TIVE DENEDO

THE build up to the Ogoniland cleanup is palpable. The excitement and joy could be seen in the glint of their eyes, could almost be touched and felt in the heartbeat of those committed to the goal of rolling back years of pains, tears and the anguish of a people for whom an asset has become their worst nightmare almost become a curse. But with all the radiation of excitement, all the gal­vanisation of energy, it certainly will not be a stroll in the park. We should be under no illusion that a magic wand or a set of often repeated mantra will make the implemen­tation roll away all the opposition to this grand project.

There are mountains of challenges ahead because as we all know from experience that nothing good comes with ease. There are numerous entrenched, calcified and ossified positions and interest that will be protected as the project unfolds and most of these positions are either trampled, revised or replaced to the chagrin of those for whom they have been a source of influence and control over the destinies of the people and the communities so grossly affected by the long years of environmental degrada­tion. These challenges will come from even those who profess their unalloyed support for the cleanup. They would come from government, from the oil corporations, from the communities, including profes­sional agitators, violence entrepreneurs for whom the cry over the pollution has been a bread basket. It will also come from the media both at the local and the inter­national level. As long as the cleanup will involve humans and their divergent views and voices, there must be room created to handle strife, competition and discord. There will be no enchantment to bring the cleanup to pass without throwing up heat but all of these could be managed, as what people know will be tested with what they do not know making sure that all of the soft skills acquired over the years are thrown in for good measures. The cleanup exercise will be populated by government veterans, dissenters, and people on ego trips, techno­crats, pseudo royalties and royalties. It will be a constellation of stars and the cleanup galaxy will be very busy indeed. There will be verbal sparring, some nudges, sometimes shoving and pushing but all must be taken as it is in a day’s work.

What would be required most is avail­ability of restrain. There must be a ton of patience for every ounce of objection or disagreement that may be dredged up. There must also be new messages as well as new messengers. The old messengers should not roughly be thrown out but be put to use even for their nuisance value and what good it may eventually bring to the cause of reaching the people that matter in the region to get the work at hand done satisfactorily. Peoples’ views no matter how trite, irrational or hollow they may sound or seem to appear to whomsoever will have the privilege to lead the process should be tolerated without being discarded with dis­dain. Those who have made fortunes from the unfortunate circumstances that have befallen the region and may want the status quo to be maintained will not be dissuaded so easily. Perhaps, environmental entre­preneurs and others whose plans will be to cream off as much of the money earmarked for the process and are ready to do more than get a pound of flesh, will probably not brook any interference in their bid to push through their own selfish and nefarious agenda. There is so much to take on in one single project.

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Talking about the money for the cleanup brings us to the thorny issue of how exactly the main funding and the counterpart funding will be generated. There is the big picture of a huge billion dollars and that is what most people are seeing but the undercurrent of who will contribute and how much and when, is in serious conten­tion. Convinced that the falling price of all notwithstanding, President Buhari whose word can be taken to the bank is ready and willing to put his money where his mouth is and will pay the sum expected to be paid by the Federal Government. There is a whop­ping and mouth-watering billion Dollars on the table with which to cleanup. The whiff of money always attracts the carpet baggers and there will surely be more than a few in the Niger Delta scrambling to get their hands on some of the pile.

The process for the cleanup will also be an opportunity to revive age old rivalries among communities leaders, leaders of thoughts and associations as well as pres­sure groups on who can peddle more influ­ence during the period, leading to and dur­ing the cleanup itself. It will be a contest of who will have more privilege and access not just to the corridor of power but to the in­ner caucuses. It will also be a battle between them on who can drop bigger and mightier names in the campaign to get the heaviest pie of the cleanup largesse.

With no pun intended, the availability of crude or, perhaps, something unexplainable in the nature of the region has made it to be volatile and highly inflammable. The issue of security is always on the minds of the people and the government with any slight provocation readily leading to the break­down of law and order and a reign of chaos and anarchy. There must be a readiness to take control of the security issues as prepa­rations are on high gear for the cleanup for no one can tell what statement or action from the government or the oil companies or even from among the communities will flag of violence once again. The new crusad­ers called Avengers must be handled with an eye on the Clean-Up. The government should take the higher moral ground and not seek vengeance.