This is a rebuttal to a write up by one Ena Ofugara titled: “HISTORY OF MINORITIES NEED FOR SELF ACTUALIZATION: IT PREDATES IGBO STRUGGLE FOR BIAFRA”. I am merely responding to correct some misconceptions that were created by those who don’t mean well for Nigeria and present these falsities as truth with the sole purpose of ensuring continued hostility between certain groups in Nigeria.
Ena Ofugara: “Peace was all the minorities of the Niger Delta wanted and the agitation of the minorities of the Niger Delta led to the Henry Willink Commision in 1957. The minorities in Nigeria through the decades agitated for autonomy from the majority ethnic groups leading to the setting up of the commission. The cause of the minorities in the Niger Delta was championed by the likes of Harold Dappa-Biriye and the demand was for the creation of their own autonomous region or state. The commission recognised among others, the demand for the creation of Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers state and the Midwest state.”
Concerned Nigerian Response: Not quite. The Willink Commission was set up after the London Constitutional Conference in 1957. This conference, which was one held largely to create states, gave birth to a Commission of Inquiry to hear the fears of the minorities as against the majority groups. All minorities agitated for autonomy, but the most vocal was the Edo people, headed by the then Benin King, Oba Akenzua. Then, this was not a “Niger Delta” agitation, this was simply an agitation by non-Yoruba groups to leave the Western region. To give an illustration of how serious the minorities of the Western region were about opting out of the Western Region, especially the Edo, Chief Omo-Osagie, Deputy Leader of the Midwest state movement, described the situation as this:
“The people of the Midwest would willingly submit to the use of nuclear weapons, devastating bombs or machine guns to annihilate them, rather than remain in a self governing West.” [West African Pilot. July 14, 1957]
To address the comment on Dappa-Biriye, Harold Dappa-Biriye was in no way any more vocal than any other minority leader – both North and South – the man came out to voice his opinion like all others. Dappa-Biriye, fought an “Ijaw” cause and not a “Niger Delta” cause. It is pertinent to note that back then the only area that was considered as Niger Delta to Dappa-Biriye and Nigeria was Ijaw territories, so when I said he did not fight a “Niger Deltan” cause I meant the Niger Delta in today’s context.
Ena Ofugara: “MidWest region was to become a reality when the NPC and NCNC (Northern party and Eastern party) were to form a government and could weaken Awolowo’s region (though Akintola was premier yet the fear was Awolowo) by allowing the minorities of the Niger Delta to have a region of their own. Dennis Osadebey was to be her first Premier. Awolowo was to later take his pound of flesh by influencing Gowon to balkanize the eastern region and create Rivers and Cross Rivers state so the minorities can decide their own future. THEY DID. They practically stopped fighting for Biafra and which quickly led to the end of th civil war.”
Concerned Nigerian Response: This true to an extent; however, both Western Region and the Eastern Region had the desire to weaken each other’s region through state creation. The East supported the creation of Anioma State to join the East or become its own state. They also supported a state that saw all minorities leave the Western Region; while the West supported the creation of COR and Rivers states out of the East. When state creation was dropped, the NPC and NCNC allied to back the Edo-led referendum for another region, the Midwestern Region. The referendum was successful. The Premier, yes, was an Igbo, Dennis Osadebey. Osadebey, was also the Secretary-General of the Igbo State Union and the creator of the name Anioma. He was from the area today known as Delta State. Let me add that the Governor of the Midwestern Region was Samuel Jereton Mariere, an Urhobo who was also the Secretary-General of the Urhobo Progressive Union. Let me make that clear before some bigot or uninformed individual chimes in to claim the “Igbo ruled them”.
Contrary to your claim that Rivers State was during civil war or “so the minorities can decide their own future”, Rivers State was created on May 27, 1967. That is before the civil war started. Awolowo and Gowon’s move only led General C. Ojukwu to declare Biafra three days later on May 30, 1967. With his being the case, you claimed is wrong. The creation of Rivers State had nothing to do with the end of the civil war.
