Sijien thank youuuu

SPDC does not release the amout of bribe money they lose to the locals every year(an estimated loss of several million dollars), because when all the budget for W.Africa is done, they are still well ahead. No need to rock the boat. Niger delta problems, as of now, has very little to do with any form of development or actualisation by the indigenes. The corruption and thievery of the leaders and people in this areas is mind boggling.

Oyinbo no dey talk, as long as he can make his money and go on. For example SPDC hired boys in the delta area in an effort to include 'local content'. Then they noticed that their equipment was being stolen regularly, by none other than the people they had hired. Of course SPDC initially fired them, until the tribal leaders raised hell. Shell decided on a compromise: pay the boys not to come to work !! At least that way, no more stolen equipment.

Oh, and by the way, if you are not from the tribal area, and you are transferred to the area by SPDC, you know the kind of wahala you are going to go through. There are stories of some Nigerians working in the area who have to pay 25% of their salary to the tribal leaders. Why? Because no local content was found to fill the job, and as far as they are concerned, you are renting the job until they can find one of their own.

I better stop now

Interesting I am glad we getting the other side of the story now, when I said something theuy told me to shut up, they said im stupid, where are all the Niger Delta defendant now? please come out and defend or justify this senseless killing

To catch a monkey, you have to behave like a monkey, to implement peace in the Niger-Delta,
I think the millitary action is just what we need, but what has been slowing this down is just the
love of the people around there that are not millitants. If not that, they had surrenderd by now.

My People , before now, iuse to think that the Niger Deltans are tooo unreasonable, some time last year i passed Warri on my way to Lagos , O my God, it's nothing to write home about, do u know that there is nothing like fertile land or even clean water , from a car , i saw that all the ground was covered with Black Oil.  I mean this pple can't farm, no water to drink. Still i didn't want to support their quest for resource sharing and  fight against teh Government , But i got off my senses  when i got a job with an Oil servicing company. O my God , they call them experts , those white people , you can imagine, somebody doing the same job with you in the office is receiving your yearly salary as just a month salary, sincerely, my job collegue receives 6000 pounds(1.5m) per month , while i am paid about 130k per month , whyyyyyy my der nigerians , we own this oil, have you asked yourself , why they oyibo's has refused to retire to their country even after their brothers has been killed and abducted, instaed more of them are still coming over, This is a period  of  Neo colinialism, Let them go. If our government doesn't do anything about this soon. The Niger Deltans will continue to cause problem. Unless they start treating everybosy as an expert

Before we nail the oil majors to the cross,

The terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the Government and the major oil companies
in 2000 forms the basis for sharing oil revenues between the joint venture partners.  NNPC maintains 6 Joint ventures.

Under the terms of the MOU for one of the 6 JV agreement, the companies (including SPDC) receive a fixed margin within an oil price range of $15 to $19 a barrel.  

For example, at an oil price of $19 per barrel, the Government’s take in taxes, royalties and equity share is $13.78 per barrel. Of the remaining $5.22, operating cost and future investment take the lion’s share, with about $1.22 left to be shared as a margin among the private shareholders (Shell, Total and Agip).

At $10 per barrel, the Government’s take falls to just over $5.12 per barrel, while the margin to be shared amongst the private shareholders reduces to 88 cents.

At $30 per barrel, the Government’s take increases to $24.13 per barrel, while the margin shared by the private partners
increases to $1.87.

Today, oil is going for above $60 per barrel. This is the point to ponder when deliberating on the plight of the Niger Delta. If the oil majors are running a profitable business with comparatively so little, what about the FGN and her share vis a vis what we have going on in the N.Delta?

I find it interesting that people who have worked in or are working with the oil companies (with the exception of Owo, and like Sijien pointed out, he may need to prove that he really worked with Shell), all say the same thing. . .

birdman:

Sijien thank youuuu

SPDC does not release the amout of bribe money they lose to the locals every year(an estimated loss of several million dollars), because when all the budget for W.Africa is done, they are still well ahead. No need to rock the boat. Niger delta problems, as of now, has very little to do with any form of development or actualisation by the indigenes. The corruption and thievery of the leaders and people in this areas is mind boggling.

