SELF-DETERMINATION IS IMPERATIVE TO THE SURVIVAL OF IJAW NATION ‘IN OR OUT’ OF NIGERIA.
Introduction
The intent or task to share with Ijaw Nation the word and concept of Self-Determination, the application and value of Self-Determination to different peoples and their needs within their peculiar geographical environment amongst their immediate neighbours and government.
No Ijaw daughter or son of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow will claim to know all that is good for the Indigenous Ijaw people of the Niger Delta Region in Nigeria but at least we should contribute to the discussions.
Ijaw people are in a geographical area created and named Nigeria in 1914 by Lugard, a British citizen. The identity of Nigeria imposed on us and others within the map of Nigeria, was based on our skin tone and attempts to deny us our Indigenous identity, our IJAWNESS.
My aim is to remind us or affirm that our origin was established before the invasion and occupation of our lands and creeks by the colonial adventures of Great Britain centuries ago, sadly today in Nigeria we remain invaded and occupied in our lands and creeks by the Federal Government and strangers.
Yesterday it was about palm oil, access to the Atlantic Ocean, and Slave trade, commonly referred to in today’s language as human trafficking.
Between the British, Portuguese and European Colonial invasion of Africa more than three hundred years ago, has anything changed in our favour? I say NO. From 1960 to 2021 it is about Oil, Gas, access to the Atlantic Ocean, our creeks, mangroves and swamps. Please let us ask ourselves, has anything changed in our favour? The answer is NO.
Our history is alive with information and facts about when the British met Ijaw people for the first time, they met a free people and a self-determined people, who were prepared to fight for their beliefs and rights. The style of government the British introduced in Southern and Northern Protectorate and later Nigeria at 1914 Amalgamation they called Democracy turns out to be Divide and Rule, not just between Ethnic Nations of Southern Nigeria but sadly amongst the Ijaws. The style of democracy in Nigeria does not encourage trust, freedom, respect and unity within the Ijaw nation or between our geographical neighbours.
By the end of my presentation on Self-Determination, I hope we will be able to make the choices that will change our fortunes today and the fortunes of those coming behind us to grow and build a stronger and best Ijaw nation. Hopefully, there are no doubts in anyone’s mind that Ijaws by culture and tradition are a people that live by the fundamentals of what the United Nations recognize as Self Determination.
1. Self-Determination (Yesterday)
Self-Determination is a white man’s terminology from the white man’s language. Looking back to the Ijaw man’s Yesterday we do not have to be told when the British adventurers met the Ijaw man they met Ijaw indigenous people that were self-determined by nature and culture and when necessary fought off invaders to preserve their right to Self-Determination. Self-Determination was like the breath of life to the Ijaw man of Yesterday, and is a breath of fresh air to the Ijaw man today, we have stories of King Koko Mingi VIII (1853-1898) he is referred to as an African ruler of Nembe Kingdom in the Niger Delta now part of Southern Nigeria.
King Koko is recorded to have attacked the Royal Niger Company (RNC) trading post in January of 1895, when he disagreed with the trading terms, he was offered settlement terms he found unacceptable and rejected the terms, he was deposed by the British until his death 1898, l have read of two different reasons for his death but l chukle at the one that claim he preferred suicide to been captured alive by the British. Almost 130 years ago he fought for what the British denied him and what the world recognises today as a right, the Ijaw man was self-determined yesterday.
Britain created the Oil Rivers Protectorate, controlling the Military and External Affairs, the aim was to control the palm oil trade, to achieve their plans the European traders settled on the coasts. Nembe was at the centre of the palm oil trade and refused to sign the unfair treaty with the British, and opposed the Royal Niger Company’s strategy to control all trade along Nembe Kingdom rivers.
While this is not a history lesson l remind me, it is important to prove to some of us who don’t know and remind some of us who know, that Ijaws asking for Resource control and ownership, Restructuring and Self-Determination today, is not the first time, but we should aim for this to be the last time, so our children and their children tomorrow, will not fight for the same rights our forefathers King Koko of Nembe, King Jaja of Opobo, Chief Harold Dappa Biriye, Dr. Fiberesima, Issac Adaka Boro and many other Ijaws sons and daughters, kings and queens fought for yesterday.
At the 1957 Constitutional Conference at Lancaster House London HRH Chief Harold Dappa Biriye representing the Rivers Chiefs and Peoples Conference (geographical area of today’s Rivers and Bayelsa States) argued against the attempts to set up a Rivers State to be joined to Calabar or Ogoja.
