Nobel laureate wades into Niger Delta crisis
AFP
LAGOS - Nigerian militants waging war on its government's policies in the Niger Delta received celebrity backing Friday from a Nobel prize-winning playwright and author.
The 1986 Nobel laureate in literature, Wole Soyinka, slammed Nigeria's handling of the crisis in the oil region and urged the government to adopt a "holistic" approach in tackling it.
"The basic issue for which MEND is fighting -- restructuring of Nigeria on more equitable lines -- is exactly what the majority of this nation has been fighting for (over) so many years," he said on Thursday.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which has been attacking oil installations and kidnapping oil workers since 2006, says it is fighting for a greater share of the region's oil wealth for local communities.
Dozens of soldiers, militants and civilians died last month during a confrontation between troops and rebels in southern Delta State.
The armed group last week declared a two-month truce following a government amnesty offer and the release from jail of its leader, Henry Okah, who had been facing treason charges.
Hundreds of oil workers have been abducted in the delta over the past three years. Most have been released after days or weeks -- but some have been kept for months in the swamps and creeks of southern Nigeria.
Nigeria needs to "mend" itself, said Soyinka who called for fiscal federalism, fair distribution of revenues and justice, and equitable rights.
He urged MEND to assist the population in flushing out "defiants, opportunists, racketeers and extortionists" in its fold.
President Umaru Yar'Adua last June 25 declared an unconditional pardon for the armed groups waging an "oil war" in the region.
The amnesty offer remains open until October 4.
Violence in the southern region of the world's eight largest crude exporter has cut output by more than 30 percent over the past three and a half years.
Industry and official sources said militant attacks against oil installations had seen Nigeria's crude oil production plummet to between 1.2 and 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) from 2.6 million bpd in 2006.
Nigeria derives more than 90 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from crude exports.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------