Oyinbo no dey talk, as long as he can make his money and go on. For example SPDC hired boys in the delta area in an effort to include 'local content'. Then they noticed that their equipment was being stolen regularly, by none other than the people they had hired. Of course SPDC initially fired them, until the tribal leaders raised hell. Shell decided on a compromise: pay the boys not to come to work !! At least that way, no more stolen equipment.

Oh, and by the way, if you are not from the tribal area, and you are transferred to the area by SPDC, you know the kind of wahala you are going to go through. There are stories of some Nigerians working in the area who have to pay 25% of their salary to the tribal leaders. Why? Because no local content was found to fill the job, and as far as they are concerned, you are renting the job until they can find one of their own.

I better stop now

@sijien
true talk my broda bt d some ppl on these threads will turn a blind eye to these points u have made.

I worked as an acquisition officer with a telecoms company within the niger-delta region for 3 years and can confirm the observations u made here. the level of development here is out of sheer greed by d leaders of dese areas and d level dey will go to to ensure that companys coming into there vicinity pay them homage eventually leads to such companys abandoning such projects which wld have impacted positively on dere situation.

i knw a community called ogbnia in bayelsa who dere l.g.a. chairman put me through hell just because we wanted to put a site within there community. He demanded for 1 million naira even b4 he could sign d agreement. anoda example is kaiama but let me nt start monologuing. The crux of d mata be sey dese ppl n dem leaders na wah!!!

Since it is time to start lamenting what professionals have gone through at the hands of these 'leaders' let me chip in mine, one by one (them plenty):

Kaigama (is there something with that place), the man's name Ebisundo (still can't pronounce the surname). Demand was N1m before we could erect a base station (we were doing it on behalf of V-Mobile).

Needless to say, base station wasn't erected.

AfricaFace:

My People , before now, iuse to think that the Niger Deltans are tooo unreasonable, some time last year i passed Warri on my way to Lagos , O my God, it's nothing to write home about, do u know that there is nothing like fertile land or even clean water , from a car , i saw that all the ground was covered with Black Oil. I mean this people can't farm, no water to drink. Still i didn't want to support their quest for resource sharing and fight against the Government , But i got off my senses when i got a job with an Oil servicing company. O my God , they call them experts , those white people , you can imagine, somebody doing the same job with you in the office is receiving your yearly salary as just a month salary, sincerely, my job collegue receives 6000 pounds(1.5m) per month , while i am paid about 130k per month , whyyyyyy my der nigerians , we own this oil, have you asked yourself , why they oyibo's has refused to retire to their country even after their brothers has been killed and abducted, instaed more of them are still coming over, This is a period of Neo colinialism, Let them go. If our government doesn't do anything about this soon. The Niger Deltans will continue to cause problem. Unless they start treating everybosy as an expert

They aren't called 'experts'. they are called 'expats', short for expatriates. You're a nigerian so in nigeria you'll never be an expatriate. simple english!
Strange you say 'all the ground' is covered in black oil. Perhaps a change of your sunglasses is in order?
If, as you claim, you worked in the oil sector, you'd know that the Oil and Gas business is a risky and capital intensive business. How many naijans can afford the millions of dollars needed to exploit and develop the oil? Even the ones that win marginal fields have to seek foreign partnership to develop them.
as to why the 'oyibos' are still here, if you had billions of dollars invested in a country, wouldnt you send staff that are known to be competent there?

The NNPC gets the lion's share of the oil revenue. yet all these millitants and malcontents are all too eager to blame the multinationals, simply because it's easy to play the race and colonialism card.
You say the Naija Delta communities should be compensated. apparently you think the N4bn given to Rivers state as part of the derivation is not enough. If even N2bn was used wisely, the people of Rivers should be swimming in enjoyment, enjoying good light and water.
At times you talk as if oil wells cover every square inch of the state. If you ask the youths to show you oil spillages, you'll find out that most of 'em were caused by youths sabotage or illegal bunkering. SPDC even had to change designs of Christmas Trees some time ago because the older ones could easily be sabotaged by the youths, who would then raise an outcry over pollution of their rich farmlands.
Recently a gas fire is raging in a shell location in Ogoni land. a preliminary investigation fingers sabotage as the cause, yet the local ogoni youths are crying about pollution and environmental damage, calling Friends Of The Earth and Greenpeace to witness shell's 'crimes'. while the fires raged on (and it's still burning till now) the youths refused SPDC access to the area, preventing them from fighting it earlier. to what end, i ask?

