Happy Birthday Danjuma

 

Abo Mkpang Workshop

(SEE PHOTO ALBUM LINK TO THE RIGHT)
Approximately 30 community members and a few representatives of the national park service attended a three day workshop designed to train local leadership in facilitation and conflict management. The goal was also to identify some of specific “conflict issues” concerning natural resource management, but lack of enthusiasm and participation from the park services reps limited the dialogue. From what I understand, the community essentially feels that the national park service is hindering the development and prosperity of the local communities in order to preserve and protect the elephants and Gorillas (did not see any).

The actual workshop was held in a village called Abo Mkpang, and included residents from the neighboring villages of Abu Obiso and Bombabe. This was by far the most tropical place I have ever been, and also included the worse road I have ever been on. It was amazing to see an actual canopy from the tree line. Most of the crops produced include cassava, cocoa, and plantain which are all sold locally.

Although my colleague Danjuma and I did not spend the night in the village, I am happy to report that I recall ever having so many bug bites.

In terms of the experiencing a training program in conflict management and facilitation in a rural village – I was a little surprised how similar it was to workshop one would attend in the U.S. Of course there are a little cultural exceptions, but for the most part the implementation and concepts are very similar if not the exact same.

Thank you all for writing me, and appreciate all of your comments/observations.

Miss you, Mark

ps it was nice to see another perspective on conflict in Nigeria other than the “oil issues and the youdth”, but I am happy to be back in PH.

Mark and Dora at HQ

 

The Youth Summit

This week I attended a two day Youth Summit held in Warri, Delta State. 15 “Youth Leaders” from each, of the core states (Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta) who are known to support hostage takers and in some instances have been directly involved in hostage taking and oil bunkering were invited to speak on issues of violence and hostage taking in the Niger Delta. A communiqué was issued after the summit which included a list of issues that the attendees would like the Federal Government to address such as unemployment, and illegal arms. I must admit although AAPW organized the program the fact that the attendees were paid N60,000 ($460) as an honorarium allows me to believe that the youth were there for the money, rather than to take advantage of the opportunity to unite and articulate their concerns. There is a very prevalent culture of corruption and nepotism hear in the Delta, and to a certain extent compensating individuals for attending meetings concerning their personal interests is somewhat normal, however I don’t see the link between sustainable peace and conflict transformation if you are paying individuals to address their concerns. Further, the majority of attendees are not in lucrative high paying jobs and one would imagine as political leaders they would be willing to volunteer their time for a worthy cause.
Over the course of the two day summit participation was limited to those that were invited to address the participants, and there was very little networking observed. One of the presenters, an attorney who represents the jailed leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPF made it clear that he hopes the youth will make the distinction between engaging in criminal activities and political struggle. The communiqué emphasized the attendees do not endorse hostage taking, however this week in the Delta 9 soldiers were reportedly killed and five more expatriates were kidnapped from an Exxon compound.


 

Niger Delta Youth Summit "The Militants"

