Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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July 19, 2008

Nigeria Shelves Oil Crisis Summit 
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Government bows to pressure from groups, ethnic leaders from
oil-producing Niger Delta to suspend indefinitely summit aimed at
halting attacks on petroleum industry 
The Nigerian government has bowed to pressure from groups and ethnic
leaders from the oil producing Niger Delta to suspend indefinitely a
peace summit aimed at halting attacks on the petroleum industry.
President Umaru Yar'Adua has failed to pacify the Niger Delta and now
must come up with a new strategy to halt the violence. From Abuja,
Gilbert da Costa reports for VOA.Gas flares belonging to Agip oil
company in Ebocha near oil rich city of Port Harcourt, Nigeria (file
photo)Oil production in the Niger Delta has recently been hard hit by
attacks by rebel groups on petroleum facilities, causing Nigeria to lose
its position as Africa's biggest oil producer.The year-old
administration of President Umaru Yar'Adua has repeatedly promised to
address the root causes of the violence. The peace summit was a key
component of government's plan to halt the deteriorating security
situation.But most of the region's ethnic leaders dismissed the
conference as a distraction and instead, u!
 rged the government to urgently respond to long-standing grievances of
the impoverished residents of the Niger Delta.Tom Pulo, a Niger Delta
militant leader, says the Nigerian government must take concrete
measures to boost development in the Niger Delta if it is to prevent
militants forcing the complete shutdown of its oil industry."There is no
equal rights and justice as far as we are concerned. You can't, for
example, set up a Niger Delta Development Commission to empower them
with money and you are not giving them this money to develop the Niger
Delta. Then two, the federal government arranged a budget for
development of Nigeria for the year. The one for power was given to
power; the one for water was given to them for water. But the one for
Niger Delta was not given to Niger Delta Development [Commission], they
gave it to soldiers; army, navy to come and kill us," said Pulo.Since
the 1970s, Nigeria has pumped more than $300 billion worth of crude from
the southern delt!
 a states, according to estimates. But high unemployment in the delta, 
environmental degradation due to oil and gas extraction and a lack of
basic resources such as fresh water and electricity have angered some of
the region's youth and incited them to take up arms.The government says
it is now exploring informal dialogue with Niger Delta leaders to
propose recommendations on ending violence in the region. The government
insists formal talks may resume in the future.Since the beginning of
2006, attacks by militants in the restive region have cut by 25 percent
oil production in Nigeria, the eighth largest world crude exporter. 


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