These guys are greedy. not content with the fact that 13% of the oil cash is an immense sum, they want 50%, citing the fact that the west used to get 50% of cocoa money. they conveniently forget that the western farmers tilled the land, planted the cocoa, weeded the area, watched the cocoa, provided fertilizers, lost huge sums to plant diseases and harvested the finished cocoa, processed it and delivered it for sale. A huge effort indeed. All these youths in the Niger Delta do nothing for the development of crude, from its formation in source rock to its migration, to its location. THEY HAVE NO INPUT! then you want to be on the same pedestal as those who worked tooth and nail to produce cocoa and groundnut?

13% is a huge amount. it's about N4bn monthly for rivers and delta states and slightly less for bayelsa. if these boys could just be a*rsed to tackle their corrupt and inept leaders, they'll be happy. blaming others for their self-engineered ineptitude is crap!

I told Owo and Ono, two south-south proponents that the best way to take control of the Oil and Gas industry is to send their kids to school. many of the ND engineering undergraduates who studied with me were extremely mediocre, confident that they could walk out with a 3rd class or pass and their communities would demand they get employment. Chxta can bear me out on this.

While the south-south demand compensation, they'd better prepare compensation packages for the families of those they've killed, for the trauma they've put innocent people through.

As the Zulus say, I have spoken. Those who have ears, let them hear.

Lawdy lawd!! So much have been said. Who do I reply first? But in the end, I've realised that I just kept repeating thesame thing over and over again. I believe it's time for action and not words anymore.

MEND and other Joint Revolutionary C'ttee groups are fighting their lives out there in the creeks. Let us see who'd loose in the end. Nigeria, Militants or the Niger Delta people.

Ono are you implying that the militants and the Niger Delta people are different?

By the way, why do you keep avoiding the fact that your leaders are a part of the problem?

God realy needs 2 intervene in dis buhaha.
Those guyz r realy makn d name of our beluvd naija sink in thrash,
or maybe d govt shld just resolve it by yieldin 2 their demands or provide so more jobs 2 kip dem buzy
dats ma opinion fellas

Our leaders are the problem to all these. I wish the militants will recognize this and change the direction of their attack from innocent people to the corrupt leaders there. I mean Local chiefs, traditional rulers, councillors, Local govt chairmen, governors, commissioners and all of dem like dat are the cause of all these. I rest my case too.

Chxta,
I said in one of my entries on this issue that the presence of miscreants and militants activities in the Delta are the fallouts of lawlessness that pervades the Nigerian landscape. There is indeed some level of connection btw the activities of militants and true struggles of the Niger Delta people. But, by and large, these militants (including Bakassi Boys, Arewa youths, OPC, MEND, Omonile, Touts and Area boys etc) are the results of a failed security and accountability apparatus of state.

You see Chxta, Nigeria is a failed state. Under a responsible government, a government that has the interests and well being of it's people at heart, militancy, hostage taking and other ills will be non existent. Examples abound of responsible government all over Africa and indeed the world. Blame your leaders Chxta, and leave out the Niger Delta people over the activities of miscreants in the Delta. But if you must know, I'm happy these folks are matching action with words out there. But my heart goes out to those felled by bullets on both sides. When we come to the realisation that we are indeed parading incompetent and brutal people as leaders, we will all go out there and chase them out.

You should also know by now that the true struggles of the Niger Delta people for control of their life and God given resources transcends the activities of militants in the creeks. Our struggles, as stated by myself and mate Owo is a broad one, and it encompasses using what God has given to us in His infinite mercies to better our lots, that of the present generation and future ones. So that in the end we can confortably say: Thus far hath the Lord help us.

Chxta's World

You would find that in every setup, no matter how good such a setup would be challenged by dissatisfied individuals (note that I am avoiding using the word disgruntled). Even in the US, there are people who feel that they are being hard done by. That is the natural order of things.

