I like the Niger Delta militants. Or are they ex militants now?

They dropped their arms or so, we were told, and collected tons of cash in exchange. Perhaps, it was a virtual exchange. So they are not supposed to have weapons or, at least, should not flaunt their capacity to inflict violence. That is a reasonable expectation. So much for reasonableness.

The boys amongst them receive salaries and gratuities from government under the nebulous amnesty programme to offset a supposed loss of income from crude oil. This was expected to end or reduce the stealing of crude oil.

Many of the ex militants were sent to foreign lands ostensibly to learn vocations, to become employable outside of the underworld but only a few believe in the stated objectives of those jamborees. Consolidated igbadun.

The amnesty program worked to a great extent if sustained improved levels of crude oil productions is a veritable measure of success. The program was a pragmatic, sensible trade off by weak and desperate and hungry state.

The big boys got loads of cash as sign on fees and since they are generals, as they prefer to be referred, they were given multi billion Naira security contracts to safeguard the pipelines. Good move by a very weak state. And don’t ask me what happened to the Navy and the Army. The only recourse for the weak is dialogue, abeg.

Let’s not wonder how they are supposed to secure the lines and facilities when they had sold or surrendered their guns to us. Lets accept that the contracts aim to put whatever guns they didn’t sell to us to some good use. What can we do? We are powerless and we are parasitic on the oil they call theirs. Crude oil theft has reached unprecedented levels. Levels so high that international community worried for us, like neighbours may show concern for a profligate man whose prodigality concerns all who may be forced by good sense of charity to worry about his sores when wretchedness descends on him. The state governors kicked because monthly revenue allocations dwindled and they had less and less to use. Adams Oshiomole, a Niger Delta governor, meant so much when he said “ a woman cooking can taste the food, taste the meat, but she is not expected to eat the gizzard”. Crude oil theft was no longer negligible. No one queried the militants, at least publicly. There may have been hushed discussions behind the scenes, nothing condemnatory but in the line of “ ….small small i beg una, you know these Americans are complaining bla bla bla….” .

They are beyond reproach, cant be reproved. It can be likened to Fela’s authority stealing! Militants have become quasi agents of the state and they move around obtrusively with loads of formal state security operatives. A dangerous mix.

Their brother is in power, they say. Its our turn they chant. I don’t blame them. We suffered similar fate in the hands of the others a few years ago when contracts were awarded to Alhajis and my Igbo brothers, tumbled over themselves, like serfs, to buy , and to buy contracts reverently from these aristocratic kaftan wearing Nigerians. And these were contracts, ordinarily, they should be able to get like everyone else. This profiling takes cognisance of the fact that many Hausa fulanis suffered from hunger then just as poor Ijaws are experiencing today. The militants are a bit different though. They threaten to dismember the country once their man is insulted. They threaten to eliminate even elected officials of state whose ambitions are at variance with their wishes. Militants can say and do anything and get away with them. But everyday there is news about some bunch being arraigned for treason then you can assume its a bunch of hapless Massob activists. They are machete-wielding villagers, who often have retired from excruciating years of strain and dust and tear of Okada riding, desperate and poor, and who have never killed anyone. They are usually arraigned faster than Boko Haram members. Asari, the Alhaji, threatens to chase Amaechi out of town because he disagrees with the President. Tompolo fights Uduaghan to a stalemate over location of EPZ. Committee of ex militants promises mayhem if House of Reps initiates impeachments process against the president. Nothing happens.

Well, who knows, Boko haram , after some kind of richly rewarding amnesty, may one day win or rather be allocated a contract to police our porous northern borders and schools. Yes, schools including the Chibok school. They will have military escorts, flashy cars, private jets, loads of money, loads of pretty women- not those teenagers. And once in a while they will threaten government officials in defence of their patrons or their kin. Once in a while they would remind us of what they can do by hinting of what they did in the past and we will all shrink in fear.

Weak state and her sub-state terror groups. Turn by Turn Nig Ltd.

Dr   Ugoji Egbujo MBBS,LLb,LLM ( medical doctor and   criminologist).