‘With Rivers’ amnesty there’s new formula for wealth, companies now penetrate dreaded areas without harm’  

Guns went up in Rivers State in 2013 and soon, companies fled again. Now, the state government rolled out amnesty to over 22,000 armed youths with promise of a new life. The chairman of the Rivers State Amnesty Committee and Special Adviser to the governor on Amnesty, Ken Chinda, in this exclusive interview with Regional Editor, IGNATIUS CHUKWU, reveals why the armed youths easily trusted him and Governor Nyesom Wike to agree to lay down their arms. Excerpts:   

 

 

Where are we on the timeline of the Rivers State Amnesty Programme 2016 (known as Rivers State Amnesty 2)?

 

We finished the gun surrender segment late last year. We are now on a special one for Ogoni, for the people of the area alone. This is because when the exercise was conducted in 2016, we did not see convincing arms. They did not demonstrate enough sincerity as regards the type of arms they brought out, so we declined to grant them amnesty because we know that there are flashpoints there. We also know the economic importance of the area. For there to be meaningful development and peace, and for there to be enabling environment for investors to come in and operate well, we needed to be convinced on the arms surrendered.

Also, we have started to see a lot of conflicts in that area; a lot of people cried out, and His Excellency the Governor, being a man with listening ear, ordered for a fresh amnesty exercise. That is where we are.

So far, we have engaged the people of Khana Local Council Area. We are now engaging the people of Gokana Local Council Area. Today (April 9), we have sent out letters to the chiefs and people of Eleme and Tai Local Councils to make up the four local council areas of Ogoni. By next week we hope to have stakeholder meetings in those areas which will lead to the surrendering of arms by the various groups there. It is very strategic in this exercise. One; the economic fortunes of the area would be harnessed because Ogoni is rich in mineral resources, in agric and in high human capacity in terms of human development. Put together, the area is very rich. The professor of History, Ben Naane (UNIPORT) comes from there, the great activist, Ledum Mitee (MOSOP) is from there, and many other prominent personalities. No sane government can ignore such a place to be thrown into anarchy. And so, when the youths indicated interest in genuine amnesty, we opened our arms to welcome them.

You know that Rivers State is key to the economic nerve of the country. Also recall that whereas oil facilities in other oil states of the federation were destroyed, none took place in Rivers. This is because we have a listening governor who reached to the various groups and made them understand that we cannot achieve much by destruction but by dialogue. Since after the state’s amnesty programme, everyone can see the robust economic development going on in the state; a lot of investors coming in. Almost all the local council areas are blessed with one potential or the other.

As we speak, there are investors in Etche area for agro-allied industry. In Abual-Odual, this is the same thing. We have oil palm, garri, cassava, and all the associated products. We have oil and gas in Abual. A lot of companies are exploring oil/gas right now in that area through their seismic operations. I am talking of new companies.

If you go to Emuohua, communities like Umuodogo, to Rumuekpe, Ndele, and others, investments are going on there. IDS is there as one of the new companies exploring opportunities and creating capacities for the youths to come in. The amnesty is already paying off in areas where it has been embraced.

If you go to Omoku before the amnesty, Total was in the process of creating six companies there but with the high rate of violence, they withdrew. Now, immediately the amnesty came, those six companies came back. So, there are lots of new openings there. This is the same with Agip in the same Omoku area. 

As a matter of fact, we have a governor who is capable of holding the forte. With collaboration with the youths who are determined to make a living and having another credible means of livelihood, he is achieving peace.

What the youths want is employment. So, any organisation coming to invest in the state and creates employment, they are welcome to Rivers State and the youths are ready to support them. Rivers State is home to the economy. We are a non-violent people. So, investors are free to come and explore business opportunities. After all, we have a lot of tourist potentials.

 

What can you say about the creeks; it appears people have stopped travelling there?

 

It is not true that people have stopped travelling to the creeks. Before now, it was almost impossible to travel there except by chopper or use of NLNG boats. Those are things of the past. Immediately after the amnesty, in fact two weeks ago, I travelled to Andoni by boat. I frequent Okrika by boat now. These are places you could not have dared to go before now. In the cause of our engagements also, sea pirates came out to say, no, their activities are also affecting the economy of their local government area; that companies that ought to give them jobs are folding up, no more jobs, no small contracts. They decided to join the amnesty scheme and so we had pirates from Akuku-Toru LGA, Bonny, Andoni, etc. Even the Movement for the Emmancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Rivers State chapter, keyed into it and voluntarily surrendered their arms which were destroyed on the March 17, 2017 as part of the first phase. You can see that a lot of businesses in the marine sector are growing again. I know too well that some relations of mine who were out of job in the marine business have been called back in the past six months and they are all doing very well, expanding new horizons, employing more persons.

 

What do you tell these boys that makes them to easily surrender and obey?

