When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua on Wednesday August 12, she will discuss what JINN thinks are some of the most important and interconnected issues facing the country today: electoral integrity, corruption and the Niger Delta. We hope she sends a strong message that reform in all three areas is necessary for Nigeria to continue functioning as a State and to continue as a key U.S. ally.

Nigeria is known for its fraudulent elections and politicians who employ armed thugs to ensure votes are cast in their favor. The Nigerian government faces a crisis of credibility that has the potential to become volatile, if members of minority communities and residents of the politically disenfranchised economic engine of the Delta continue to feel that they do not have any real power or say in their own governance. In fact, the armed insurgency that gained world attention by disrupting oil operations in the Delta has its roots in the gangs armed by political candidates. Electoral integrity and the ability for all citizens of Nigeria’s democracy to participate meaningfully should be high on Secretary Clinton’s agenda.

Legendary for its high levels of corruption, Nigeria must institute real reform. For those living in the Niger Delta, corruption means that the majority live in poverty while the approximately $700 billion in oil revenues earned over the last fifty years was split between the Nigerian government and the oil companies, with which the government partners. Although the Nigerian government claims to send a small percentage of its oil revenues to the communities where it is extracted, and although oil companies claim to provide local community benefits, the majority of those living in the Delta’s oil producing communities live on less than $1 per day and have seen their living standards decline over the years. Secretary Clinton must insist that the Nigerian government institute measures to ensure greater transparency and accountability, which are critical to ensuring that the country’s revenues benefit the many and don’t just line the pockets of a few. Ultimately, U.S. businesses will also find it easier to operate in a less corrupt environment.

The Niger Delta and its oil resources fuel the Nigerian treasury, which depends upon oil for 80% of government revenue. The oil of the Delta is important to both countries. In 2006 more then 40% of Nigeria’s oil was exported to the U.S. and it represented 15% of the U.S. supply. However, a political militancy has reduced Nigerian output for the last few years. Output has been even more dramatically reduced since May of this year when militants began blowing up oil installations in reprisal for an ongoing series of attacks by the Nigerian military claiming to be rooting out militants, but destroyed local villages and displaced, killed and injured innocent civilians who still cannot return home. The political militancy of the last five years arose after 45 years of peaceful protest by villagers yielded no major improvements for local communities whose quality of life was decimated. When Secretary Clinton meets with President Yar’Adua it is imperative to U.S. economic and energy security, to the stability of Nigeria and to the lives of those who live in the Delta that she urge President Umaru Yar’Adua to:

• Withdraw the Nigerian military forces from the Niger Delta and institute an official ceasefire;
• Initiate third party monitored diplomatic talks that include all stakeholders;
• Allow free and unfettered access to all parts of the Delta by journalists, humanitarian aid groups and human rights organizations;
• Make real investments in the development of the Niger Delta and rebuild villages destroyed by the recent military attacks.

Electoral integrity, transparency and accountability and addressing the root cause of the troubles in the Niger Delta are interconnected issues that we applaud the Obama administration for publicly stating are on its agenda. JINN hopes that in her discussions regarding the Niger Delta that Secretary Clinton recognizes the imperative of seeking long term solutions that will meet the real needs of villagers in oil producing communities while once again increasing production output and oil revenues.

Nigeria’s problem isn’t Islamist fundamentalism — it’s the country’s corrupt and self-serving government

by Jean Herskovits

reprinted from Foreign Policy originally published on August 3, 2009

Nigeria’s latest spate of violence — which began with attacks on police stations in four northern states — is not what it seems. Superficially, the story looks similar to (though it was not connected with) outbreaks of Islamist fanaticism elsewhere in the world: An Islamist sect run amok, threatening a town’s security, demanding an end to Western institutions, and seeking to impose a strict religious code. But instead, the clashes are a northern Nigerian version of what is happening in another (mostly Christian) region of the country, the Niger Delta. Both are violent reactions to the flagrant lack of concern on the part of those who govern for the welfare of the governed.

Ten years of supposed democracy have yielded mounting poverty and deprivation of every kind in Nigeria. Young people, undereducated by a collapsed educational system, may “graduate,” but only into joblessness. Lives decline, frustration grows, and angry young men are too easily persuaded to pick up readily accessible guns in protest when something sparks their rage. Meanwhile, those in power at all levels ignore the business of governing and instead enrich themselves. Law and order deteriorate. The Nigerian police, which are federal, are called on, but they have grievances of their own. Ill-trained, ill-paid, and housed in squalid barracks, they are feared for their indiscriminate use of force. The military, though more professional, is not prepared for dealing with unrest — and unrest has proliferated more and more.

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We at JINN hope you have heard about Sweet Crude, the incredible film about the Niger Delta by Sandy Cioffi.   The film was recently accepted into the prestigious International Documentary Association’s 2009 DocuWeeks™ theatrical showcase which opens tonight in LA at the Archlight Hollywood Theater in LA. This program was created to provide week-long theatrical runs in LA and NY, which are required to qualify for Oscar nomination!  If you live in either city – go see the film and spread the word!  You can become a fan of their page on Facebook for updated information.

