The Ijaw Question: Military or Diplomatic Solutions?

By

Mr. Sabidde Ogbobode Abidde

Sabidde@yahoo.com

 

Nigerians and the rest of the world are perplexed as to why there is constant agitation and upheavals in Ijawland. Well, we agitate and call your attention mostly because we are being treated like third-class citizens. And unless there is real justice and fairness, you will continue to hear our voices, and witness our deeds. For there can be no peace, prosperity and freedom for you when we the Ijaws -- on whose land nature situated oil and gas -- live in abject poverty and fetid environmental conditions. Oh no!

 

Anyone who has ever been to Ijawland can see and smell and sense the filth, the poverty and the isolation of the area. It is a region that is enveloped by misery and awash in criminal neglect. Every man, woman and child will tell you of the insidious sense of abandonment, exclusion and marginalization that is commonplace. Much of the land is not fit for human habitation, anyway. For instance, most drink from the same river they bathe and defecate in. And if you’ve never seen lands and waterways that have been criminally debased, go to Ijawland. The environmental neglect is criminal. It is pitiful.

 

Yet, it is from this land that Nigeria extracts about 70% of her revenues. For how long did the government and the people of Nigeria think the Ijaws were going to remain silent while their resources are being carted and their environment despoiled? Nigerians are getting rich and richer, fat and fatter from our native-resources. Lagos, Abuja, Minna, Kano, Kaduna and other places are benefiting from the oil while the first owners of the resources are being treated like third-class citizens. The Government must sit up and see to it that we, the first owners, benefit from what nature endowed our ancestral land.

 

For a start, the federal government should situate a Federal University of Science and Technology and other federal institutions along with other political goods and services on Ijawland. A noticeable and measurable federal presence will achieve several goals: (1) it would jumpstart that part of the country so it can catch up with the rest of the country in terms of growth and development; (2) it will calm the restless spirit of the youths; (3) the Ijaws would be contributing not only oil and gas, but also brainpower to the development of the nation; (4) cries and complains about neglect and abandonment would be muted; and (5) it is just the right thing to do: the moral, ethical and legal thing to do -- to see that every part of the country feels the love and presence of the federal government.

 

And since we give much more to the federal purse, we deserve much more. We want more. We demand more. When the North had groundnut, they controlled their own destiny and controlled the groundnut revenue; when the West had cocoa, they controlled their destiny and controlled the revenue.

 

In addition, the federal government must pass laws that regulate how the oil companies do business. These companies are reckless and careless in the way they do business. They have no regard for law and order; and are condescending in their attitude towards us. Sometimes they treat us like trash; and at other times like beggars. The oil companies and related businesses must give set-aside scholarships to Ijaw indigenes to acquire business, oil, science and technology related education i.e. petroleum engineering, oil and gas law, accounting, computer science. In addition, the oil companies must set aside and meet yearly quotas of Ijaw indigenes who are employed -- not just as drivers and cleaners and messengers -- but in mid and high-ranking positions.

 

Ijaw land is a cathedral of riches. And the world wants what we have. Obasanjo &  Family, Umaru Dikko and the Kaduna Mafia, Bagandiga and his boys, Abacha and Sons and thousands and thousands and thousands of others -- including thousands and thousands and thousands of foreigners and oil companies got rich and are getting rich at the expense of the Ijaws. Our parents did not give birth to us so we can be the doormat of exploiters. As far as I can see, as far as I can tell, time is running out for the federal government and the people of Nigeria to make right what is wrong and iniquitous.

 

The Mistake of 1914:

Due to accident of history Ijawnation became part of Nigeria. For whatever reason, this mistake was not corrected; and for much of the intervening years, not much was said of this marriage of in(convenience).Today, there are Ijaws who do not care whether we remain part of Nigeria or seek autonomy. All they want is fair and equitable distribution of the oil wealth, full and equal participation in national politics, and a glaring federal presence in terms of universities, roads, hospitals and other political goods and services. However, there are the die-hards, the nationalists who strongly believe it is time we say goodbye to this artificial contraption known as Nigeria, a contraption some have referred to as the “mistake of 1914.” It is the latter group whose voice has been the loudest the last couple of years.

  

The federal government is not paying the required and necessary attention to the suffering and marginalization of the Ijaws. The oil companies are busy extracting oil (legally and illegally) and polluting the land and waters. The Ijaw elite are blind and deaf to the suffering of their own people. In order words, the Ijaws are being abused and used and exploited and marginalized by their local and national leaders, and by the oil cartel.

 

What’s to be done to a government that has high hope and abiding faith in her coercive agencies and avowed brutality? What’s to be done to multinational corporations who act as though they are gods? The government and the oil companies should not wait for too long, or their hands would be forced. The time is now. It is time to honestly address the grievances of the Ijaws. It is time! Even firm believer in the efficacy of legal institutions sometimes employ extrajudicial and legal means to effect change.

 

Do we engage in guerrilla actions to force the federal government into acquiescing to our demands; or do we engage in domestic and international diplomacy to force the federal government to look favorably upon the demands of the Ijaws?

 

Bombing Oil Installations:

At this point, I would like to segue to the December 20, 2005, bombing of the oil line in Rivers State. It was wrong. It was the wrong thing to do. We cannot and must not destroy our own community. If you are angry at Obasanjo, the Nigerian State, the Oil companies and other foreign interests, why not vent your anger at them and their economic interests? Why help destroy our own community?

 

When some Blacks in some US cities get mad at the government or at the Asian community, they go on rampage -- burning businesses and infrastructures in their own neighborhood, instead of going to the neighborhood of their enemies. Isn’t that stupidity? Look at armed-robbers in Nigeria. Instead of going to rob the rich and affluent neighborhoods, they rob the poor, the weak and the hungry; they rob people who have no economic and political power. Isn’t that stupidity?

 

Why would you bomb your own neighborhood? Why cause environment difficulties for your own people? Why cause mothers and fathers the grief and anguish of burying their innocent children? Or, were these parents in cohort with Obasanjo, the federal government and the oil companies? If you must blow up things go blow up buildings in Abuja. Go blow up bridges in Lagos. Go cause environmental problems in Kaduna. Go assassinate the head of the oil companies who are safely ensconced in their palatial homes in Lagos and Port Harcourt and elsewhere. Leave our mothers and fathers and daughters and sisters and brothers alone.

 

If, if you must destroy, don’t destroy your towns and villages, go destroy Obasanjo’s Farm, Aso Rock, IBB’s Villa in Minna and other places of strategic interest. Don’t bomb oil installations in our hamlets, go bomb homes belonging to federal officials and their agents. You guys know the way to Abuja and Kaduna and Lagos and other places don’t you?

 

Sabidde@yahoo.com

Washington DC