By Emma Ujah & Luka Biniyat

A critical look at the amnesty programme of the Federal Government for the Niger Delta militants one year after.
Since October 4, 2009, the booming of  guns in the creeks of the Niger Delta with their harrowing human and economic calamities have been replaced by a peaceful environment conducive for normal living and doing business.

The  date is of immense importance in the history of Nigeria, being the day that armed youths  in the Niger Delta, who had engaged the  authorities  in guerilla warfare, accepted the amnesty granted them by the  late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

Adopting a three –pronged  approach of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR),  government has largely been able to  re-make these young men, who once swore to bring down the Nigerian state.  One year after, cynics who thought  it was a  fruitless gesture have been proved wrong.

A notable development after the proclamation of amnesty is that economic activities in the region are on the upswing. The gains coming to the oil rich region and to the country are just too palpable to be ignored.

Major gains

Nigeria’s oil production increased from between 700, 000 and 800, 000 bpd   to 2.3 million bpd, after oil firms resumed full  operations across the Niger Delta.

Hundreds of thousands of lost barrels of oil from  sabotaged pipeline and flagrant theft  by the militants and common criminal  reduced to the barest minimum  thus adding to daily production stock.  The Nigeria LNG’s reputation as a reliable supplier of LNG cargoes was equally restored.

With renewed confidence in the international oil market, Nigeria began to exercise more influence in the supply and pricing of oil.   Repairs of oil and gas infrastructure damaged during the era of militant agitation speedily commenced, almost immediately after the disarmament.

Contractors handling developmental projects also were given lee-way to fast-track their efforts so as to assure the ex-militants of government’s determination to ensure sustainable development in the Niger Delta .  Forceful stoppage of work from directive and threat by militants in the construction of all-important East-West Road stopped, and worked has since resumed.

Though kidnapping of oil workers and foreigners was rampant, as one of the bargaining strategies of the militants in the core Niger Delta region, that has almost ebbed away in the region.

Residents in the Niger Delta can now see a significant drop in crime rate in the region, bearing the fact that not less than 20,000 of their youths engaged in militancy and sundry crimes  have now turned a new leaf.  Specifically, 20, 192 militants embraced the amnesty and surrendered their weapons.  In fact,  according to the Special Adviser to the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Presidential Amnesty Programme,  Mr. Timi Alaibe, another group of over 6,000 who did not initial believe the amnesty programme would work have since turned in their weapons, as well, asking to be part of the programme.

Some ex-militants during a training session.

Amnesty to the rescue
Faced with looming collapse of the economy, the Federal Government  offered, in 2009, unconditional amnesty to militants in the zone who agreed  to lay down their arms and assemble at screening centres within 60 days. Initially, government was  targeting up to 10,000 militants whose attacks in the Niger Delta States had cost the country a third of its oil production.

At the expiration of the 60-day grace period – Sunday October 4, 2009 – 20,192 Niger Delta militants had accepted the offer of amnesty. Thus the historical amnesty proclamation came into full effect exactly one year ago.

After the youths  agreed to unconditionally accept pardon, they were placed on monthly stipend of N65, 000, each while government also took  care of their feeding and other needs while in camp.   Unfortunately, the Presidential Amnesty Panel/Committee  of that time faced some challenges in  moving the process to the critical second phase of demobilisation and rehabilitation. This led President Goodluck Jonathan to disband the committee.   He then passed the assignment to his Special Adviser on the Niger Delta to implement the programme, considered too critical to the nation’s economy and the corporate existence of Nigeria.

This led to the opening of a  camp in Obubra community in Cross River State,  with the  ex-fighters expected to undergo transformational training and reorientation programme  for about 14 days per batch of between 1,000 and 1,500 ex-militants.

The core of the programme is to remove the belief of the ex-militants  in violence.  It is also to liberate the pardoned from the burden of guilt from his past crimes. They are  taught to avoid not only external physical violence but also internal violence of the spirit using the power of love. In a nutshell, this stage of engagement is to prepare the spirit of the former illegal combatant for normal day-to-day living as a free law abiding citizen free to strive for living like any other person.

8,595 rehabilited.

The second phase of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) component of the amnesty programme is  progressing on schedule.

So far, 8,595 former combatants, who graduated from the rehabilitation camp in Obubra,  effectively demobilized and are now being placed in vocational/skills acquisition centres and institutions within and outside the country.
As at November 1, 2010, the Presidential Amnesty Office had placed 5,457 of the ex-militants who have passed through the Obubra Camp in training centres within Nigeria  while arrangements have been concluded to send 1,317 others  to institutions and centres outside the country.

Formal education
Some of the ex-militants have chosen  formal education as against  vocational training.  This category consists mainly of those who did not complete school either at the primary or secondary and even post-secondary education.

With the dawn of a new era, they want to return to school and in line with the amnesty proclamation, government is ready to assist them to achieve this goal. The classification team in the camp has checked the qualifications of the former fighters  who have passed out of the Obubra Camp. Some have been recommended to undertake courses in some schools in the country and abroad.

N3 trillion lost
By January 2009, militancy in the Niger Delta had virtually crippled Nigeria’s economy.  Investment inflow to the upstream sub-sector of the oil industry had dwindled remarkably. Frightened foreign investors had began redirecting their investments to Angola and Ghana as preferred destinations over Nigeria making Angola to  surpass Nigeria as Africa’s highest crude oil producer.

The dwindling investments in Nigeria’s mainstay threatened her  capacity to grow its crude oil reserves.  For example, due to militant activities in the Niger Delta Royal Dutch Shell,  by early 2009, saw its production drop from one million bpd to about 250,000 bpd.

ExxonMobil also experienced increased insurgent activities  in its Nigerian operations. Sabotage, oil siphoning rackets and kidnappings of oil workers by suspected militants further threatened the operations of the oil companies and exerted immense pressure on the Nigerian economy. Worse still, union officials oftentimes  called strikes to protest insecure working environment. It got to a point where Nigeria’s export dwindled to as low as 800,000 bpd at a time, compared with a targeted 2.2 million bpd for the first quarter of 2009. In 2008 alone, it was estimated that Nigeria lost over 3 trillion Naira as a result of militancy in the Niger Delta.

Safe haven

One year after the proclamation of amnesty for the militant agitators in the Niger Delta, the region has become one of the safest parts of  Nigeria. Disbanded,  the leaders of former militia groups who have accepted amnesty and embraced peace have continued to be of immense help to the amnesty programme; they have been collaborating with the Amnesty Office and other agencies of government to consolidate the peace in the Niger Delta.

Some of the former fighters  have even shown interests in politics, with a view to formally  placing themselves in positions of civil authority from where they can positively affect the lives of millions of Niger Delta people in whose interests  they earlier took up arms.