View the trailer:

Sweet Crude is the story of Nigeria’s Niger Delta – the human and environmental consequences of 50 years of oil extraction, the history of non-violent protest, and the members of a new insurgency who, in the three years since the filmmakers met them as college students, became the young men of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).

Check out the film’s web site: www.sweetcrudemovie.com

Date and Times at the ArcLight Hollywood Theater in LA:

More info and tickets
Screening schedule:

Fri 7/31 5:15 PM & 9:30 PM; Sat 8/1 3:40 PM & 7:15 PM; Sun 8/2 3:15 PM & 9:15 PM; Mon 8/3 3:15 PM & 9:35 PM; Tue 8/4 2:00 PM & 5:40 PM; Wed 8/5 5:15 PM & 9:30 PM; Thu 8/6 3:40 PM & 7:15 PM

NYC Dates:

More info and tickets
Screening schedule:

Fri 8/14 3:30 PM & 9:50 PM; Sat 8/15 12:00 PM & 5:15 PM; Sun 8/16 1:30 PM & 7:15 PM; Mon 8/17 3:30 PM & 9:50 PM; Tue 8/18 12:00 PM & 5:15 PM; Wed 8/19 1:30 PM & 7:15 PM; Thu 8/20 1:30 PM & 7:15 PM

Two months after a new round of devastating violence broke out in the Niger Delta, the Nigerian government has offered amnesty if all militants turn over all their weapons and renounce violence by October, and the militants have offered a 60-day cease fire after a key militant leader – Henry Okah – was released from prison earlier this month.  These actions should be good signs that the region is taking its first tenuous step toward peace, however most experts believe that the region is not close to any such reality.  Thousands of people are still displaced, the military is still occupying the region and will not let displaced people return home and the militants are threatening to end the cease fire any minute.

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Last week, President Umaru Yar’Adua released a proclamation of amnesty for all militants in the Niger Delta that includes the release of  Henry Okah,  a militant leader imprisoned since 2007 among others, on the condition of a full disarmament and an end to bombings and kidnapping by militant groups.  However, there has been much criticism of the offer of amnesty because it does not address the root causes of underdevelopment in the Niger Delta and the stakeholders from the Delta were not part of the conversation regarding the amnesty agreement.

MEND, the political militant group is rejecting the amnesty for now, saying that the amnesty plays into the hands of those who are criminals with no political agenda and does not address their concerns of federalism, resource control, extra-judicial killings by the Joint Task Force (JTF) and development of the Niger Delta.

Civil society also does not believe that the amnesty offer has much strength.  Felix Toudolor, the Chairman on Security and Community Development of Ijaw Youth Council told a Nigerian publication called NEXT that there is an urgent need to address the problem of crime and violence in the region. He explained that the council had come up with a road map to achieve a genuine resolution of the crisis and that granting amnesty to militants without fulfilling certain conditions would be fruitless. He said that a peaceful agreement and a national conference of all stakeholders should be convened before the implementation of the amnesty.

Below is a commentary on the amnesty from famed Nigerian author, Wole Soyinka

The Times of Nigeria: Niger Delta: Between Amnesty And Amnesia

26 June 2009

By Wole Soyinka

Bleak as the Delta situation appears to be, given the recent escalation of violence, we may actually be approaching a stage of possible resolution – touch wood! This is why, albeit with much reluctance, I feel I should respond publicly to the spate of entreaties and expressions of anxiety coming my way over my perceived adoption of a ‘siddon-look’ attitude towards the troubled region.

Professor Wole Soyinka

Such pressures have increased dramatically over the past few days, following – perhaps non-coincidentally – public responses by presidential candidate Pat Utomi, Ambassador Segun Olusola and others to President Yar’Adua’s latest offer of an Amnesty offer to Delta militants.

Let me begin by conveying my full endorsement of the position of these two. The offer of amnesty is worthless if it is not all-inclusive, and embraces those who are currently in state custody and/or on trial. The attempt in some quarters to confuse issues by refusing to separate the principled militants, such as members of MEND and its affiliates, from the opportunistic mercenaries and criminals, has always struck me as dishonest and diversionary. Separating the wheat from the chaff is a simple enough process, one that can be undertaken by a miniaturized Truth and Reconciliation version of the South African original, adapted to our own unique set of circumstances – and preferably with a change of emphasis that substitutes ‘Restitution’ for ‘Reconciliation’, keeping the latter on the agenda however as the implicit, ultimate destination. This has always been my position even over the South African process.

May I comment here also that the excitement over the ‘discovery’ of documents in one over-run insurgent camp, implicating well-heeled citizens as backers of the resistance has been nothing but amusing.  Read Full Article

Niger Delta Fumble

Abuja’s new ‘military solution’ won’t stop the fighting in this oil-rich region.

