Without Justice, Niger Delta Crisis Will Not End

Q: What is the link between this fraudulent federalism and the problem in Niger Delta?
A: The problem in the Niger Delta ought to be traced to its very origin. From 1914 when Nigeria was created, the minorities have been demanding regions of their own. You will remember that one of the first ethnic associations to be formed was formed in South Eastern Nigeria. The Efiks and the Ibibios, realising that they had a future in which they may not be able to speak for themselves, decided to unionise. Ethnic unionisation has been the only means Nigerians have had of fighting off the impositions and attempted dictatorships by majority groups. I said attempted dictatorship because these major ethnic groups have always been very successful. But the point is simply that every ethnic group had to unionise in order to ward off a larger group. As I said, the Northerners believe they need to continue with the imperialist mandate. And the majority groups across Nigeria also believe that they need to go on with the imperialist mandate which handed minority elements over to them. That was why in 1958, when all the political parties were asked a very simple question: “Do you want us to create states before independence or we postpone it till after independence?” Only one man was really in a position to answer that question properly and that man was Awolowo. Awolowo was afraid because if he said independence should be postponed, NCNC would have used Action Group as a dish rag across Nigeria. They would have accused the AG of not believing in independence. So Awolowo reached an agreement with the NCNC not to have states created till after independence. And the British, ever ready to play games with other people’s destinies simply decided to go back to something they had rejected early. In fact, the British had rejected the idea of including fundamental human rights in the constitution because the British do not understand the idea of writing constitutional principles as a basis for holding the hands of those in power. So when Aminu Kano and NEPU people suggested that fundamental human rights should be included in the constitution as a way of protecting minority rights, the British rejected it. But when they realised that they could no longer create states, they were looking for something to give to the minorities, so they returned to the idea of putting fundamental human rights in the constitution. The truth is that fundamental human rights in the Nigerian Independent Constitution made no sense for the minorities unless they had protected geographies within which to exercise those rights. Because they did not have such protected geographies, fundamental human rights actually did not mean anything to them from the standpoint of protecting their rights as minorities. Then when the civil war came, it was a case of “to your tent on Israel” or “Let us continue with the old federalism”. The argument between the main combatants was not as simple as that because the East had suffered so badly by the pogrom against the Igbo. But in order to find a solution, some people were suggesting confederacy, loose federation and various proposals were made. Awolowo wanted Ojukwu to accept a solution based on what he always wanted which is, that new states be created so that minorities can have states of their own. And that if that was done, a solution will be found that the North will be obliged to accept. He actually believed as he argued in his meeting with Ojukwu that if states were created, there will be no need to make many of the demands Ojukwu was worried by. But Ojukwu did not want states created because it would have amounted to taking away the oil producing areas from the East. Whether we like it or not, that was the reason Ojukwu did not want states created. And that is the reason the minorities have been agitating so hard since 1958 when oil of commercial quality was first discovered. People have forgotten that oil has always been at the root of all the problems. It was because they were not getting a fair share that Adaka Boro decided on secession. Unfortunately, even the state agitators in what we now call the Niger Delta region did not understand the federalist ethic enough to support it. Or let us put it this way, even if they knew what federalism was about, they were always angling to support political movements that were against the federalism that would save them. You found leaders of Niger Delta who were sworn enemies of Awolowo’s federalism because all they saw in federalism were ways for Awolowo to enhance the hegemony of his ethnic group, the Yoruba. They could not see that the theory was more in their interest. There is a difference between fighting a political enemy and fighting against a principle that will help you. If your political enemy has a principle that will help, use the principle while fighting. But the people of the Niger Delta, until Ken Saro-Wiwa made an issue of it did not grasp the necessity to fight for federalism, first as a principle before worrying about who is on this side or the other.
 Q: Where exactly is Nigeria going?
A: We need to convince the Northerners in Nigeria, those who see themselves as Northerners, we need to tell them that they are citizens and that they can’t be overlords. The idea that what the Niger Delta requires must be dependent on what a Northerner will accept is itself unacceptable. You can’t say that in order for me to have any freedom, I must depend upon somebody who does not want it. You can’t run a country on that basis. If we want a country that is free, creative and energetically in pursuit of development, then we need to remove that regional overhanger which make some people believe that you have to wipe out populations in Niger Delta so that they can take oil as they like. The truth is that the people of the Niger Delta have a natural equity share in the oil that is around them. Anybody wanting to take it, whether on-shore or off-shore without reference to those people is asking for permanent war that will not end till the end of time. After they had wasted all the oil in the Niger Delta, then they will go back to their own regions and discover minerals that we will not share in the same way? All of them are sharing solid minerals in very distracted manner at the moment and nobody is considering the necessity to pool the resources that could be derived from the exploration. The more painful part really is not that they are plundering the Niger Delta and doing nothing in the Niger Delta. The painful part is that, unlike British imperialists, who took resources from the colonies and used to develop a major power in Britain, the people who are taking oil from the Niger Delta are not developing their areas in any way that can eventually save their own regions. The north is in a mess. You can’t see industries that are working which their own people may depend upon when they would have finished the oil in Niger Delta. That makes them doubly guilty and to be honest, they should not be allowed to get away with it, because they are punishing their own people, they are punishing the rest of the country and they are destroying the basis for Nigeria to remain a country. And I think that is where the trouble is. It doesn’t matter how many soldiers they send to the Niger Delta, they can put a solider to mark every citizen in the Niger Delta, it will not reduce the agitation that is going on. What is going on in Niger Delta is not just about what an elite individual feels because when an individual elite arrogates to himself or herself a role that is not part of what the people feel, it is useless. Everybody in the Niger Delta, even those who go to them, cap in hand, begging, believing in that struggle. That is why that struggle will never die. It does not matter how many soldiers are in the Niger Delta. Until the right things are done, nothing will work. And I can tell what the right thing are. I keep telling people that the problems of the Niger Delta and the problems of Nigeria have reached and found their solutions. What we are waiting for are the executors, those who will execute those solutions. In the case of the Niger Delta, the only solution available is the solution provided by the only theorist and the philosopher of federation in this country who is worth listening to. And I say that without any fear. And that person is Awolowo. Awolowo simply said that in order for that problem to be resolved, let us deal with certain basic issues. These include education for everybody, health for everybody, employment for everybody and old age pension for everybody. When you solve that problem, the kind of economics you use in solving that problem will remove much of the wrangling over revenue allocation. So that what eventually has to go by derivation to individual states will not generate the kind of acrimony that we have at the moment. The only reason the people at the federal level have never supported it is because loot sharing will be reduced, if you make health, education, employment and old-age pension justiceable by which is meant, if you are not allowed to have any of these things, you can go to court and sue. Now, when every Nigerian is in position to sue in order to get those things, those who steal, when they steal your money, you can take a gun to demand for it because they are denying you of what your country has already given to you. They used to say it was communism, that is why they never supported it. But all the capitalist countries in the world are adopting many of these. And all these countries have accepted that unless you do those things for your citizens, you are not building a proper country. But they will not accept it, they would rather waste oil money. Look at those legislators? Are those ones legislators? People who would discuss their own salaries without discussing a national income policy? People who would buy all the state-of-the -art cars and jeeps in the world without discussing a motor industry? Those ones are not serious people and it is because we have such unserious people that we have a problem in the Niger Delta. When we begin to have serious people, the problem will be solved.