“ I must make it quite clear that the wishes of those whom l represent would not in any way be met by the creation of a combined Calabar/Ogoja/Rivers State. We should still be outnumbered by those whose way of life is quite different from our own.” Chief Harold Dappa Biriye.
Our leaders at the 1957 Constitutional Conference in asking for Rivers State (today’s Rivers and Bayelsa States) were asking for Self Determination and referred to it and cited Northern Ireland to bring it home to the British. Harold Dappa Biriye on our behalf rejected the argument that a Regional Government will be administratively and economically preferable, in the new Independent Nigeria he says “the Rivers Chiefs and people are still, l submit, entitled to say We want none of it. We want to handle our affairs” HDB
About the Constitution, he said this “I would, however, wish to make it clear that no constitutional guarantees, whether designed to protect communities or individuals, can in my view be a substitute for a separate State.”
He accepted that constitutional guarantees may be invaluable in protecting what might be described as fundamental rights but they cannot prevent the adoption of policies that are unfair or oppressive to minorities. “That is why those whom l represent do not believe that their future can be assured except by the creation of a Rivers State.” HDB
Sixty-three years ago (Yesterday), while Biriye made those valid arguments on our behalf little did he know, three years later on 11th October 1960, 10days after the colonial Union Jack the British flag was lowered and the Green White Green Nigeria flag was hoisted as a sign of independence, That one ethnic group will burst the bubble of false independence, unity and fake brotherhood with the following statement,
Sir Ahmadu Bello: said referring to the 10days old country with no oppositions from the other ethnic nationalities
“This new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great grandfather Othman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We will use the minorities in the North as willing tools and the South as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and never allow them to have control over their future”
Parrot Newspaper October 12 1960
I share this because without the right information people make wrong decisions and perish in the process. The sentiments and false claim of ownership of Nigeria demonstrated then and was not challenged by our leaders and political elites play out vividly today in Federal Government, Government Policies, and in all arms of government. If we maintain the silence our leaders maintained in the face of this falsehood, this respect and relegation to the position of second class citizenship our children and their children GOD FORBID will suffer the worst fate.
3. Self-Determination (Today)
If today Ijaws are questing and looking for Self-Determination, it is not a new phenomenon, it is in us to be self-determined.
Self-Determination is a Right.
It is a decision to act in your best interest or think a certain way in your interest.
It is the Right of a people to decide their political status or form of government without outside influence or interference.
Under International law ‘minorities’ or indigenous peoples have a right to Self-Determination.
If Ijaw people agree that we seek Self-Determination today within Nigeria or outside of Nigeria (many years after the Wilinks report) it can only mean we are questing for what we had yesterday, Self-Determination, we want Self-Determination back.
Before we go further let us ask ourselves, WHAT IS THE IJAW QUESTION IN THE NIGERIAN STATE? The answer is who is the Ijaw man in Nigeria, and what is Nigeria to the Ijaw man? The Ijaw man will always be an Ijaw man, he went to sleep one night in 1914 he the following morning, a Nigerian, he woke up a Nigerian without his consent. The Ijaw man is indigenous, aboriginal and native to the creeks, mangroves, swamps and coasts of the Niger Delta amongst others.
Indigenous peoples are people who have distinct traditions, culture, dress, religion, or language common to them.
There are over 5000 indigenous peoples across the world, sadly most are fighting for what Ijaws have fought against for as long as they are Ijaw people, injustice. We should hold onto what makes us Ijaw people in the Nigerian State. The reality of indigenous people anywhere is that, due to their size or geographical location they are usually colonized by larger groups who impose racial or religious superiority on them, they are denied the right of humanity and have to fight to be who they are.
In Nigeria, indigenous Ijaw people face threats to our sovereignty, denied economic well-being and access to our resources for development and a better future.
To the Ijaw man Nigeria is or should be seen as an oppressive imposition on him. Some may disagree with me but l hope some will agree with me; that way we can move forward, Self-Determination is a major pillar in our quest for freedom, development and security.
Our responsibility today and our grandchildren’s future is to strengthen our commitment to desire and maintain ownership rights of our ancestral homeland, environment and all within, under or on top of our environment, this is the right to our identity and destiny. Despite the rights of indigenous people to self-determination, the 1999 constitution of Nigeria enforces some grievous laws – that are anti-Ijaw rights and survival.
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We must identify these laws, reject these laws in the 1999 constitution and remember we had no input into the 1999 constitution. We should demand a new People’s Constitution that will be by the people, if we remain in Nigeria.