Ena Ofugara: “The Ijaws of the then Eastern region were thus left unhappy at being subsumed under the dominant Igbos and a certain Adaka Boro, having gone to Enugu and seen the developments as compared to his Ijaw land was to lead the very first “civil war”, (though not so named) in February 1966. Wikipedia says this of him, his grouse and the battle
“An undergraduate student of chemistry and student union president at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he left school to lead an armed protest against the exploitation of oil and gas resources in the Niger Delta areas which benefitted mainly the federal government of Nigeria and Eastern region with capital in Enugu and nothing was given to his Ijaw people. He believed that the people of the area deserved a fairer share of proceeds of the oil wealth. He formed the Ijaw Volunteer Force, an armed militia with members consisting mainly of his fellow Ijaw ethnic group. They declared the Niger Delta Republic on February 23, 1966 and gallantly battled the Federal forces for twelve days but were finally routed by the far superior Federal firepower. Boro and his compatriots were jailed for treason.“”
Concerned Nigerian Response: Let’s just be glad Wikipedia is not considered a credible source. Isaac Boro’s goose wasn’t that Enugu was more developed than his Oloibiri area, his goose was that his Ijaw people were not able to govern themselves under their own state or region. Also, let’s not forget that Boro was granted a scholarship by the Eastern Government to attend University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He became president of the student union, even after previously claiming that he lost elections due to tribal discrimination by Igbos. Imagine. Let me stress that UNN was an Igbo dominated university. Anyway, what did Boro do when he got the position? He used it to hound authorities? All of the energy wasted on his obsession with the student union position brought him down academically and he failed his course and got booted out of the university.
As for your attempt to paint Igbos as exploiters of “Niger Delta oil”, the revenue that built the regional capital, Enugu, and the other parts of the Eastern Region were mainly from Igboland. Yes, coal, agriculture, import & export, etc. is what fed everyone, not oil. It wasn’t until 1956 that oil was found in Oloibiri, Ijawland, and at that time Nigeria was still under British rule and each regions government was being run by Brits, so how on earth did Igbos or any other group benefit from oil not to talk about gas? Let’s not forget the fact that even up till the civil war the oil income was marginal and did little to nothing for the country, not to talk of the Eastern Region. Does M.I. Okpara’s ‘Agricultural Revolution’ ring a bell? I won’t even bring up the fact that the second oil well was found at Ezeagu, Enugu. Obviously the random Tamuno Jack or Finima West that edited that Wikipedia page did not do his research but instead relied on lies from the usual Lagos-Ibadan propagandists. Read this to be informed and enlightened:
“In 1964 the World Bank named Eastern Nigeria the fastest growing regional economy on earth. At the time of this assessment, Eastern Nigeria was made up of the present five states of the South East, plus four out of the present six states of the South South. Reason for the assessment was that in 1964, Nigeria was the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil and palm kernel. Above 90 per cent of the palm oil and palm kernel came from Eastern Nigeria. Nigeria was the world’s largest producer of cassava. Above 60 per cent of Nigeria’s cassava was produced in Eastern Nigeria. By 1964, garri, yam and palm oil from Eastern Nigeria were sold in South Africa, Great Britain and the United States. Coal mining had reached commercial production and Eastern Nigeria had started making money from Nigeria’s coal export. By 1964 the Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation (ENDC) was Eastern Nigeria’s next highest employer of labour after the regional government itself; producing high quality garri, rice, vegetable oil, fresh eggs, frozen fish, frozen chicken, frozen beef, frozen pork and pork sausages, for domestic distribution and export.” – VANGUARD NEWS
Now let’s get to the ‘Niger Delta Republic’ issue. Niger Delta Republic did not consist of Urhobo, Itsekiri, Isoko, Anioma, Ibibio-speaking people, etc. It only consisted of the areas the Ijaw leaders, which included Chief Dappa-Biriye, proposed during the clamor for state creation in 1957. The state was called Rivers State. It consisted of the Ijaw-speaking areas in the Western Region, Mid Western Region, and Eastern Region; however, it is pertinent to note that the Ijaw, without permission, included Igbo and Ogoni areas in the proposed Rivers State but they all condemned this inclusion and said it was an attempt by the Ijaw to annex their land. The Igbo groups: Ikwerre, Ahoada, Etche, Ndoki, etc. opted to remain with their fellow Igbos and the Ogoni opted to be included in the COR State. In fact, let me break this down so people will know finally how this went down:
- There geography was convoluted and not in close proximity to each other as mid-west. The Wililinks Commission, recognizing Opobo and Bonny as Igbo-speaking, acknowledged that the Igbo area split them in hald rcog.