The facts remain (and I am yet to be proved wrong in any thread that I have raised these points despite all the hate and threats directed at me):

1) since we have reached a concensus that marginalisation in our diction is all about infrastructure or the lack of it, all parts of Nigeria have suffered marginalisation

2) since we have agreed that the representatives of a people are their leaders, then the voices of the people of the Niger Delta (South-South) are as follows: (elected) Peter Odili, Dieprieye Alamiesiyeagha now replaced by Goodluck Jonathan, Lucky Igbinedion, James Ibori, Obong Attah, Donald Duke. We agree that the people deserve the government that they have, and since the people of the Niger Delta (South-South) are 'happy' to just sit back and let these rogues (apologies to Donald Duke) continue looting their treasuries, then the people also share a portion of the blame for their actions.

3) we have all in one form or the other over the course of the last few months when I first burst on the scene with this article, agreed that he who cannot be trusted in small things cannot be trusted in big things. My own interpretation of that statement is he who cannot be trusted with coins cannot be trusted with notes. The implication of that is that the Niger Delta who get the lion's share of oil revenue, and have been getting that larger share for the better part of the last decade, and who still have nothing to show for it, do not deserve a larger share of such funds.

4) we have all agreed that he who makes peaceful change impossible, makes violent change inevitable. History bears that out, that you can only push a people thus far. But history also shows that a struggle whose leadership is not pure (for want of a better word) and honest is bound to fail. We have all seen that the leaders of all the various 'break-Nigeria' movements (Ojukwu back in the 1960s), Uwazuruike, Dokubo, Adams didn't have the backs of their people when the chips were down, but instead were interested in self. With such dishonest leadership, all these movements will surely fail.

5) we have all agreed that Nigeria as it is currently constituted is failing. But we fail to remember that failure is an incentive to do well. We also fail to remember that Nigeria once was a sort of success story. It is easy for us to point out reasons why we are failing, but difficult to remember that other countries with similar situations are doing well.

6) we have all agreed that based on the indigene-settler dichotomy which currently operates in Nigeria, Chxta for example is a citizen not of Edo State but of one of the states east of Edo (for reasons of national unity, I haven't filled in the state of origin slot in any form since 2001, for example in the last census, I filled in Edo as my state of origin, so don't ask what state I come from). Since this indigene-settler dichotomy operates, then the South-South geopolitical zone has indeed produced a Nigerian Head of State. His name is Murtala Ramat Muhammad. And until the day an Igbo man is allowed to run for governor of Lagos State, it remains an immutable fact that the late General Muhammad was from Edo State.

7) we all agree that education is the only way to stem the apparent slide that is pervasive in the South of the country, and some of us have pointed out that despite figures that show that the East for example produces the largest number of applicants that doesn't necessarily translate into a higher number of graduates as the drop out rate of males in the East (and the South-South) is on the sharp increase. This would bode very poorly for us in the long term, and the sooner we address this issue, the better for us all.

This is not the time to fight. This is the time to sit down and take an inward look. As an ancient sage once wisely noted: 'The trouble with most of us is that we'd rather be ruined by praise than built by criticism'.

To borrow a phrase from Texazzpete: I have spoken.

The problem is that a lot of the so called leaders are super imposed by external forces and are acting for their own selfish gains. A lot of qualified niger delta youths with 2.2 and 2.1 not to talk of 3.0 are unemployed so let us not give an impression that there are few graduates in the region and that jobs are reserved for them; that is not the case or if you have an email address that i can send guarantee automatic and immediate employment for such people, feel free to publish such on this forum.

My friends,i must say that we are going about this issue the wrong way.It still shows nigerians don't know what it is to be nigerians.What we are talking about here are nigerians who want to better their lots.I have spent a year or so of my life in bayelsa state and i must confess these people they suffer.Normally,our government should be responsible for every Nigerian young or old.That gives the people the sense of pride to be citizens.Look at, you are kidnapping your own people and even killing them to make a statement.The state in return is sending the state machinery to kill Nigerians.Come on i have always thought Nigerians are smart.There are ways of achieving struggles.In recent past,Nelson Mandela,Martin luther King, Indra Ghandi and so many others.They are reknown for their struggles for justice and equality by means of non violence and they are better for it.I know for sure that they are great intellectuals from the Niger Delta region and my appeal to them is or rather a question "What kind of children are they raising" What legacy are they leaving?Violence only begets more violence.The best means has always being the civil rights means.There are very potent means of achieving it.For me i don't know a country that will hard earned foreign exchange leave her shores only for payment to come from the so called headquarters.Just check it,my friend so many things have gone wrong.The future of the Niger Delta and indeed Nigeria has been mortgaged by her own people.Especially by the so called local contacts of these multi-national companies.