Self-Determination (Tomorrow)
For 63 years (1958 -2021) the God-given resources of Ijaws and all other indigenous peoples of Niger Delta have been sucked out of the region by Nigeria and the International Oil Companies (IOCs), before oil and gas it was palm oil, rubber, timber, etc. The environmental destruction especially in Ijaw land and the negative effects on us yesterday, today and tomorrow are incalculable. We should design a program to pursue our right to self-determination NOW, at the rising from this summit we should start unbundling our people and geographical area legally and strategically from internal colonization and exploitation by the cabal through the Federal Government riding on the back of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria. Ijaw people of the Niger Delta if they so decide after this All Ijaw Summit should reach out to other Indigenous peoples of the Niger Delta region in a committed bid to work together and put up an emancipation program for all the indigenous peoples of the Niger Delta Region for the survival of the peoples, democracy, industrialization, security and prosperity of the Region each Ethnic Nation of Niger Delta agreeing to play their role.
All indigenous people of the Niger Delta share historical, cultural and regional heritage, experiences and hopes. The indigenous peoples of our region share a lot in common such as Regional Politics, Economy, Energy, Education, Science and Technology, Infrastructure, Agriculture, Transport, Environment, etc for rapid and sustainable development and growth, these are key pillars to Development and Security.
UNREPRESENTED NATIONS & PEOPLES ORGANIZATION. (UNPO)
When you mention and discuss the right to Self-Determination, minorities, indigenous peoples, ethnic nationalities, etc, secession, and independence will not be too far behind. Before one can be committed to Self-Determination as the best way forward for Ijaw people, understanding Self-Determination is necessary; self-determination is not illegal, it is not a crime, it is not secession, it is right to our political status freely chosen to pursue our economic, social and cultural development. Many peoples who choose to pursue self-determination are members of UNPO to promote their rights to defend their political, social, and cultural rights and preserve their environment; this applies to Ijaw people. Success in practising these rights should result in outcomes like political independence and state or regional integration. Nigeria’s Federal Government always resists the rights of Ethnic Nationalities within Nigeria to gain access to these universal rights, none the less self-determination is recognized by international laws as a right of process.
As we decide to pursue the right to self-determination we must not forget that on 27th Sept 2015, four months after President Buhari took oath of Presidential office, he spoke at the UN Summit on Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform to mark the 70th Anniversary in New York he called for Self-Determination for the people of Palestine, he went on to say, “African Countries who had that kind of agitation (self-determination) or of becoming
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sovereign nations should be granted such, as there is no excuse or reason to delay them” the question Ijaws must ask is why will President Buhari ask for self-determination for Palestine and vehemently oppose Nigeria Ethnic Nations calling for self-determination, using brute force to suppress leaders and followers of separatist’s groups in Nigeria.
IJAW CALL FOR SELF-DETERMINATION IS NOW.
I am convinced that the cabal in charge of Nigeria state is no longer able or willing to provide minimum political, social and economic security for the 389 Ethnic Nations that share the geographical space it occupies in West Africa. The process of government have been kidnapped by terrorist groups, encouraged by a hegemony of greedy, selfish and opportunistic men and women across Nigeria. Ruthlessly suppressing and exploiting the true will of the Ijaw people and all other Ethnic Nationalities in the Niger Delta Region.
The Ijaw ethnic nationality and all other ethnic nations of the Niger Delta Region have been robbed of their natural resources from 1960 independence, the Military Coups, and by the instrumentalities of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria written by the outgoing Military Dictatorship of 1999, sharing to themselves oil blocks domiciled in the creeks, swamps, mangroves and deep waters of the coasts and communities of Ijaw nation and the Niger Delta. The survival of the Ijaw Ethnic Nationality is under threat by environmental genocide waged against us with the reckless and deadly exploration and exploitation of oil and gas by the International Oil Companies (IOCs) and their Joint Venture Partners (JVP) the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and private oil explorers. The Ijaw ethnic nationality rejects a country where we are marginalised, oppressed and relegated to the role of second and third class positions.
MY PLEDGE TO IJAW NATION
I am not a conquered person.
I am not a stranger in the Geographical Expression – Nigeria.
My forefathers and ancestors were born free.
I am born free.
I will not be forced into any culture or brotherhood foreign to Me. I will not beg to be a Nigerian.
My children will not be enslaved.
“I am convinced, if the vision of Ijaw nation is not FREEDOM, then the mentality is SLAVERY.”