 

You see, one thing that this administration has is goodwill. They have the confidence of this governor. Fear is also a driving force. They also realise that in a recessed economy, the government of Rivers State is still paying workers’ salaries and pensions to date, still embarking on people-oriented projects as opposed to white elephant projects. They see quality projects, not one done by politicians but by world class companies like Julius Berger. People can see what the little that comes to Rivers State is doing. They are realising that if the state is peaceful, the governor would do more, that internally generated revenue (IGR) will go up and that revenue from the federation account will go up too.

 

You mean these boys reason this way?

 

Yes, yes, yes! Most of them are university graduates and understand the economic implications of actions. They have seen that the governor is doing this, doing that, and that he is committed and has the political will to change the state and give youths a new lease of life. They have keyed into this vision. Today, it has paid off. Before now, you dared not stand where we are now to be doing this interview. You would hear one blast or the other, especially today that is a weekend. We must tell ourselves the truth because it affected the economy of the state?

 

So, there is no reward to those surrendering arms?

 

As a government we do not give money to anybody to surrender arms. We can only give them opportunities. We want to conclude the Ogoni scheme. Right now, we have 22, 340 persons. We will wait to add the number coming from Ogoni and know the total number to plan with.

 

These new companies going into the rural areas, do they contact the Amnesty office to negotiate access?

 

Yes, they do. There is this company in Abual area, UGHM or so, doing seismic work for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC). They came to us (through the Ministry of Chieftaincy Affairs) and invited our boys. They said they wanted to know how to go in and sought to know what the boys wanted for them gain safe passage. The boys said they wanted jobs, period, not money. They demanded to be stakeholders. I know that a number of companies have also approached us on this. We say no way; the era of cash has gone. Do you have jobs for my people? They say, yes, and that is all.

 

Do you realise that a model is beginning to emerge of how companies can operate in the volatile Niger Delta region without violence or without any fear?

 

Yes, if companies create the right opportunities or friendship with transparency and sincerity, what else do our boys need other than employment? It is not good that resources are harnessed from our environment and you see people going away with them while you watch.

 

Are these companies comfortable to employ ex-cultists and militants?

 

They are no ex-cultists or ex-militants, once amnesty has been granted, those names are gone. They become Rivers youths, provided they can work and earn a living because there is no free meal. 

 

Do you monitor if they are working well or they are being troublesome?

 

No, there is nothing like that. They are working well.

 

Anywhere in the world, amnesty has conditional clauses such that if a beneficiary breached any, he would lose the pardon. Do you have that in the Rivers version?

 

Yes, even in the law that created the amnesty, it is there. If you breach the terms and conditions, we withdraw the amnesty to allow the full wrath of the law on you.

 

What is the credibility line of this exercise; won’t some people say that the governor is known to them that is why he is granting them a soft landing?

 

I don’t know what you mean by that. If you belong to a cult group and when there is a clash, you go in to mediate, who are you mediating for? They will not trust you because they will think you are trying to make your own group to have upper hand. One good thing we have in this state is that His Excellency the Governor of Rivers State is not associated with any cult group; from the University of Port Harcourt where he studied Political/Administrative Studies or UST (now RSU) where he read Law, or any other activities in the secular world thereafter, he never belonged to any. He is a Christian, his father is a reverend, and his mother is a core Christian, nothing like cultism. This defined his life and so he was able to deal with these issues headlong. Note that before the Amnesty Committee was inaugurated, he took the fight to them; to Rumuelimin and Eagle Island where he demolished their houses. Now, if he were to be a member, he would have had sympathy.

Now, I, as the amnesty committee chairman, I belong nowhere. I studied in Uniport, my records are there (U8813362 and my Post Graduate number is G95). I have no relationship with cultism. I have the credibility to approach each cult group and talk to them freely. They will not say I am being biased trying to cover my group. There is nothing like that. The cult boys know all these things and they also go to crosscheck. They have seen that the governor has no link and has no tolerance for cultism and the chairman (myself) has nothing to do with cultism, they now trust what we are doing. They came out with all their hearts to respond to the call. Let us rebuild our state for a better tomorrow. It has paid off.

In this exercise, transparency and sincerity matter. That is why wherever I go to talk with them, I hinge on transparency and sincerity. In as much as the Governor is sincere, the amnesty committee is sincere, you the about to recant person will also need to demonstrate the same level of sincerity so that we can flow on the same page. You can see that all the places where amnesty has been embraced are peaceful. Where we have one infraction or the other, you can see the difference. That is why we are going back to Ogoni.

The incident that happened at Omoku few days ago is from the remnants of the group that killed the Police deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and his orderly during the rerun election in the area. They did not embrace amnesty for one day, but as a government, we shall track them down because we cannot allow that one group to disrupt an area. Omoku is very strategic to the nation’s economy and we cannot allow anything that will destroy the place.