Contending Issues in the Niger Delta Crisis of Nigeria - Journal of ...

Chapter X: The Politics of Interventionist Policies and the Niger Delta Crisis
in Nigeria: Impacts and Challenges
the history, context and meaning of the struggle. This has also
exposed government’s confusion as to what the problem is all about.
Consequently, no serious effort has been made to reach at the very
fundamental problems and issues that stoke the Niger Delta crisis
and much has been invested in fangling and sustaining fire-brigade
panaceas. Government’s deep frustration is palpable in its present
posture but this is because it had not devoted genuine attention to
knowing what the problem is all about.
Flowing from the above, it is canvassed that instead of initiating
intervention policies that are more or less palliatives, government
should evolve means and ways on how to adopt a sincere and holistic
approach to the Niger Delta problem that would free any intervention
from the corruptible influence and manipulations of politicians. The
military option may be regulatory but definitely not an enduring
approach to the crisis. The Niger Delta crisis is cyclical and warmongering
inclination cannot deal with it and mere setting up of a
Technical Committee to compile past reports on the Niger Delta region
amounts to a façade and may not be a convincing strategy either,
since similar reports were not utilized in the past.
Governors and Legislators from the Niger Delta Region should
desist from profligacy and justify the huge revenue that always accrue
to them. The recent South-South Governors Forum held at the
Tinapa Business Resort, Calabar could at best be a cynical approach
to solving a grievous problem. Therefore the various state
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