INTENT of restoring complete peace to the Niger Delta region, the Presidency has ordered the search for and return with apology of the Golden Sword of Gbaramatu believed to have been taken away by the military during one of the raids in the kingdom.
The directive is part of the overall strategy designed by President Muhammadu Buhari to end the restiveness in the region.
Details of the outreach strategy adopted by the administration are only now unfolding, indicating that Buhari dispatched Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to the region on a diplomatic offensive to oil producing communities in the region as a matter of deliberate design.
A top Presidency said on Sunday: “To show his determination and commitment to create a new understanding and atmosphere between the Federal Government and the communities, the President, in fact, gave an order after the Vice President’s visit to Gbaramatu that an investigation be conducted to determine what happened during an alleged military raid of the Gbaramatu community where allegedly the Kingdom’s Golden Sword was taken away.”
The source further volunteered: “The presidential order also directed that a search for the Golden Sword of the kingdom allegedly confiscated, if this is found to be so, should be recovered and once located promptly released to the Kingdom with an apology.”
The source revealed that series of meetings between the President and Osinbajo early this year reached the conclusion that the government must warmly embrace the communities by encouraging the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), a body of elders, which had already opened a channel of communication with the President.
According to the source, the President has also decided to play down the use of open military tactics and given firm instructions on this ahead of the commencement of Osinbajo’s tour of the region.
It revealed that Buhari had instructed Osinbajo to work out details of the tour and to all oil-producing states and ensure that “all interests are brought to the table, regardless of parties or any other differing factors or cleavages.”
Osinbajo’s meeting with the President on the issues had also resolved that the Amnesty Programme should be accorded greater budgetary funding, “and this must be clearly communicated to the communities by the Vice President, as an ongoing firm commitment of the Federal Government.”
Also agreed at the meeting, it was learnt, was the need to form up the Maritime University project in Delta State with a resolution that it would be fully supported by the Federal Government.
The implementation of the university project had been a matter of open disagreement between two ministers from the region, Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation) and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu.
According to the source, “the President also asked the Vice President to ensure that during the visits, the communities should be made to understand that the Federal Government is now interested in action and would do its own part. The Vice President was also asked to secure from the communities a buy-in of peace and collaboration from state governments and the oil companies in particular.”
It added: “At that meeting, it was also decided that any immediate and reasonable requests of the communities would be earnestly considered to build confidence that all parties can then build upon.
“Some local oil companies were also involved to facilitate the process which then kicked off with the visit of the Vice President to Gbaramatu Kingdom last month even before the President embarked on his vacation to the United Kingdom.”
and then