Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State was a theatre of war between the forces of ex-militant leader, Tompolo and the military Joint Task Force, Operation Restore Hope.

And when two elephants fight, we are told that the grass is always the one that bear the brunt. Today, Tompolo is a national "hero" he walks in and out of Aso Rock as he wishes. Once a fugitive wanted and hunted, he is now the toast of the powers that be in Abuja .

He has repented as a militant and the federal government is now in the process of rehabilitating him and reintegrating him back into the Nigerian society but what about the destruction of property at the kingdom. This is not the story of Tompolo alone it is about all the former militants and militant leaders who are purported to have given up arms struggle in the agitation for a better deal for the Niger Delta people. And Gbaramutu is not the only community that suffered the negative effect of militancy.

Will government rehabilitate these communities? The Presidential Amnesty Committee has made provision for the rehabilitation of the repentant militants but nothing is said about the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the various communities that were damaged or destroyed by militants, the JTF and other security agencies during their confrontations with these militants.

Some may conclude that it serve these communities right for giving refuge to dissident elements in their environment but it is a common knowledge that some of these militants simply took over or "colonized" these communities and sent the indigenes packing or scampering for their safety. Also some of these communities and their indigenes did not agreed with the armed struggle that the militants engaged the government forces but in the process of trying to dislodge these agitators their communities and property were destroyed or damaged by the militants or the government forces.

Besides the expected infrastructural development of the Niger Delta as part of government effort to sustain peace in the region there is need for government to identify, enumerate, reconstruct and rehabilitate communities that suffered as a result of militancy. Some of these communities did not willingly harboured these militants and in some cases the militants were not locals but the communities were helpless and unable to resist the invaders, especially when security forces were unable to dislodge the militants.

It would be unfair to these communities that "the trouble makers" now wine and dine with government and the communities are left to suffer untold hardship. In most cases means of livelihood were destroyed and the villagers now became refugees in their own country, some of them could not go back to their trades as they have no money to fund such businesses as many lost their entire capital. Fishing villages along the creeks and their fishing implements where either burnt or destroyed by militants and soldiers depending on whether the militants saw the fishermen as traitors or the soldiers viewed them are being sympathetic to the cause of the militants.

Also since the government has decided to pardon the former militants, there is need for government to clean up and rehabilitate the Niger Delta environment. During the reign of militancy, sabotaging oil installations was a weapon of war used by the militants and these resulted in oil spills, pollution and environmental degradation besides those spills from equipment failure as a result of oil exploration activities.

Government should clean up the creeks and waterways in the region that were polluted so that our fishermen and other locals who depend on their natural environment to meet their economic needs can eke a living for themselves and families. Government should also encourage oil companies in the region to carry out clean up and remediation exercise at all spill sites within their areas of operations.

Rehabilitating the former militants without rehabilitating the communities that suffered from militancy and the Niger Delta environment would be a great injustice to the law-abiding people of the region. It would further strengthen public opinion that the Nigerian government celebrates criminals and other social deviants while neglecting law abiding citizens. It may lead to many criminal gangs emerging not just from the Niger Delta region but from all nooks and crannies of the country hoping that one day the would be granted amnesty.

There have been media reports of some militants from some states complaining of marginalization by the amnesty committee and government give preferential treatment to some militant leaders. Yes, all militants are equal but some are more equal than others but government should not lead these boys into temptation and more destruction.

Since it seems that the more the capacity of a militant leader to wreck havoc the more attention he receives from the authorities some of these boys may be force to go back into the creeks and may create more damage than those we are celebrating now, after all no one has monopoly over violence. Government should handle the issue of the militants' rehabilitation with care to avoid luring young men into crime in their bid to attract national attention and government patronage. If actually there is equality before the law, no militant should be given preferential treatment no matter their rank and where they come from.

Niger Delta has a short period of dry season for construction work and there is no time to waste, the infrastructural development of the region should commence immediately where possible. Contracts for those roads and other infrastructures which designs are ready should be awarded to reputable firms. Federal government and its various agencies should start the implementation of the Niger Delta master plan and the Ledum Mitee-led committee report.

Federal government should avoid allowing any project or infrastructure meant for the region to remain in the pipeline to avoid the boys going back to the pipelines to get these projects and infrastructures out. I would like to see road construction going on Aba-Ikot Ekpene Road , Calabar-Itu, Calabar-Ikom, Ikot-Ekpene-Umuahia Road , Benin - Ore Road, Port Harcourt - Aba Road and other federal roads in the region. Jobs should be given to competent contractors and not to politicians who would regard the contract sum as their own amnesty windfall.

Agreed that President Umaru Yar'dua did not cause the Niger Delta problem but before accepting to be president he might have convince himself that he has what it takes to solve the country's problem. By making the Niger Delta one of his seven point agenda it means he was aware of the enormous challenge the region would pose to his administration.

Also government is continuous, and the Niger Delta problem is a product of more than five decades of injustice, insensitivity and neglect by the government at the centre which today is represented by Yar'dua. So as an elected president of Nigeria he inherited all the assets and liabilities of his predecessors and must do something to correct the ills of the past.

While one does not envy the former militants for the attention and patronage they are enjoying from the various levels of government, government should work out training and empowerment programmes for law-abiding youths of the region and other parts of the country who are willing to work.

The money from the excess crude oil can be given out through a well thought out micro credit scheme to youths across the country that have business ideas with workable feasibility studies and are ready to take risks. Also government should work of an education loan programme that indigent youths can access loan to go to school and repay the money without interest when then start working. These loans would not be handouts or treated as national cake.