LET SIT AND PONDER A BIT-NO MAN IS BIGGER THAN THE STATE!!!!

Look i am from the NIGER DELTA,  i live in Warri, i do business in Port-Harcoat, i do travel to Benin regularly too, i schooled in ABU Zaria, i also do business in Abuja, and know Kaduna fairly well, now in all my travels i ve never passed a road as bad as Warri- Port-harcoat road, a road linking two oil towns that feed the nation, in all my travels i ve also not passed a road as smooth as Kaduna-Abuja road, lets not talk much on the bad state of Benin-Warri road or Benin-Lagos road, look when you push even a goat to the wall, he will turn to face you, the situation of the Niger Deltans "is this situation pass die", in the whole of the Niger Delta region you can hand pick federal institions, or presence, even this NNPC Mega filling Stations are no where to be found here in ND, I personally have not seen one,
the solution is simply RESOURCE CONTROL, TRUE FEDERALISM, pERIOD!!!!!!!!!
I ve to go now, i don close from work, till tommorrow every one

waffistyle:

Look i am from the NIGER DELTA, i live in Warri, i do business in Port-Harcoat, i do travel to Benin regularly too, i schooled in ABU Zaria, i also do business in Abuja, and know Kaduna fairly well, now in all my travels i ve never passed a road as bad as Warri- Port-harcoat road, a road linking two oil towns that feed the nation, in all my travels i ve also not passed a road as smooth as Kaduna-Abuja road, lets not talk much on the bad state of Benin-Warri road or Benin-Lagos road, look when you push even a goat to the wall, he will turn to face you, the situation of the Niger Deltans "is this situation pass die", in the whole of the Niger Delta region you can hand pick federal institions, or presence, even this NNPC Mega filling Stations are no where to be found here in ND, I personally have not seen one,
the solution is simply RESOURCE CONTROL, TRUE FEDERALISM, pERIOD!!!!!!!!!
I ve to go now, i don close from work, till tommorrow every one

You are obviously not so well travelled then. . .

Simple:

Use some of the money to develop the state. Create job opportunities, improve standard of education and medical accessibility.
Instead of doing all these Federal government glamorous activities or events in Lagos and Abuja, schedule some of these activities to take place in Delta State.
Show these people that they are important and we care about the development of their state.

I believe that Conoil or Globacom has already introduced a strategy to improve standard of living in this area (I'm not sure, but I will double check my facts)

By now, Mr president should have visited this state for at least more than 5 times, but I'm not sure if this has taken place at this point; also I'm not sure if this current administration understands the importance of keeping peace in this part of the country. They are too busy fighting corruption in the country, a rat race concept.

They need to go to the schools and speak/ listen to the local people, address their concerns and present a time table for the development activities.


Without these steps, there will never be peace in that area.

Face the fact, there is no way multi millions being made weekly and their children can hardly eat once a day; it just doesn't make any sense.

Government need to listen and pay special attention to this area or else it will get worst and bigger than conflict between OBJ and ATIKU.

buchio7:

@sijien
true talk my brother bt d some people on these threads will turn a blind eye to these points u have made.

I worked as an acquisition officer with a telecoms company within the niger-delta region for 3 years and can confirm the observations u made here. the level of development here is out of sheer greed by d leaders of dese areas and d level dey will go to to ensure that companys coming into there vicinity pay them homage eventually leads to such companys abandoning such projects which would have impacted positively on dere situation.

i knw a community called ogbnia in bayelsa who dere l.g.a. chairman put me through hell just because we wanted to put a site within there community. He demanded for 1 million naira even before he could sign d agreement. another example is kaiama but let me nt start monologuing. The crux of d mata be sey dese people n them leaders na wah!!!

