.Beyond Okiro and Dokubo

Comfort Obi

About two weeks ago or so, Asari Dokubo, leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF), visited the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mike Okiro, in his office. Dokubo, as you would recall, was recently released from detention, on bail, by a Federal High Court. The main charge against him, in the case Asari Dokubo vs the Federal Government, is Treason – a very serious charge – which Dokubo pleads not guilty to. For over one year, he was held in detention under conditions Dokubo himself described as humiliating.
He had, in detention, lost a lot of weight – so much so that his people panicked. They were afraid for his life. But given Dokubo’s alleged reputation, the seriousness of the charges against him, and his behaviour a couple of times in court, the court was reluctant to grant him bail. It took a lot of pressure, pleadings, and even blackmail to secure bail for him. Dokubo was happy, but he didn’t leave detention quietly. Vice President Goodluck Jonathan was of help.
From day one, he said he was not privy to any conditions attached to the bail he was given. And so was not likely to obey any. No wonder, he had since been addressing press conferences. One of the conditions attached to that bail is that Dokubo must never make political statements. I don’t know now the difference between political statements and what he had been saying at those press conferences. But let me add that the government was taken – in by his initial statements on release. He had said then that hostage-taking would stop as he would deal with those he called criminals who perpetrate the act. That was smart.
One of the reasons the militants give for doing what they are doing – kidnapping, bloodshed and a complete destruction of oil installations, and even landmark projects in the Niger Delta – is that Dokubo and former governor of Bayelsa State, DSP Alamieyesigha, were in detention. So, when Dokubo said that, it was sweet music to the Federal Government. Both men have since been released – Dokubo first, Alams, second. Very commendable as their release is, it is now left for the Federal Government to assess whether the violence and kidnappings have stopped or decreased. Since then, the kidnappers have graduated from kidnapping foreigners to Nigerians, even their own people, including their mothers and children.
I don’t know, but Dokubo seems to be forgetting one thing: the “project” he started has since grown beyond him. It has been criminalised. He is no longer in control. In fact, if anything, some of the militants now see him as a stranger, a sell-out and, let me say this, a stinkingly rich man. From the on-set, they understood that this “war,” this "project” is not about the development of the Niger Delta. I totally agree that the region has been subjected to criminal neglect by successive Nigerian governments. But the fight has gone beyond asking for justice and fair play. I will come back to this later.
So, Dokubo paid a visit to IGP Okiro. I really don’t know if that was a courtesy call. From what Dokubo said, it was not. He said he was at the Force Headquarters to take permission to travel to Saudi Arabia in order to take care of his health. One of the conditions attached to his bail is that he must take permission before travelling out. So, he was there, he said, for that purpose. But reports and photographs which followed that visit for permission was, for want of a better word to use, confusing.
Unless I am told why, Dokubo’s visit for a permission to travel out didn’t need to be made public. No photographer was required. It didn’t need a press conference. Indeed, he didn’t need to see the IGP to get that permission. There are several subordinates competent to have given him that – on confirmation from the IGP. But let me take it that, perhaps, based on the volatile situation in the region, based on the fact that both the IGP and Dokubo are from the same state, Rivers, and based on whatever role the IGP thinks Dokubo could play in bringing peace back to the area, Dokubo had to see the IGP. Even at that, it didn’t need to be made public. But the IGP even went beyond a public show of that visit.
I don’t know whose “bright” idea it was. But Okiro and Dokubo eventually ended up at a press conference together. I don’t know who set it up. Or whose press conference it was. Ordinarily, it ought to be the IGP’s press conference. Perhaps, it was, as I read somewhere, that Dokubo merely accompanied the IGP to a press conference – at Force Headquarters. The problem: What got reported was not what Okiro said but what Dokubo said. Sitting side by side with the IGP, Dokubo emphasised that he was not a Nigerian. Meaning that he does not, as he had always said, recognise the Nigerian State. He said he was an Ijaw man. No doubt about that. But by emphasising that, he dissociates himself, and his people, from the Nigerian state. And he was saying these to the press, sitting by the IGP, at a press conference meant for the IGP. But more.
Soon, he veered into what has become a past time for a few Niger Deltans – the bashing of former Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili. He said Odili should be held responsible for the activities of the militants in the Niger Delta; that they were armed by Odili’s government; that his government was giving militants money. Questions: Did that include Dokubo himself? Did Odili arm him, or gave him money for arms? Did he do any job for Odili? Did he ever sit one on one, as the leader of his group, with Odili to discuss that much? Beyond that, I don’t know what point was being made by allowing Dokubo to address a press conference with the IGP. I don’t know what point was being made when before the IGP, Dokubo was denying the Nigerian state and libeling Odili. Does he have any proof of Odili’s involvement in the activities of these militants which has reduced the Niger Delta to nothing, almost!
