REBELS IN AFRICA DON'T WANT POWER

Hey, check it out--there's a revolution in Nigeria, but the rebels don't want power. They're following Hugo Chavez's line in Venezuela and want all citizens of Nigeria to share in the oil wealth of their country. Seems fair enough to me. But of course, the oil companies that do most of the work getting the oil are not so keen on it. Of course, greed breeds greed, so sharing is something the rich just can't do. Of course, with Peak Oil coming up, if you're going to make a grab for oil-wealth rights, now's the time to do it. Hell, it'd be an appropriate grab, in my book, even without Peak Oil looming because, according to a BBC News article, the country produces the 7th largest supply of oil in the world and yet just short of two-thirds of their population lives in poverty.

Something's wrong with that math.

Anyway, it seems like a settlement may be in the works between Dokubo Asari, the rebel leader and Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo. So, while that's good, I'm not sure exactly what that really means.

See if you can make heads or tails out of this situation by reading a BBC News article on this temporary truce over at the BBC News website.



From BBC News:

Last Updated: Wednesday, 29 September, 2004, 17:55 GMT 18:55 UK

Nigerian oil ceasefire 'agreed'

A militia leader based in Nigeria's main oil-producing region says he has agreed a ceasefire with President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Dokubo Asari had said he would attack foreign workers and the threat was seen as one reason why world oil prices hit record highs of $50 a barrel this week.

He says he is fighting for the rights of the Ijaw people but the authorities dismiss him as an oil thief.

The issue of self determination was not discussed at the meeting, he says.

Mr Asari says he and five other colleagues met the president and other government officials at the state house on Wednesday.

"The president has given a firm assurance that no attacks will be will be carried out against our positions and we too have undertaken not to attack the military," Mr Asari told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

Earlier, Mr Obasanjo's spokeswoman had said the president was not planning to meet Mr Asari.

But Mr Asari said he flew to Abuja on a presidential jet and that the meeting was at the request of a presidential envoy who travelled to the creeks in the Niger Delta to see him.

Production hit

On Tuesday, Nigeria's military warned Mr Asari's Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force that it would take off the "kid gloves" unless the militia stops threatening oil workers.

The militia said foreign oil companies must cease production or face "all-out war" in the Niger Delta from Friday.

The Anglo-Dutch firm Shell, the biggest oil company in Nigeria, boosted security following the threats.

Nigeria is the world's seventh largest exporter of oil, but 70% of its population live in poverty.

A statement from Shell described the region as still tense and said that the movement of employees and supplies had been curtailed.

Oil production has also been affected.

The Santa Barbara flow station, which produces 28,000 barrels per day, has been shut down because the company cannot reach the area to fix a technical problem.

Mr Asari said that expatriates - who in this region are predominantly oil workers - could only return when fundamental issues of resource control and self-determination had been resolved.

'Joker'

He took to the creeks of River State earlier this year, and hundreds of people have died in subsequent clashes with the police, navy and rival gangs.

Fighting has intensified in the last month after the military launched a major operation against the group.

Last week, Shell pulled out more than 200 of its non-essential staff from two gas and oil fields because of heightened tensions.

A spokesman for the River State government called Mr Asari a "joker".

"He does not have the capacity to destroy oil installations. The government will not allow it. The security forces are fully mobilised and combat-ready to dislodge this criminal group," Emmanuel Okah told AFP news agency.

The BBC's Anna Borzello in Nigeria says the Niger Delta holds the bulk of Nigeria's oil reserves, but the area is under-developed and riven by conflict, often caused by armed gangs involved in the lucrative trade of smuggling crude oil.

© BBC MMIV