The crux of the matter. . .

chineduleo:

My friends,i must say that we are going about this issue the wrong way.It still shows nigerians don't know what it is to be nigerians.What we are talking about here are nigerians who want to better their lots.I have spent a year or so of my life in bayelsa state and i must confess these people they suffer.Normally,our government should be responsible for every Nigerian young or old.That gives the people the sense of pride to be citizens.Look at, you are kidnapping your own people and even killing them to make a statement.The state in return is sending the state machinery to kill Nigerians.Come on i have always thought Nigerians are smart.There are ways of achieving struggles.In recent past,Nelson Mandela,Martin luther King, Indra Ghandi and so many others.They are reknown for their struggles for justice and equality by means of non violence and they are better for it.I know for sure that they are great intellectuals from the Niger Delta region and my appeal to them is or rather a question "What kind of children are they raising" What legacy are they leaving?Violence only begets more violence.The best means has always being the civil rights means.There are very potent means of achieving it.For me i don't know a country that will hard earned foreign exchange leave her shores only for payment to come from the so called headquarters.Just check it,my friend so many things have gone wrong.The future of the Niger Delta and indeed Nigeria has been mortgaged by her own people.Especially by the so called local contacts of these multi-national companies.


LET SIT AND PONDER A BIT-NO MAN IS BIGGER THAN THE STATE!!!!

Why is it that it always boils down to this point?

The fact is dat as long as d ppl do not hold dere leaders to task for the underdevelopment pervading within d region there will always be scenarios like what chineduleo was describing he saw in bayelsa,

I also have travelled extensively within d niger-delta and have seen d degradation in communities like oporoma,ogbia,nembe,sangana e.t.c but it does nt excuse d fact dat a lot of blame lies with d leaders. When i say leaders it includes l.g. chairmen,traditional chiefs,governors,e.t.c

chxta, clearly you're a bigot and a fool.

so 2 shell workers represent all. how do you know these guys even work there. for all your know its seun or you posing as these psoters. how long have the leaderrs of these regiosn controlled the resources that we are talking about. you wish to blame the condition of the delta on these few leaders that propped up recently after democracy. you think in 6or 7 years they can fix years if oppression and neglect.

all those speaking about the underdevelopment of the delta, tell me, how long have the local leaders had a hand in thier development. be honest.

bastards like chxta should be lined up and shot, or better yet, quartered.

and please stop promotting that stupid blog of yours

obong stop that nonsense, so who should be blame for all this crisis in this region? are you saying none of the leaders, council men and senators should take responsibility for the condition of lives

obong:

chxta, clearly you're a bigot and a fool.

so 2 shell workers represent all. how do you know these guys even work there. for all your know its seun or you posing as these psoters. how long have the leaderrs of these regiosn controlled the resources that we are talking about. you wish to blame the condition of the delta on these few leaders that propped up recently after democracy. you think in 6or 7 years they can fix years if oppression and neglect.

all those speaking about the underdevelopment of the delta, tell me, how long have the local leaders had a hand in their development. be honest.

bastards like chxta should be lined up and shot, or better yet, quartered.

and please stop promotting that stupid blog of yours

Dis is an example of d denial by d people of dis region. They leave d issues and chase after d shadow.

have you read any of my responses. the blame ca be shared certainly, but the bulk does not fall on the footsteps of the ND leaders. like i said give me facts.

how long have the ND leaders controlled the reasources in thier region as they do today. ?

who has destroyed the traditional ways of making a livelihood?

you can keep saying im chasing shadows or whatever, but i'll call all you bigots out one by one.

obong:

have you read any of my responses. the blame ca be shared certainly, but the bulk does not fall on the footsteps of the ND leaders. like i said give me facts.

how long have the ND leaders controlled the reasources in their region as they do today. ?

who has destroyed the traditional ways of making a livelihood?

you can keep saying im chasing shadows or whatever, but i'll call all you bigots out one by one.

It's said in china that when two people are arguing, the one who throws the first punch is the one who knows that his argument is weaker. You obviously prove that point. The truth is, you know nothing about chxta, all you can do is hazard a guess at his character, his temperament, his mien from his postings. So your insults are wild speculations at best.
Alas, they are insults, nonetheless. So unfortunately for you, we all know now that in reality you're a rude, uncouth, ill-mannered and shallow person. These are not insults, you understand.

