Niger Delta: The split that makes unity difficult

by Alexander O. Onukwue

It has been announced that the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, “has withdrawn its support and representatives from the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF)”.

Citing differences with Chief Edwin Clark, the leader of PANDEF whom, MEND says their decision to quit their alliance with the group stems from “the lie told by Chief Clark to State House correspondents after the 3 August meeting between PANDEF and the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo when Chief Clark said MEND was part of the parley despite the group not being represented”, according to Sahara Reporters.

MEND also say they are annoyed with persons like Clark and Alfred Diette-Spiff for not taking advantage of their rapport with the former President Goodluck Jonathan to bring development to the Niger Delta. Instead, they lament that the wealth accumulated by many from the region are now accruing to the collection box of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

As a region, the Niger Delta has hardly managed to be homogenous and united in its front against he perceived injustice and unsatisfactory delivery of Governance that has been meted out to them in the Nigerian union. At various times, rival groups within the same Niger Delta often come up against each other’s views on issues that have to do with getting the Federal Government’s attention.

The PANDEF’s meeting with the Acting President has generated some dust, leading to the recent announcement by some groups in the region of an October 1st deadline to Hausas and Yorubas to leave the Niger Delta. That announcement has been disavowed by some other groups as well, presenting the scenario of a house too fraught with internal tensions and disunity to be on the same page.

Surely this cannot be the constituent groups that would form the so-called Niger Delta Republic. If the evidence of this MEND split is anything to go by, a united Niger Delta is anything but within promising reach in the present.

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