Opinion Piece By RICHARD MONCRIEFF

Reprinted from June 10 Wall Street Journal

After five years of serious unrest in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, the government in Abuja is launching a major security crackdown to bring order to the area. The unrest in an oil-producing region in a major west African state is a serious problem both inside and outside the country’s borders. Which is why it matters that the government’s plan won’t work.

There can be no doubting the seriousness of the conflict in the delta. Grievances on the part of local populations over environmental damage and low levels of development escalated in 2004 with the emergence of organized armed militant groups, often linked to local politicians, who demand more resources for the region. They have targeted oil companies, which they accuse of being complicit with a negligent government, and have engaged in a protracted fight with security forces. Criminal groups, often engaged in kidnappings, are now as prominent as the politically motivated militants, and criminal and political motivations have become blurred.

The situation has the potential to become a humanitarian crisis. The unrest is an impediment to Nigeria’s economic development; oil output has fallen 38% since 2006 thanks to the conflict and government revenues are down as a result. Violence in the delta also threatens regional stability. Last year, a group looking a lot like a Niger delta gang carried out a bank raid in a town within Cameroon near the Nigerian border. The capital of Equatorial Guinea, Malabo, suffered a spectacular attack by a gang in speedboats who went as far as shooting up the presidential compound. The real motives of this attack remain unknown, but the gang is widely suspected of having links to Niger delta militants and other criminals.

Since coming to power in 2007, Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua’s response to the region’s troubles has been incoherent, indecisive and unproductive. In the first months of his administration, he proposed a Niger Delta Summit. Lengthy preparations ate up valuable time and energy that could have been devoted to real dialogue with community leaders, but the summit never happened. Then in September 2008, he established a Technical Committee to review options for resolving the crisis. In December the committee submitted a report to the president recommending a number of measures related to youth disarmament, an amnesty for militants, accelerated progress on the region’s infrastructure, including electrical power, and more independent regulation of oil pollution. But, aside from some as yet unspecified plans for amnesty for delta militants, nothing has been done.

Now, within the past few weeks, Mr. Yar’Adua appears to have decided on a strategy based on defeating the militants militarily. The president has implemented a massive increase in manpower and equipment for the so-called Joint Task Force, a force tasked with maintaining order in the area and combating militancy and kidnapping. The force is composed of army, navy, anti-riot police and more recently air force elements. This has been followed by a sustained but poorly targeted offensive against militants. Military helicopters have shelled and shot up militant bases. Neighboring villages have been targeted in subsequent manhunts for militant targets.

Militants have responded in kind, killing 12 soldiers in one ambush on May 21, according to several press reports. Specifics are hard to verify at present, not least because journalists and, until recently, aid workers have been barred from the operation area, but details are starting to come out. Hundreds of civilians may have been killed, with many more wounded and thousands displaced.

History suggests this military ramp-up will have little lasting effect. Previous strong-arm measures, such as a military offensive in September 2008, have done little to degrade the militants’ capacity effectively or permanently. Instead, military operations have only further militarized the region and undercut moderate civil society voices calling for peaceful change from within the very Niger Delta ethnic groups where the violent militants draw support. The wide availability of small arms, the delta’s difficult mangrove swamp terrain, and widespread local anger at government policies — which current civilian casualties are already exacerbating — all indicate that things may be little different this time round.

Instead of pursuing yet another military solution, Mr. Yar’Adua may want to consider a different path. To start, he could order an immediate ceasefire and begin a gradual withdrawal of the Joint Task Force. Certainly, it is clear that some elements of Niger delta militancy have become criminal. To ensure basic law and order in the force’s wake, Abuja needs to put in place a better-trained police force accountable to appropriate civilian authorities. On the political side, the Nigerian government must acknowledge the genuine grievances of the delta’s populations and address the multiple needs of the area. The Technical Committee’s recommendations would be a good starting point.

The most controversial issue will be the division of oil revenues between the federal and local governments. Abuja currently returns only 13% of the delta region’s oil wealth to local leaders. Delta moderates and militants alike argue this percentage should be much higher, while leaders from other Nigerian regions that are also dependent on delta oil money strongly disagree. The task force recommended 25%. While the exact figure needs to be negotiated taking country-wide views into account, an increase would be justified on grounds such as the environmental damage to the delta area caused by the oil exploration.

Community leaders in the delta also have called for stronger action on oil sector pollution, improved youth employment schemes and for infrastructure development. Such measures will also be necessary to give young people a sustainable alternative to militancy.

The Nigerian government’s aggressive response to the problems of militancy in the Niger delta stands in contrast to its apparent unwillingness to lay out a clear plan for developing the region, or to engage with community groups. By foregoing opportunities for dialogue in favor of an attempted military solution, the government merely is perpetuating a vicious circle of violence. Without a sustained political effort, Mr. Yar’Adua’s current security crackdown will have only a very short-lived impact. That will be a tragedy for the country, and an economic and strategic problem for the region — and the Western importers of Nigerian oil.

Mr. Moncrieff is West Africa Project Director at the International Crisis Group.

Read the IGC’s April 2009 Report on the Niger Delta