During festivities like this yuletide, it is common for families to visit places of interest and for those who are very buoyant, they take a trip outside the shores of the country for holiday.
One of the places to have fun that attract visitors is usually the circus, apparently because of the comic relief derived from the excitement and noise.
In Nigeria, there are so many things that give you excitement and create noise that you do not really need to visit a circus. We are generally a nation of noise making, both positively and negatively. Before we embark on projects or initiate a programme we make so much noise about it to the extent that when it is finally done, that is if it eventually materializes, the outcome becomes immaterial.
You do not need to travel far to get any comic relief because you are already on a circus stage free of charge.  You are in a country, blessed with so many natural resources, vast land, favorable weather, and yet these God given endowments are not taken advantage of by the host communities.
A nation where a public officer is indicted for stealing government money and the person being indicted go to court to challenge such an action which is very obvious, taking into consideration the staggering amount of money in question.
This is a nation where some few opportune persons deprive others of opportunities and they want to eat their cake and still have it. The nation which survives on the oil revenue and yet the communities bearing this oil installations don’t benefit from the resources at their backyard.
The oil wealth revolves round some few families in the North and West who shared the oil block amongst themselves and the people from the South South continue to lament. The agitation for resource control was systematically silenced and the goose that lay the golden egg is forced to live from the crumbs that fall from the masters table. Yet, we expect the people to be happy.
In as much as we remain patriotic to the nation, it is unjust and act of wickedness for this injustice to continue and it will be very irresponsible of any government at the helms of affairs if they cannot see what is wrong and proffer long lasting solutions.
The resurgence of pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta has negatively impacted on the country’s crude oil output, but this is only a way of drawing government attention to the plight of the oil producing communities.
It was however noteworthy when the Minister for Petroleum Resources Mr. Ibe Kachikwu raised the alarm that in terms of crude oil output we are still not where we should be. In his words, “these days, I am always conscious about giving figures so that I do not attract attention unnecessarily.”
Nevertheless, the Minister has always given us the assurance that the issues confronting our oil industry are being addressed.  This statement, which is not new, coming from government, has become very monotonous in the ears of the people who feel cheated and deprived of their God given inheritance by a few cabal who have been and continue to remain in the corridors of power.
So, when the Minister hinted again that a National Council on Hydrocarbon which was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari would function as an advisory body and would contribute ideas that would be used in policy formulation in the Petroleum industry, a platform for another circus act may just be in the offing.
As usual, the Minister is reassuring the people: “Everybody is invited to participate in the deliberations. We create ideas so that we use the ideas to formulate policies. This is the first time it is happening. I think is a fantastic thing and it is all part of the whole process of getting everybody involved, especially people from the oil producing communities.”
There is no doubt that if the oil producing communities are carried along with a sincere motive by the government there will not be bombing and destruction of oil and gas installations in the Niger Delta region by the militants because that is not the best way to agitate for recognition as they only succeeded in destroying facilities meant to serve the people.
It is out of so much annoyance, so much damage is being done, even when they know that government will come and go, but the damages will ultimately destroy people’s livelihood, aspirations and their future.
It is therefore our expectation that the President Buhari administration should continue its outreach to the leaders and groups in the Niger Delta in seeking peaceful solutions once and for all. The government should continue to keep open the channels of communication and negotiation with the people and be truthful in resolving the injustice done to the oil producing communities.
The National Council on Hydrocarbon should also redress the issue of allocations of oil blocks and those entitled to them because the present method of leaving the oil wealth of the nation in the hands of few persons will continue to elicit bitterness amongst the indigenes of oil bearing communities.
The era of creating excitement and noise making as was the case in the past should be avoided. What the people need is a deliberate course of action that will ensure that the benefits from different hydrocarbons found in petrol, gas, coal and natural gas are enjoyed by the host communities.


Eubaldus Enahoro is Assistant Editor with the Nigerian Observer.