Biafra madness: N'DELTA NOT PART OF IT - IYC LEADER, COMR. WISDOM IKULI

Without fear of sounding immodest, we must learn to respect our sanctity as a distinct ethnic group. My position and submission here is a direct response to an earlier post by one Cotterell S Clark Jr, who vilified the Niger Delta region because of their refusal to identify with the Biafra agitation.

@ Cotterell S Clark Jr., To the average Ijaw man, the Hausa man is far better than the imperialistic Igbos. I never wanted to join issues with you but your continuous vilification, derogation and undermining of Niger Deltans has forced me to respond to some of your careless submissions here.

I want to start by saying that the geographic Niger Delta and the Ijaw Nation in particular have never been a conquered territory of any tribe in Nigeria. Before the advent of the colonial masters, all kingdoms and clans of the Niger Delta had a very organised administrative systems with traditional courts, legislatures and executive organs of governments.

The coming of the colonial administrators who betrayed our mutual trade relationship, altered the above system and further balkanized our people into parts, thereby making our people to play second fiddle. The alteration of this system witnessed the balkanization of our people into the old Eastern and Western regions and later the Midwestern Region.

THE PRE-INDEPENDENCE ERA

Recall that the Niger Delta minorities in the then old Eastern Region objected to their inclusion in the independent Nigerian State because of the over domineering and exploitative attitude of the Igbos who oppressed, repressed, suppressed, subjugated, marginalised, exploited and dehumanized the other minority ethnic groups in the region.

The position of the minority Niger Delta was presented at the 1957 and 1959 London Conferences which gave birth to the constitution of the Sir Henry Willinks Commission to specifically look into the challenges of the people of the Niger Delta region. Their findings and recommendations led to the declaration and designation of the Niger Delta as a Special Area. 

Now, the drama to the both conferences are worthy of note. While the north had representatives, same with the West and the East, our Igbo brothers vehemently opposed the representation of the minority Niger Deltans. It took the intervention of our Northern brothers to scale through the hurdle.

The Igbos never wanted our voices as minorities to be heard. Our people were not also given access to education. This accounts for the major reason why Ijaws in the then Western Region and later Midwestern Region are more educated than their brothers in the then Eastern Region. This is so because while Chief Obafemi Awolowo introduced free and compulsory education in the west, our people in the East were never given access to education. Beside the access to education, our people were not equally given a Political Space, I mean the opportunity to participate in the politics of the then Eastern Region. Our people were treated as sub-humans.

IN THE INDEPENDENT NIGERIAN STATE

The woes of the people of the Niger Delta region continued in the independent Nigerian State. Our people were in the Eastern and Western regions, yet it was our Northern brothers who were sympathetic to the sufferings and plights of the people of the Niger Delta. On January 15th, 1966 a group of young Igbo army officers led by Major Chukwuemeka Kaduna Nzeogwu executed the first military coup that changed the political history of our great country. In that coup, they killed Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Prime Minister of Nigeria; Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sarduana of Sokoto and Premier of Northern Region; Chief Samuel Akintola, Premier of Western Region; Chief Festus Okotieboh, Minister of Finance and other prominent Hausa and Yoruba leaders and military officers from northern extraction. While they spared the lives of Igbo leaders. The coup plotters leaked the secret of the coup to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the President who left the country on the pretense of going for medical check up. The coup plotters also spared the life of General Johnson Thomas Umunakwe Aguiyi - Ironsi who was the Commander of the Nigerian Army when they saw him in the morning of the coup in Lagos, a sad development that made the Hausa and Yoruba soldiers to believe that they were the target of the coup plotters. This led to the July, 1966 counter coup that led to the overthrow and murder of General Johnson Thomas Umunakwe Aguiyi - Ironsi who took over power after the failed January 15, coup.

Now, before the overthrow of the General Ironsi government, Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro, Samuel Owonaro, Captain Amangala, Nottingham Dick and other revolutionary minded Niger Delta youths mostly from Ijaw extraction revolted against the Nigerian State by declaring the Niger Delta Republic. This was a direct reaction to the killing of Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Sir Ahmadu Bello whom Boro and his lieutenants saw as God-sent messiahs because of their love and concerns for the welfare and well being of the Ijaws and other minorities in the Niger Delta.

Boro and his lieutenants were over powered by the superior might of the Federal troop under General Ironsi's government and were tried and sentenced to death instead of looking at the issues that led to the revolution which were the oppression, repression, suppression, subjugation, dehumanization, gross underdevelopment, exploitation and marginalisation of the minorities.

All pleas by Ijaw and Niger Delta elites and leaders to pardon Boro and his lieutenants fell on deaf ears. The counter coup of July, 1966 led to the release of Boro and his men who were granted Presidential pardon by General Yakubu Gowon the new Head of State, who equally ordered that Boro and his lieutenants should be given special military training at Ikeja Military Cantoonment and were equally given logistics to liberate the Niger Delta region from the Igbo invaders.