- The Ogojas, led by M T Mbu, did not want to be part of it being more comfortable with the Igbos and not wanting to leave Enugu in close proximity for a capital further away from home.
- There was disagreement between Ijaw and the Ibibio over where the capital would be. The Ijaw wanted it in Ijawland, which was not developed for any capital. However, Calabar – of the Ibibio people – was already a cosmopolitan town. The Ijaw then attempted to coerce the Ikwerre to join them to use Port Harcourt as the capital, which they vehemently refused. Of course, the Ikwerre did not want to leave a Region where they were part of the majority group to one of uncertainty and become a minority to the Ijaw they looked down on.
- In the end, they could not reach a consensus and the Mid-Westerners, who were more organised and went about their agitation with less rancor, got their region before them.
See attached map below as proof of the map of Boro’s ‘Niger Delta Republic’ otherwise known as 1957’s proposed Rivers State. Boro’s “revolution” was a tribalistic one, anyhow. It led to attacks on Igbos, Edos, Urhobos, Itsekiri, Ogonis, Yorubas, Ibibios, etc. in an attempt to rid all non-Ijaw from Ijawland.
It is important we get this straight once and for all; Isaac Boro and the Ijaw were not rebelling against the “Big bad Igbos of Eastern Region” as you would like to make others believe. No. Boro and his people rebelled against all 3 southern regions: East, West, Mid-West. Take note that the Ijaw were also native to the Yoruba-led (Akintola and Fadahunsi) Western Region – these Ijaws can today be found in Ese Odo, Ondo State. The Ijaw were also native to the Igbo (Osadebey) and Urhobo (Mariere)- led Midwestern Region also.
Ena Ofugara: “The Igbo struggle in comparison started 6th of July a whole year later. It must be noted however that Adaka Boro’s struggle was also a struggle against Igbo domination and how Ijaws were treated in the Eastern Region, something the minorities of Bendel no longer had to endure. It must also be known that the soldiers that went to battle Adaka Boro was made up of ALL TRIBES including Igbos. The need to note this is that Adaka Boro was to exert his revenge in the Civil war where he fought alongside the Nigerian army, something many uninformed consider “Betrayal” when he was the first to be “betrayed” if there ever was any betrayal at all in the arrangement. HE WAS FIRST BETRAYED.”
Concerned Nigerian Response: I can’t really disagree with this one too much. What sent Boro over the top, apart from the frustration of failing his course at UNN and having nothing better to do, was the fact that the minority groups in the Midwest got freedom from the majority group, and to top it off an Igbo man, Aguiyi-Ironsi, became Head of State. When this happened, he said to himself “It’s either now or never” and mobilized his people for the “revolution”.
Yes, Boro fought alongside Nigeria but what did that do for him? When Rivers State was created, it only helped pushed groups like the Ogoni even closer to the Biafra side, as their worst nightmare of their land being annexed into the same Rivers State they rejected came to be. This led to over 70% of Ogonis supporting Biafra. Ken Saro-Wiwa at the time was an outcast in this Ogoni cause. He fled to Lagos and helped the federal side against his people’s desire. He felt being in Nigeria was better than being with the Igbos. He would later regret that decision.
Ena Ofugara: “Ken Saro Wiwa was to reawaken this struggle in through MOSOP from 1990. His actions are well-known and his murder YES MURDER is well documented globally for me to waste cyber ink on. Again it must be noted that the minorities, wanted a country of their own. In fact, Ogoni wanted a country of its own and not to be with anyone else. They had had enough of those a majority.”
Concerned Nigerian Response: This is true. Till date, the Ogoni want a solely Ogoni state and they vow to never join a Niger Delta republic because of the same reasons as I mentioned before. In fact, read these links:
http://www.modernghana.com/…/ogoni-will-not-be-part-of-nige…
http://www.nairaland.com/229…/ogoni-nation-not-support-lower
Ena Ofugara: “Asari Dokuboh, Tompolo, etc etc were to begin their own struggle under the clandestine support of the Ijaw Alamieseigha and Urhobo /Itsekiri James Ibori. It was a guided “militancy” that limited loss of life but still incapacitated Nigeria’s economy. Again, the Niger Delta went this alone. General Sanni Abacha had seen the desire of the minorities to avoid dominance from a majority and so lumped all the states with minority tribes together in a geopolitical zone called THE SOUTH SOUTH or Niger Delta.”