How sad this makes me. this was turning out to be an intellectual discussion until you barged in. now, all you are is a time-wasting diversion,
most unfortunate!

people lets give the guy a chance, I think he is just responding in anger. I've said it before and I am saying it again like any intellectual person will say. This people elects their officials? what have all this official been going to Lagos and Abuja doing? they should be fighting to protect the interest of the region and finding a lasting solution to the crisis before resulting to this coward malice kidnapping. If they want to kidnap go after your representatives and let them account for all the Federal government allocations.

civil rights or and protest will only take us to the place where ken saro wiwa is. Watching NTA News last night was inspiring. Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has instituted a chair in far away University of Sokoto to help in the research of oil and gas activity. If this is not wickedness then the devil is not a liar. We now all know that PTDF is one of the channels used to syphon the resources of the niger delta to illicit activities especially in the northern and western parts of nigeria. My sister made a first class in microbiology and she is from the niger delta but PTDF wont give her scholarship, the british government through the commonwealth had to sponsor her for her masters to the UK. What are we talking about? There is only one good road in the whole port harcourt metropolis yet it is supposed to be the oil capital of Nigeria. The Warri - Port Harcourt section of the Lagos - Port Harcourt road is impossible yet its the ore section that they are looking at first. Those armed youths in the niger delta are going to give the nigerian army plus the multinationals a very very tough time and with the 101% support of every sincere niger delta indigene since the rest of the country seem to suffer from "selective amnesia" citing such isolated cases as alams and others. How much by the way did IBB, ITT, ATIKU, YAR ADUA, steal eh? Is that a reason why their places should not be developed or maybe that is the reason they continue to make their people to continue to head key ministries and companies in we country. Devil punish all them hypocrites and political beneficiaries.

Otokx and Obong,
You two are indeed representatives of our people. But, Obong, you'd do well to apologise to Chxta. I don't like his views about the Niger Delta people and leaders, but we sure can get some other juicy stuff from him. Let us not throw punches, so that we will not be seen as weaklings in putting forth our points to buttress what we believe.

Now Chxta:

Chxta:

You would find that in every setup, no matter how good such a setup would be challenged by dissatisfied individuals (note that I am avoiding using the word disgruntled). Even in the US, there are people who feel that they are being hard done by. That is the natural order of things.

The facts remain (and I am yet to be proved wrong in any thread that I have raised these points despite all the hate and threats directed at me):

1) since we have reached a concensus that marginalisation in our diction is all about infrastructure or the lack of it, all parts of Nigeria have suffered marginalisation

And I've stated in one of my entries on this board that I'll like to have the kind of sufferings and marginalisations going on in such places as Maitama districts, Asokoro, Ikoyi GRA, high brow areas of Victoria Island, Kaduna, and Kano, which, as we all know, were built up with the resources from the Niger Delta states. In relative terms, the type of marginalisation and sufferings witnessed and we're still witnessing in the Delta is unprecedented in the history of this country. It's an absurdity that a place that produces the bulk of the nation's wealth should be subjected to such callous treatment by any type of leadership at the centre. It smacks of wickedness at it's peak on the part of these leaders.  

Chxta:

2) since we have agreed that the representatives of a people are their leaders, then the voices of the people of the Niger Delta (South-South) are as follows: (elected) Peter Odili, Dieprieye Alamiesiyeagha now replaced by Goodluck Jonathan, Lucky Igbinedion, James Ibori, Obong Attah, Donald Duke. We agree that the people deserve the government that they have, and since the people of the Niger Delta (South-South) are 'happy' to just sit back and let these rogues (apologies to Donald Duke) continue looting their treasuries, then the people also share a portion of the blame for their actions.

I've also stated that ''leaders'' from other states of the Federation have been fingered for one type of grave offence or the other. Fayose will soon begin to cool off his heels in the gulag. Dariye also jumped bail. Even the one that delights in amputating limbs was fingered! As a matter of fact, the[b] only governor who's been given a clean bill of health by the EFCC is a Niger Delta governor![/b] I wonder why this governor is not from the ''saintly'' North, West or Eastern part of the country. I thought you'd be praising the Delta people for producing the only credible governor in the whole Federation considering that we're the most marginalised people in the country.

