the feeling that Amaechi betrayed Jonathan and, by extension, the oil region. Chukwuemeka Eze said that is a very wrong premise to interpret the present political crisis. Instead, he argues that Amaechi rather tried to prop up Jonathan and the interest of the Niger Delta.
“While former President Jonathan as the Vice President of Nigeria was suffering every humiliation in the hands of the cabal during the Umaru Yar’Adua administration, Amaechi proved to be a reliable pillar of support behind him. When President Yar’Adua passed on and Jonathan was being pushed around, Amaechi was among those in the forefront of ensuring that the then Vice-President Jonathan assumed office as the President when the National Assembly out of their wisdom came up with the ‘Doctrine of Necessity.’ “During the 2011 general election, Amaechi, not minding some other options available to him, opted to rally other governors to ensure that President Jonathan won the PDP ticket; and during the election proper, Amaechi delivered two million votes from the state to ensure that Jonathan got elected as the 14th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Conclusion
Some observers say that the issues thrown up by this debate tend to show that President Buhari may not be looking for just anyone to lead the Niger Delta to him but
someone to tell him the truth. In that case, both Kachikwu and Amaechi may be important to Mr. President.
“The exit point may be that President Buhari knows exactly what each minister means to him; he also knows those who went far to help him become the president, because without this, there would be no Aso Rock. He knows those who are fearless and those who may be useful in political finesse. He needs both”, said an analyst who craved anonymity.
The analyst further rationalised: “President Buhari also has faced political attacks enough to know when someone else is suffering one. All investigations are in his hands and he sure knows who is what. Amaechi has stood against pampering militants all his years as governor and may not be in their good books. The same militants lost out in the 2015 elections and have remained unhappy. Buhari may not be unaware of the antecedents of each opinion leaders.
He also seems to know that many persons accused of corruption are lining up behind any pressure group to slip in their own terms, and such persons may also be
demanding for removal of a particular person from position of importance.
“The militants vowed even before the elections to destroy oil assets to hurt the new president. The matter may be beyond Amaechi, because the chief offender is Buhari, the one who defeated their brother Jonathan. So, if Amaechi, being a lesser principality in that action, must be hated, how would the haters claim to truly love the main principality that actually defeated their kinsman? I think that is the crux of the matter,” the analyst said.
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