For years, these unproven allegations had been on, usually publicised by Odili’s political enemies. Not a few Nigerians thought that all that would die down after May 29, 2007, when he quit office, and especially after he was stopped from taking part in the PDP presidential primaries where he was clearly the front-runner. But no, months after that, Odili has remained the dart board of anybody who wants some relevance in the Niger Delta. So, sponsored write-ups, allegedly being fuelled by, especially a former military personnel who wanted to become the president dot some newspapers, one of which doesn't go beyond Lagos. The stories are being sponsored with an eye on 2011. Long before Vice President Goodluck Jonathan is due to serve out his term as Vice President, these people are planning already. They want to take over. They probably don’t want him to finish serving his term. And the main obstacle they see in their bid is Odili. So, he must be destroyed with all kinds of unproven allegations.
Lest the people of the Niger Delta forget, it will be a tragedy if they allow some wanna-bes destroy some of their sons who have some clout, and can speak for them. Lest anybody forgets, that a son of the region is the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria today is mainly, aside from the political situation in the region, because Odili stamped the importance of the region by running, unarguably, one of the best political campaigns for the presidency anybody had ran in this country. It was comparable to only the type of campaign late Chief MKO Abiola ran in 1993.
In running that type of campaign, he let it be known that the Niger Delta had arrived, and is capable of assuming the leadership of this country. He let it be known that nobody can take the region for granted, or ignore it again; and that it was time that he who pays the piper dictated the tune, and not the other way round.
The crisis in the Niger Delta has gone beyond deliberate, unproven allegations. It never was that. Initially, the agitators started well. They were genuine to an extent. They drew attention to the scandal, the crime that is the Niger Delta. They drew attention to the injustice that is the Niger Delta. Nigerians, those who did not know before, understood their problem, sympathised with them, and called for a complete about-turn. The media became their best friends – publicising the criminal neglect of the region. But soon, they derailed. The quest now became selfish. It was no longer for the development of the Niger Delta. It became that of personal wealth. The problem now, let the truth be told, is that of who controls what. It is the problem of oil bunkering. With the benefit of hindsight, it has always been. The boys saw an easy way of making money – oil bunkering. In addition to making millions of dollars from their customers, they also got arms supply from them. In exchange for oil, they got arms and money. With the arms they secure their territory, and continue with the illegal business of oil bunkering. Dokubo never denied his involvement in that business. When that was being checked, they resorted to an even easier one, kidnapping foreign nationals in exchange for hundreds of millions of naira. Now criminals have taken over completely, using the neglect of the Niger Delta as a cover. With the exodus of foreign nationals from the region, they have turned against their own people – all for money. So now, they are kidnapping children and mothers old enough to be their grandmothers. So, how will they still get sympathy from anybody – even from the international community. Soon they will even lose the sympathy of their own people.
If the crisis is about the development of the region, why are they destroying the projects in the region? What point was made in the destruction of the NNPC mega filling station in Port Harcourt? What point was made in the destruction of Radio Rivers? What point is being made in the killing of innocent people in Port Harcourt and environs?
Lest we forget, two leaders of the two cult groups identified by the military to be responsible for the abomination in Port Harcourt these past few days – Ateke Tom and Soborno George – were once with Asari Dokubo. They were once in his group, his subordinates. Why did they leave? Obviously they left because of a fight for the leadership of the group; who will be in charge. They left so they would be in charge of the spoils of war – oil bunkering.
Let’s assume (for one moment), that they were armed by politicians for elections. Are elections still on? So, why are they destroying their own region. Night life is dead in the region, especially Port Harcourt. The hospitality industry is gone. Nobody wants to visit Port Harcourt again. Nobody wants to spend the night in Port Harcourt. Soon, nobody will be buying their fish and vegetables from their markets. Nobody will go to the market. Foreigners are leaving in droves. Soon, Nigerians will follow them. When everybody leaves, what happens?
Look at Port Harcourt Airport. The complete refurbishing started over one year ago cannot be completed because militants are threatening the contractors. Even when it is finished, at this rate, who would want to fly into Port Harcourt airport? There are threats of bombing the LNG headquarters in Bonny, there are threats of bombing the priceless Omoku Independent Power Project, there are threats of destroying everything. Who loses? The people of the region. If contractors cannot even go to sites to work, how does anybody develop the region? How will the roads be built? If all companies in the region close shop, how do the people of the region get employed. The region will collapse.
The crisis has gone beyond a public show by Okiro and Dokubo. Those that are carrying arms know what they are gaining. To enter Port Harcourt town with such impunity, they know who are behind them and what they want to achieve. The call for a state of emergency in Rivers State by some people, points, almost, to why the city is the target. It should give security agencies a clue to where it is coming from.
Finally, the show of shame in the Niger Delta, and especially in Port Harcourt, is a failure on the part of the security agencies – including the military intelligence. Whatever happened?