The Niger Delta is the “honey land” of Nigeria where the honey has continually been milked and the bees left to sting the indigenes. The Niger Delta issue has become a perennial crisis, first because of the different positional views of involved stakeholders, the lack of political will on the part of the state to curb it and the non-recognition of the issue as a national problem leading to national insecurity. The thrust of this paper is to ascertain how far the amnesty initiative of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has contributed in peace building within the post conflict Niger Delta region. It discusses the challenges of the amnesty programme with the view that amnesty is only a means to achieving durable peace and not an end in itself. The skepticisms of the amnesty programme are vividly discussed with the opinion that the programme may fail thus with great consequences for Nigeria. Recommendations are made for the amnesty to achieve its goals and by implication putting an end to the bitter lingering squabbles in the Niger Delta region which constitutes national insecurity for Nigeria.

The Niger Delta is the “honey land” of Nigeria where the honey has continually been milked and the bees left to sting the indigenes. The Niger Delta issue has become a perennial crisis, first because of the different positional views of involved stakeholders, the lack of political will on the part...