It is worthy of note that the massacre of the Igbos in the north after the overthrow of the General Ironsi government forced Col. Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, the then Governor of Eastern Region to threaten secession with his Eastern brothers. He never consulted the minority Niger Deltans in his planned secession to form the Republic of Biafra because of their total disregard for the minorities whom they see and treat as their slaves.

CREATION OF TWELVE STATES

After the failure of the Aburi Conference that was meant to dissuade Col. Ojukwu from seceding with the then Eastern Region, General Gowon returned to Nigeria confused and helpless because of Ojukwu's refusal to discontinue with his Biafra agenda.

It was at this point that General Gowon consulted his bosom friend, High Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye on the way forward. It was High Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye that adviced Gowon to create 12 states out of the then existing 4 regions (Northern, Western, Midwestern and Eastern Regions). The believe was that the creation of those states will weaken the powers of the 3 dominant ethnic groups (Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo) but especially the Igbos and in turn strengthen the minority ethnic groups that will fight to protect their new territories and identities as states.

This development actually marked a major turning point in the political history of the Nigerian State. It marked a detour from regionalism to stateism. With the creation of Rivers State among other states, Boro and his lieutenants mobilized to go and protect the new state which was a compensation for High Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye, Boro and other elites who fought for the liberation of the Niger Delta region from the shackles and stronghold of the Igbos.

THE POST- CIVIL WAR NIGERIA

In the post - Civil war Nigerian State, the Igbos were never allowed to grow beyond the rank of a Brigadier General in the Nigerian Army. The only one that grew up to the rank of a Major General during the General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Military Regime was Maj. Gen. Ike Nwachukwu who later became a Senator. But under Former President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR, an Igbo man Azubuike Ihejiorike rose to the rank of a Lieutenant General and he actually served as the longest Chief of Army Staff in our contemporary democracy. Another Igbo man from Delta State, Dele Ezeoba was also fortunate to serve as Chief of Naval Staff. An Igbo woman was Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, an Igbo woman by marriage Minister of Petroleum, an Igbo Minister of Aviation, an Igbo Minister of Power, an Igbo Minister of Health, an Igbo Minister of Labour and Productivity, an Igbo man was Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), an Igbo man was Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN). Goodluck gave all the lucrative offices and positions to the Igbos against the Federal Character Principle.

THE ROLE OF THE IGBOS IN THE 2011 AND 2015 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

The massive support of the Igbos for the former President Goodluck Jonathan during the 2011 and 2015 Presidential Elections cannot be overemphasized. The Igbos really supported Goodluck that they saw as one of their own and this was so because of the enormous benefits they got from the Goodluck presidency.

The Igbos actually wanted Dr. Peter Odili, former Governor of Rivers State as the Running Mate of Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua but former President Olusegun Obasanjo frustrated that agenda, so they had to transfer the support to Goodluck who never disappointed them.

THE TWO POWERS-ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL POWERS

There are two basic powers, which are the economic and political powers, supra and super power. The Igbos are very industrious and this naturally gave them control over the nation's economy. While the British colonial masters handed over the political power to the north whom they saw as their most trusted allies.

At independence, the north held on to political power which they used to control and also regulate the economic power of the Igbos through formulation and implementation of policies and programmes that they used to checkmate the Igbos.

The Hausas don't ever hate the Ijaws, so they never hated former President Goodluck Jonathan. As a matter of fact, the Ijaws are the most trusted political allies of the north. The political tie and bridge that was built by Chief (Sen) Dr. Melford Obiene Okilo and High Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye is still existing till date.

The grouse of the Hausas was the handing over of both the political and economic powers to the Igbos by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

THE HEROIC BURIAL OF CHUKWUEMEKA ODIMEGWU OJUKWU

Before the burial of Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, there was a hated debated in the National Assembly, precisely in the Senate about Ojukwu's burial. The bone of contention was whether or not to give him a national burial. Most of the northern and south - West Senators described Ojukwu as a rebel leader who never deserved a national burial. But former President Goodluck Jonathan ordered against all odds that he should be given a National Burial. And it is on record that no Nigerian Leader has been given the kind of heroic national burial that was given to General Ojukwu. The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) also mobilized thousands of Ijaws for the burial.

I therefore feel very pained and embarrassed whenever any Igbo man comes out to remind us of the pains that we are still struggling and grappling to overcome. It is like raping my mother, wife and my sister and same time daring to know what I can do in my state of hopelessness and helplessness. Of course, you should know that God will intervene and give me special strength like the case of King David in the bible to overcome my assailants and aggressors.

My brother, you people should stop looking down on Niger Deltans. If you did not conquer us in 1967, what makes you to believe that you can do it today?

There is no way, you can take the place of the north in the life of the average Niger Deltan. Was it not an Igbo man, General Ironsi that concentrated all Presidential powers at the centre (federal) against the essential regional system that gave more powers to the regions that controlled their respective natural resources and then paid royalty to the centre?

Hausa can never look at your face and call you a fool like the Igbos do. Whatever you people are seeing today is a reaction of your actions. Niger Delta can never and will never be part of Biafra.