AN ASSESSMENT OF THE AMNESTY PROGRAM FOR EX-MILITANTS IN NIGERIA’S NIGER DELTA

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE AMNESTY PROGRAM FOR EX-MILITANTS IN NIGERIA’S NIGER DELTA

ABSTRACT

This study is an assessment of the Amnesty Program for ex-militants in the Niger Delta as a government palliative for Oil Bearing Communities in the region. The study examined the extent to which the Amnesty Program addressed the issues of development of the people of the Niger Delta and militancy in particular; the job prospects of trained ex-militants and its implication on their standard of living; the extent to which the Amnesty Program has contributed towards a peaceful resolution of militancy in the Niger-Delta and its implications to the emergence of other forms of insurgences in other regions of Nigeria like the Boko Haram; and finally, the study assessed the implications of the omission of women and children in the Niger Delta Amnesty program. Ways to ensure lasting peace in the oil rich region were also looked into. The Political Economy Thesis served as the theoretical framework for the study and an expanded framework for assessing the amnesty program for ex-militants in the Niger Delta. Data were obtained from a sample of 200 respondents in a community survey from Okrika town, Bonny Island, Opobo kingdom and Port Harcourt City areas of Rivers State; Seventeen (17) In-depth Interviews (IDIs) and three (3) Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were also conducted comprising Exmilitants, their Leaders, Training partners, Amnesty and Oil Company Officials, Pressmen, Community Leaders, Women and children. The findings revealed that not all participants in the amnesty program were militants, the core militants never benefited much in the program in terms of their allotted stipends, and that their living standard as militants was much better economically then in the creeks compared to the post amnesty period; but on social ground the reverse was the case. Not many of the trained exmilitants have been absorbed into Oil companies as anticipated by the ex-militants and Niger Delta community. While most of the respondents both in the survey, IDIs and FGDs saw a reason to agree that the amnesty might have instigated insurgencies in other regions of the country, they did not however see a relationship between the amnesty offer and the Boko Haram insurgencies in Nigeria‘s North East. Women and children were thought to be omitted in the Amnesty Program and the possible future implication of this neglect being the rise of other social vices if not well tackled. Findings also showed that over 84% of the respondents were of the view that social amenities could alongside the amnesty aid peace building efforts in the region. In addition, there was a general opinion among ex-militant discussants in the FGDs and other interviewees in the IDIs that, although the Amnesty Program was a welcome development and has brought relative peace to the region, it has not yet met their issues of a fair share of the national cake and community development. Suggestions from the study showed that increase derivation, the passing into law of the Petroleum Industry Bill and job creation will help sustain peace building efforts in the Niger Delta. Also, suggested by the respondents in the study was the need for the government to be committed to her promise of developing the Niger Delta region, investing in her human capital and creating a robust economic environment for other Non-Oil Economies in the region to flourish and for the people of the region to find expression.

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