Soyinka Comments on President Yar’Adua’s Amnesty Proclamation
Posted by jinn on June 29th, 2009
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