Concerned Nigerian Response: Correction, Abacha was not the architect of the 6 geo-political zones, which provided more political power for the South South and Middle Belt, Elder Statesman Dede Alex Ekwueme was. He came under tough fire from the Northern Nigeria who said it was a design hatched to weaken them. See links:
http://infoguidenigeria.com/top-6-geopolitical-zones-niger…/
http://www.tundefashola.com/…/…/2012/10/16/20121016N11A.html
http://nigeriaworld.com/articles/2011/feb/121.html
To add, let’s not forget that it was the Late Great Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu who proposed the 13% derivation for oil-producing communities.
Ena Ofuguara: “Niger Delta, many have tried, as is the norm of majorities who seek to destroy the identity of the minorities, to obfuscate its meaning and deny its existence. For environmental purposes, indeed Ondo and Abia have been included as Niger Delta. However, for political considerations, even a dundee knows that when anyone says Niger Delta, he is referencing Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers and Rivers. Mischief just makes intelligent people deny this clear divide.”
Concerned Nigerian Response: Not quite. Cross River and Akwa Ibom are nowhere near the Niger Delta. They are even east of Abia State. Ondo is closer to the Delta than they are and no one considers Edo State as Niger Delta, we all know this. So who is really considered Niger Delta for “political considerations”?
Ena Ofugara: “Divide, indeed the Niger Delta has struggled to ensure its divide and secure her independence and or resource control. I was part of the NDDC organized constitutional conference held in Port Harcourt, representing Sapele Uvwie and Okpe, Randolph ErumaGborie standing in for then NNDC Chairman Aguravwodo. You will know the consultation as “third term agenda. The Niger Delta were very clear in WHO IS NIGER DELTA, and their independence. At no time did the Ikweres or Ibibios or Itsekiris that spoke speak of a collaboration with any region, nor being happy to be a part of anything aside from a united Niger Delta with the minorities of the said states.”
Concerned Nigerian Response: You said, “The Niger Delta were very clear in WHO IS NIGER DELTA, and their independence. At no time did the Ikweres or Ibibios or Itsekiris that spoke speak of a collaboration with any region”. The Ikwerre are Igbo, simple. You cannot say you don’t want your ethnic land to be included in Biafra then turn around and want to include another people’s ethnic land in your own republic. Such thing will lead to, “the people can go if they please but not one inch of my father’s land will be seceded into any Niger Delta Republic for any matter. Like it or leave it”. The Ibibio, they fought alongside Biafra till the end and some Biafra organizations today were started and are run by them. As for the Itsekiri, give me a good reason why they would not join the Yoruba or a country like Biafra where they would be protected from the people who they’ve been at war with for ages? The only reason they (the Itsekiri) continuously opposed the creation Anioma State out of Delta State is because they feel that if the Igbos left Delta State the Itsekiri would be finally wiped out by their age-long enemies, the Ijaw and Urhobo.
Ena Ofugara: “While I continue to wish that Hausa-Fulanis leaders will MIRACULOUSLY develop a conscience and truly seek to educate their region and crush insurgency, while in the absence of that I rather would have a southern Nigeria where violence is limited to minor skirmishes as opposed to incessant killings overcattle, religion etc, while I continue to pray that Nigeria will somehow become the place of our dream, I UNDERSTAND THE AGITATION OF THE IGBOS AND UNDERSTAND THEIR DEMAND FOR SELF ACTUALIZATION. I have said it time again LOVE THEM OR LEAVE THEM. Nigeria cannot continue to treat people bad and expect them to want to remain in the union. However, in the absence of that said peaceful co-existence and fairness and safety of life and property, I as a Niger Deltan, and like history and present reality and conversations show WOULD RATHER BELONG TO MY NIGER DELTA REPUBLIC. The battle of the autonomy of minorities precedes Nigeria. Problem is that people do not know their history.”
Concerned Nigerian Response: I am a complete believer that every person should have the option to chose where he or she goes, but at the same time, we must be careful not to be so quick to paint a certain group as monsters, especially after they’ve proven time and time again not to be. This is the modern world; no one will force anyone into another country against their will. Live and let live and do away with the psychological manipulation of those you claim to care about or claim to be standing for. If not, you will only make it hard on yourself. Word is enough for the wise.
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