Activists pessimistic on Nigeria oil crisis talks

LAGOS – A meeting called by President Olusegun Obasanjo with Niger Delta groups is unlikely to resolve a crisis that has cut a quarter of Nigeria’s oil output because the talks have been poorly conceived, the groups said on Friday.

The proposed talks had raised hopes that the government and ethnic Ijaw militants were moving towards a negotiated truce that could allow oil multinationals to restart 630,000 barrels per day of output closed by violence in the southern swamps.

About 200 delegates, including “youth leaders” — a local term for militants — politicians, activists and traditional rulers are expected to gather in the capital Abuja on Wednesday.

“The problems of the Ijaws can never and will never be solved at the jamboree,” said Ijaw chief Edwin Clark in a statement which stopped short of saying they would not attend.

Reuters