Chxta:

3) we have all in one form or the other over the course of the last few months when I first burst on the scene with this article, agreed that he who cannot be trusted in small things cannot be trusted in big things. My own interpretation of that statement is he who cannot be trusted with coins cannot be trusted with notes. The implication of that is that the Niger Delta who get the lion's share of oil revenue, and have been getting that larger share for the better part of the last decade, and who still have nothing to show for it, do not deserve a larger share of such funds.

I think you should by now know where to direct this your inference.

Chxta:

4) we have all agreed that he who makes peaceful change impossible, makes violent change inevitable. History bears that out, that you can only push a people thus far. But history also shows that a struggle whose leadership is not pure (for want of a better word) and honest is bound to fail. We have all seen that the leaders of all the various 'break-Nigeria' movements (Ojukwu back in the 1960s), Uwazuruike, Dokubo, Adams didn't have the backs of their people when the chips were down, but instead were interested in self. With such dishonest leadership, all these movements will surely fail.

As stated earlier on, blame the folks at the centre. We all know that even after the death of Isaac Adaka Boro, since the sixties, the struggles for the emancipation of the Delta people lives on. You see, it's not over until the struggles yields the fruits desired by all concerned. Almost all Igbos believed in what Uwazuruike holds in high esteem. They obeyed the sit-at home order he dished out sometimes last year, and even the FG felt threatened when they realised that the Igbos obeyed this man. And although he's in prison and locked up, what he believed in still lives on. And a lot of Igbo chaps are willing to take over from where he left, and this will go on until the percieved injustice done to them is adressed, and seen to be adressed by the generality of the Igbo people. Don't be deceived by the temporary incapacitation of these people. No one can stop the people when the chips are down. Not even with brutal force as is currently being canvassed by you and your likes in here.

Chxta:

5) we have all agreed that Nigeria as it is currently constituted is failing. But we fail to remember that failure is an incentive to do well. We also fail to remember that Nigeria once was a sort of success story. It is easy for us to point out reasons why we are failing, but difficult to remember that other countries with similar situations are doing well.

Please tell, how and when was Nigeria ever a sort of success story? (Aside from when Muritala Muhammed was head of State - A South Southerner, as stated by you) Also list out these countries with smilar situations as ours. I'm yet to see one.

Chxta:

6) we have all agreed that based on the indigene-settler dichotomy which currently operates in Nigeria, Chxta for example is a citizen not of Edo State but of one of the states east of Edo (for reasons of national unity, I haven't filled in the state of origin slot in any form since 2001, for example in the last census, I filled in Edo as my state of origin, so don't ask what state I come from). Since this indigene-settler dichotomy operates, then the South-South geopolitical zone has indeed produced a Nigerian Head of State. His name is Murtala Ramat Muhammad. And until the day an Igbo man is allowed to run for governor of Lagos State, it remains an immutable fact that the late General Muhammad was from Edo State.

Stop dreaming. Why ask for the impossible?

Chxta:

7) we all agree that education is the only way to stem the apparent slide that is pervasive in the South of the country, and some of us have pointed out that despite figures that show that the East for example produces the largest number of applicants that doesn't necessarily translate into a higher number of graduates as the drop out rate of males in the East (and the South-South) is on the sharp increase. This would bode very poorly for us in the long term, and the sooner we address this issue, the better for us all.

Please correct me, the last time I checked some JAMB brochures, most of the ELDS (Educationally Less Developed States) were concentrated in the North. How is it then, that it's now a South South affair? So going by your reasoning here, the only part of the country that is educationally sound is the South West. If that is what you think, then, methink your view on education in the country is a bit warped.

Chxta:

This is not the time to fight. This is the time to sit down and take an inward look. As an ancient sage once wisely noted: 'The trouble with most of us is that we'd rather be ruined by praise than built by criticism'.

We have been looking inward for quite a long time. I think this is the time to look outward, since, when we looked inward, we did not make any meaningful progress as a country.

Chxta:

To borrow a phrase from Texazzpete: I have spoken.