Suggestions for Mr. President
By
N.
H. Ibanga
Dear
Mr. President
Greetings
from the populace whom you govern. There is no need to ask you how things are
with you because you have told us you dey kampe. As for us, well, please read
on.
Since
you are a very busy man, I will get straight to the point. I have been commanded
to convey certain things in a very frank manner to you. I will be frank but with
the utmost respect for the Bible commands us to respect authority. Those in
position of authority were put there for our benefit. So please Mr. President,
do not be angry with either the messenger or the message. You NEED to HEAR and
HEED this message.
The
reason for this is simple. This message is from those who are under the laws
that you promulgate and pass. Unlike some of your ex-military colleagues, we the
citizenry are under the law while they are above the laws of Nigeria. We want to
tell you how these laws feel when you are under it.
Mr.
President, it is no longer fun to be a Nigerian – in or outside of Nigeria.
Mr.
President, you will admit that God has been more than good to you. You have led
a stellar life with accomplishments unmatched in Nigerian History. To top it
off, God has given you another opportunity to raise the bar of stellar
accomplishments such that it will be difficult in a long time for anyone to
duplicate your record. This final opportunity also has the possibility to
tarnish or reduce to mediocre whatever else you had done if you do the wrong
things.
We
applaud the President for finally beginning to feel the pulse of the populace
and realize that all is not well with Nigeria. In particular, we applaud your
efforts to rectify the evil and unjust verdict of the Supreme Court on resource
control and to render account of your stewardship (even though it took an
impeachment threat to obtain accountability from you). You are encouraged to do
it right this time. Hence the following suggestions:
You
should have a Bill that abrogates your land use decree of 1978. It was immoral!
Return ownership of mineral rights to the owners of the land where God located
the minerals. He had intended those owners to eventually benefit from it. This
will illustrate your born-again status and the fact that you have repented of
the injustice that your decree visited on the people. Ditto for all decrees by
military governments since 1966.
If
you are not persuaded by the moral arguments, may I remind you that the UN
Declaration of Indigenous Rights (quoted below) grants us ownership of our land:
Article
25.
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive
spiritual and material relationship with the lands, territories, waters and
coastal seas and other resources which they have traditionally owned or
otherwise occupied or used, and to uphold their responsibilities to future
generations in this regard;
Article
26.
Indigenous peoples have the right to own, develop, control and use the lands and
territories, including the total environment of the lands, air, waters, coastal
seas, sea-ice, flora and fauna and other resources which they have traditionally
owned or otherwise occupied or used. This includes the right to the full
recognition of their laws, traditions and customs, land-tenure systems and
institutions for the development and management of resources, and the right to
effective measures by States to prevent any interference with, alienation of or
encroachment upon these rights;
Article
27.
Indigenous peoples have the right to the restitution of the lands, territories
and resources which they have traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used,
and which have been confiscated, occupied, used or damaged without their free
and informed consent. Where this is not possible, they have the right to just
and fair compensation. Unless otherwise freely agreed upon by the peoples
concerned, compensation shall take the form of lands, territories and resources
equal in quality, size and legal status.
Article
28.
Indigenous peoples have the right to the conservation, restoration and
protection of the total environment and production capacity of their lands,
territories and resources, as well as to the assistance for this purpose from
States and through international cooperation. Military activities shall not take
place in the lands and territories of indigenous peoples, unless otherwise
freely agreed upon by the peoples concerned.
States
shall take effective measure to ensure, as needed, that programmes for
monitoring, maintaining and restoring health of indigenous peoples, as developed
and implemented by the peoples affected by such materials, are duly implemented;
The prosecutors of the current global war on terrorism no longer desire to have any areas that foment and gestate social, political and economic instability which adversely impact global investments.
You should convene a conference of the nationalities so that the terms for continuation of the union can be worked out. This time around, the setup will favor the Nigerians rather than the British or their surrogates.
You should without delay, bring to book the murderers of Bola Ige. No foreigner is going to invest in a country whose attorney General was murdered in his bedroom with impunity. It will not matter if you pitch a tent in the countries that you would want to invest in your country. This occurred under your watch. It cannot be treated like the murder of Dele Giwa under a despotic military regime.
You should send a Bill to NASS that would create State Police. We no longer have any confidence in the Nigeria Police.
Order the immediate cessation of gas flaring in the Niger Delta. The technology for accomplishing this is available and it has been done elsewhere where the government actually cares about their people. Otherwise, you should consider moving to Port Harcourt to get a feel of what it is like to live in the Delta.
Order the immediate commencement of oil spill cleanups in the Niger Delta by the Oil companies so that local fishermen can continue to make a living the way their ancestors did. Mr. President, Exxon wasted no time to spend billions of dollars to clean up Alaska. A fraction of that amount can clean up the Delta.
De-militarize the Niger Delta. The war has been long over. Do right and you or the Oil companies do not need to look over your shoulders. Again I quote from the afore mentioned UN Declaration:
Emphasizing the need for demilitarization of the lands and territories of indigenous peoples, which will contribute to peace, economic and social progress and development, understanding and friendly relations among nations and peoples of the world.
Conduct local council elections as soon as possible. It is a sign of gross incompetence that you were unable to conduct these elections at the time prescribed by the constitution. You knew on your inauguration day that the constitution requires you to conduct these on August 10, 2002.
Mr.
President, you may be tempted to argue that you do not have much time to
accomplish these things. We disagree. Our patience has been exhausted. These are
the things we advised you to tackle at the onset of your administration but you
did not. These demands are our right and not negotiable.
For
a final word, I am commanded to remind you and those individuals and nations
within Nigeria that are scheming behind closed doors to steal the resources of
the minorities that the Flying Roll is in the air. What does this mean? Read
Zechariah Chapter 5, verses 1 - 4. We have invoked God’s word. It is done.
Believe it or not! Best wishes on your campaign.
September
2002 N. H. Ibanga
Nigerian Publius