Vanguard 5 October 2006
Youth leaders propose 12-point solution for N-Delta crisis
By Emma AmaizePosted to the Web: Thursday, October 05, 2006
WARRI—YOUTH leaders from Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states have suggested a 12-point action-plan for peace and development, which they believed would end the unrest in the volatile Niger-Delta region if faithfully implemented by the government.
Top on the agenda of the recognized youth leaders who gathered under the auspices of the Academic Associates PeaceWorks for a three-day brainstorming session on the way out of the Niger-Delta crisis, dubbed “Niger-Delta Youth Summit” at Songhai Delta, Amukpe, Delta state is that former militants should be integrated into the State Security Service (SSS), police, army and arms of the security forces as part of a good disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process.
Yesterday’s closing session during which the communiqué was read was attended by the Secretary to the Delta State Government, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, the Director of State Security Service (SSS) in Delta state, Mr. Adebayo Babalola and other top government officials. Dr. Uduaghan in his brief address extended the appreciation of Governor James Ibori to those who attended the meeting, assuring that the state government was prepared to implement its own part of the 12-point peace and development agenda.
According to the youth leaders in the communiqué: “We (Niger-Delta youths) wish to be professionally trained as coastal guards and pipeline surveillance community groups and in return, we will guarantee the safety of pipelines and facilities in our particular areas”.They said: “We, as stakeholders are best placed to provide local security, thus enabling a reduction of the military presence in the Niger-Delta, which is offensive and often provokes confrontation between the soldiers and the local communities”. The participants seriously frowned at what they described as “Encouraged Corruption” by individuals in government and companies, which has led to the dislocation of the social fabric. One of the examples they cited was the role of some government officials in paying ransom to hostage takers, making it a profit making activity. They demanded that the culprits should be investigated and made to face the music. In the spirit of the much needed peace and development in the region, however, they re-affirmed their commitment to peace and security provided that the government and the oil companies demonstrate sufficient political will and loyalty to the development of the region. “We condemn in its entirety the nascent act of hostage taking in the region and opine that the criminal act is fallout of the many years of injustice visited on the people and frustration associated with it. “We strongly advocate for increased consultation by the government, companies, NDDC and other interventionist agencies with the communities. It is only when people own their development that it can succeed”, they said. Other resolutions contained in the communiqué were that the youths of the region would want to participate in the election of their leaders, monitoring the execution of free elections and the performance of those elected, and so, would not want to be used by politicians as thugs and assailants; increased opportunities should be provided to the Niger-Delta people to participate in the oil and gas industry through crude oil export, product lifting, licensed oil bunkering, oil blocks and marginal fields, location and contract jobs. The youth leaders insisted that the Federal Government has the responsibility and the constitutional power to curb the flow of illegal weapons into Nigeria , adding, “The political will to address this issue will reduce the influx of arms and increase the security of the Niger Delta region”. According to the communiqué: “Serious job training and job creation opportunities should be undertaken for the Niger-Delta youth as too many initiatives by state governments, oil companies, NDDC and other government agencies have been hijacked y politicians or company staff for their own selfish interests”. “The Petroleum Techonology Development Funds (PTDF) is meant for the training of Nigerians, Niger-Deltans in particular. We, therefore, demand that the gross looting and mismanagement of PTDF and other such agencies be investigated and culprits brought to book”, they said. “INEC”, according to them, “should find a solution to the lack of political participation of certain groups, especially the Ijaw of Warri South West local government. This will ensure the positive participation, rather than disruption of the electoral process”. Already, a seven-man working committee has been put in place to liaise with the different relevant government agencies, oil companies and interventionist agencies to ensure effective implementation. Present at yesterday’s closing ceremony were representatives of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC) including, Mr. Dan Ekpebide and Mr. Kingsley Otuaro; Okerenkoko community leader, Prince Clement Bebenimibo, Mr. Hendrix Opukeme, Mr. Dennis Otuaro and a host of others. 

Article from Nigerian News Paper

Article from The Vanguard Posted October 2, 2006

NATIONAL

N-Delta: Group plans demobilisation of armed militia
By Jimitota OnoyumePosted to the Web: Monday, October 02, 2006
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Port Harcourt—A group, Academic Associates Peace works has initiated steps to demobilise armed groups in the Niger Delta. The executive director, Mrs. Judith Asuni said the action was to rescue the area from another circle of political violence in 2007.
At a retreat for reformed cultists and militants in the area organised by her group which ended weekend in Port Harcourt, Judith said they were already succeeding in the aspect of mindset change.
According to her, the youths were beginning to see reasons to beat a retreat from the culture of violence. She noted that the achievement could be sustained if serious effort were in place to engage the youths.
She added that government should strive to live up to its responsibility to the youths, she was thankful to the government of Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta for providing training centres for her organisation saying the places would focus on conflict management, culture of non violence, leadership, community development and mind set change.
Vanguard Posted on web Monday, October 2, 2006