Friday, July 18, 2008
Nigeria has long been living with the nemesis of badly managed oil resources. And it looks like the problem will persist for a long time, unless sensible and clear mechanisms for distributing of oil revenues were reached with locals.
Unlike other parts of Africa where prospecting for oil has meant literally clearing land owners off their property, citizens in the oil-rich Niger delta region of Nigeria have proven not to be pushovers. Instead of reaching a consensus with protesting militia groups, the Nigerian Government thinks all it needs is military support from the U.K government to fight off militia threats. As Britain’s Premier, Gordon Brown promises a plan to set up a training and support package, he may as well be advised to negotiate a workable deal instead.