SASless, sounds as if Obasanjo is trying hard to calm things down. Pretty much everyone knows that the military reports of destroying illegal bunkering operations were a pathetic attempt to cover up a revenge attack on the villages where the people who killed the military in recent attacks came from. Naturally, when the truth has come out about innocent people being killed, Obasanjo who is a politician, not a General anymore, has ordered the military to stop aggressive action in the area. As with most situations like this, the situation will never be solved militarily - at some stage people have to sit down and have talks to sort out what needs to be done to reach a peaceful solution. The peoples of this area are grossly underprivileged, having been screwed by their community and political leaders with the collusion of the oil company managers, for decades. But, what goes around comes around
. Finally I think we may have reached a level of violence where a compromise is possible. It's just like the recent air crashes - finally the number of deaths in a short period has reached a point where a little bit of progress is being made in improving aviation safety in Nigeria. Maybe the level of disruption to the Nigerian economy has reached the point where the government will be forced to make some meaningful compromises which, in the short term at least, may bring some real benefits to the impoverished indigenes of the oil-producing areas.
I hear that most of the staff at Escravos have now been moved to Benin City, but with no fuel supplies there I don't know what will happen. I guess that Aero must have been flying into Escravos today, unless they were moved by road. Shell is reported as having suspended its operations in the west of the Delta region until things quieten down. Osubi remains closed for now. Warri itself and Port Harcourt remain calm for the time being. Let us hope that cooler heads and wiser counsel will prevail and restore a temporary peace to the area.
