Lagos — By my calculation, on May 29 2010, when President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua would be giving account of his stewardship on the third anniversary of his presidency, he would not be talking about taking so much time to plan and having a proper assessment of the situation on ground. That was the crux of the account the president gave in the last two years.

This time around, the president can confidently talk about the restoration of peace in Niger Delta. The president can speak on how the situation in the Niger Delta deteriorated so much that criminals seized the terrain and constituted serious threat to national and world economy.

The situation in the oil producing area of Nigeria not only appeared like it could lead to breakdown of the country, it also became a reference point for those who referred to Nigeria as a failed state as well as those who believe the country was only a keg of gun powder waiting to explode. At one point, the crisis escalated beyond the confines of the Niger Delta as some dare-devil militants attacked oil installations in Lagos, the nation's commercial nerve centre.

However, while resisting external help in tackling the crisis, the Yar'Adua government insisted it could handle the situation. The government drafted a peace process which started with an amnesty programme. The militants, both the ones known to have been involved in criminal activities and those whose activities were not known were all promised amnesty. That means any militant who agrees to turn in his arms, embraces the process and promises to support government's development programme for the region is deemed to be a 'born again.' He is without sin and will even benefit from the largesse that are provided to temporarily provide for the needs of the ex-militants while government finalises plans for their rehabilitation and resettlement.

Today, the peace process in the Niger Delta has actually restored normalcy in the area. The residents now live without fear of fall-out from violent clashes between rival militant groups or between militants and men of the military Joint Task Force (JTF). Oil installations are also no longer targets of attacks. From reports, the country has made modest increase in oil production of about 150,000 barrels per day. It is believed that the production level can increase to 2million bpd from its present level of 1.8m bpd in the next few months.

However, recent developments on the amnesty programme are disturbing and I believe these developments need to be attended as against dismissing them as officials desperate to give the impression that 'all is well' will want to do. Henry Okah, leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) while speaking on the Arab television network, Al Jazeera, warned that there were still some undeclared arms and ammunition by militants in the oil region. Okah spoke in the context of the fact that it might be too early to think the demilitarisation of the zone had been completed and that what needed to be done is to ensure those arms still not captured and their bearers who may be outside the ambit of the on-going process should not be given the opportunity to derail the process.

Instead of taking Orkah's warning as a serious caution, the reactions by Bayelsa Governor, Mr Timipre Sylva and the spokesman of the presidential committee on amnesty. Dr Timiebi Agary showed that the people involved in the amnesty process are not ready to listen to alternative views. One can understand that both the governor and Dr Agary had done so much in their personal and official capacities to work alongside others in getting the peace process to this stage and they may not want to contemplate any other development outside making progress. However, these top officials should learn to look at the other side of the coin. Rathern than dismiss Orkah as a man whose speech can reverse the peace process, a trouble maker or mere alarmist, his views should only make the presidential committee to step up their intelligence gathering machinery and ensure no surprise is sprung by anybody.

There is also the fear that other militant leaders harbour the same feeling like Orkah and that they believe that after taking in the militants, the plan to commence infrastructure development as a way of consolidating the peace process is not about to start. It is reported that the militants expressed their frustrations at a meeting convened in Abuja on Tuesday. A report on the meeting published in Daily Independent newspaper indicated that president of the Ijaw Youth Council, Chris Ekiyor told the Amnesty Panel including ministers of defence and Niger Delta, Major Gen. Godwin Abbe (rtd.) and Obong Ufot Ekaette respectively, that the lackluster approach of the government to development of the oil producing area gives the impression that militants made a mistake in submitting their weapons.

Ekiyor was quoted to have told the panel that: "It has been 30 days since we accepted the amnesty programme we are tired of having these meetings. I am aware that from 2007 to date, we have exhausted whatever is needed to be said Today, you call a group, tomorrow you call another group, and nothing is being done. We are beginning to ask the question if we actually took the right decision in the recent past. Those at the helm of affairs already know the problem and we should not be at the planning phase at this time, but implementing agenda that must have been proffered since 2007 to date". Ekiyor's statement perhaps better articulated and put in proper context the feelings that made Orkah to remind the implementers of the peace process the danger of not acting fast.

At the meeting, Abbe was said to have told the militants that government is willing and able to provide infrastructure in the Niger Delta but wants the people's assurance that the effort would not be thwarted by youths. The defence minister was said to have talked about the N200 billion approved by the federal executive council for the execution of 44 projects in Akwa Ibom, Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Edo, Delta, Imo, Ondo and River States. The projects include construction of bridges, roads, hospitals, provision of potable water and environmental impact assessment for the projects.

The assurance by the minister is good but it is not only the militants who are beginning to ask the question: After amnesty, what next? Many other Nigerians are beginning to ask the same question. It is believed that the Amnesty Panel, the presidency, ministry of Niger Delta, ministry of works and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) have enough work plan for the immediate development of the oil producing areas post-amnesty. The only way to consolidate the achievement of the Yar'Adua administration in the Niger Delta is to begin real construction work aimed at putting infrastructure in place in the region.

Like Ekiyor said, it will depict lack of seriousness for anybody to be talking of planning at this stage. What is needed is the implementation of existing plans. The government's amnesty has created a positive momentum in the Niger Delta. The relative peace in the region is equivalent to what Shakespeare called a "tide in the affairs of men." We need to take the tide so that we can have a safe voyage.

This is not the time for Abbe and the others to be talking of N200 billion for implementation of 44 projects and the construction of East West road. The money should be deployed immediately to mobilise credible contractors to sites and for work to commence in earnest. We all know that this is November. If contractors are not mandated to start work immediately and get ready to deliver on some of the projects, then by next month the money will have to be returned to the treasury as part of unspent funds. Then the projects will have to wait to be included in the 2010 budget which as usual may not be ready until late in the first quarter of the year. We are talking of nothing being done till next March. Will that delay not create some desperate situation among the people who have been given the impression that once there is disarmament, then development will follow in tow?

It is important for President Yar'Adua to make it clear to all those working on the Niger Delta peace process that this is not the time to subject implementation of policies and programmes to unnecessary bureaucratic bottleneck. Decisions should be made in a fast manner and the implementation should be equally fast. Time is running out on the government. Nothing should be delayed. One would expect the FEC which approved N200b to have identified the specific projects for which the money is meant. The award of contracts and release of money should be expedited. The situation in the oil producing area is an emergency and should be treated so. We have just come out of a war situation and decisions that would ensure we do not relapse into the crisis should be made very fast.

The statements credited to Orkah on al-Jazeera and the one by Ekiyor in Abuja are signs of the desperation that may follow the relative peace achieved in the Niger Delta if concrete development programmes are not embarked upon immediately. Time for sloganeering should be over. What is needed now is real action. We cannot afford to lose the current momentum.