Sonnie Ekwowusi
28 July 2009
analysis
Lagos — From the tight corner of the oil esplanade where I sat, I saw a huge number of people impossible to count: men and women, children, the sick, traditional rulers dressed in different traditional attires, politicians, diplomats, journalists, native doctors, fiery-fighting militants, among others, all anxiously waiting for the great event to commence.
The cheerful expressions on their faces showed that they had been longing for the dawn of that day. In the middle of the esplanade stood a magnificent podium draped with red-green-red flag of the new republic. After ten minutes or so, I saw a lanky soldier or a man in camouflaged combatant uniform without badges of rank but with heavy gold-braided epaulettes and an emblem of a new republic walking briskly towards the podium. On getting to the podium, he took the microphone and started talking. He was an orator. His speech, which made a deep impression on all, ran into marathon length.
As the man spoke the crowd roared in unison in one great act of solidarity and support. Although the man was shouting on top of his voice, I couldn't understand what he was saying. Consequently I turned to the man sitting by my right hand side, no, by my left-hand side and inquired from him what was amiss. He simply looked at me and kept mute probably wondering why I wasn't aware of the great event that was about to take place. But when I insisted, he opened his mouth and shouted: " Niger Delta Republic ", "Up Niger Delta", "Freedom at last". His words were greeted with roaring applause from the crowd. I was confused.
As I watched I saw thousands and thousands of gun-wielding militants marching towards the podium where the ceremony was going to place. Then for the first time I saw some BBC and CNN reporters squatting by the four edges of the podium with their powerful tape-recorders and cameras ostensibly to capture the great event. By 2 p.m an uncountable number of people had occupied the nearly 2,300 square metres esplanade in readiness to witness the great event. As I watched I saw a luxurious bus with the bold inscription: "South-East kidnappers association" making its entrance into the esplanade. Inside the bus were some queer-looking young men and women. When I inquired from the same man about the identity and mission of the young men and women, he told me that they were unemployed university graduates who, owing to frustration, had decided to go into the lucrative business of kidnapping. The explanation over, I saw a mini-bus arrived, this time carrying the members of the Niger Delta kidnappers Union . As the kidnappers alighted from the bus, they fired some gunshots into the thin air ostensibly to register their presence. Before I knew it, a big trailer fully loaded with armed robbers and kidnapers from Lagos, Benin, Onitsha, Aba, Nnewi, Calabar and other towns stopped right in the centre of the esplanade.
Fifteen minutes later, there was a small stampede in the esplanade. Some naked politicians holding Ijebu-Ode juju in their hands had arrived and started coming into the esplanade to witness the event too. When I asked my man why the politicians opted to be naked, he told me that they were juju politicians advocating for juju democracy in Nigeria . They specialize in taking juju oath. They could use their wives to make money. They could sacrifice their sons or anybody to the gods just to grab political power. Leading the pack of the naked politicians was a naked native doctor who was carrying a medicine pot on his head. As long as the pot remained balanced on the head of the native doctor, according to my man, the politicians will continue to be in political power in Nigeria . Immediately the politicians entered the esplanade, they formed a big circle. Each of the politicians was holding the hand of the other. Suddenly a big thunder struck. Immediately one of the naked politicians ran up to the naked doctor, brought out a life cock from the pot he was carrying, tore it into pieces in the air and shouted: "god of thunder, your children are here!", protect us!, destroy them!
Suddenly there was a big commotion at the north-west of the esplanade. As I watched closely I saw two casually-dressed men being carried shoulder high by some militants. They were making their triumphant entry into the esplanade. As they approached the podium the militants greeted them with their clenched fists. Apart from the militants, they were many dignitaries standing on the podium. As I looked closely I saw a venerable-looking scholar with long disheveled gray hair and a thick moustache. His face could be mistaken for the face of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. By his right side stood a bearded diminutive figure dressed in black suit. He could pass for Femi Falana. Straining my eyes further, I saw many lawyers, academics, human rights activists, Niger Delta poets and writers, militants, kidnappers standing on the podium. One unmistakable figure on the podium was Chief Ralph Uwazurike, leader of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
A recorded national anthem specially composed for the new Niger Delta republic resounded. Then, silence, grave-yard silence descended on the esplanade. No movement. As soon as the Master of Ceremonies announced the names of the two men, they gracefully stepped forward. For the first time I could recognize them as Henry Okar, leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) and Jomo Gbomo acting as his deputy. As the duo stepped forward to address the crowd, the militants fired gun shots into the air. As I watched I saw Henry Okar and Jomo Gbomo being crowned as the President and vice-President respectively of the new Niger Delta Republic . Thereafter Okar stepped forward, extended his hands to calm down the noisy crowd. Then he began to speak: "My dear country men and women, today signals the birth of a new dawn for all the oppressed people of Niger Delta. Today marks the birth of our new republic, the Niger Delta Republic . The right to self-determination is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I want to put it to you all that we are not militants: we are freedom fighters. We are fighting for our rights. We are fighting for true federalism. Before Nigeria came to be in 1960, the indigenous people of Niger Delta had been controlling and harvesting the resources in all the places now known as the Niger Delta Our enemies are not the peaceful-loving people of Nigeria : our enemies are the oil-money swindlers, the sit-tight corrupt politicians . They tried to blackmail us with offer of amnesty and payment of monthly salary. But we cannot be blackmailed "
No sooner had he finished speaking than the crowd gave him a loud ovation. Then the man who looked like Femi Falana said something which I could hardly decipher. Then Uwazurike stood up and spoke up: "One injustice begets another injustice. When Biafra rose up in the 1967 to challenge the gross injustice meted out against them they were dismissed as rebels. To many it seems Biafra never existed. But the human feelings and energies released by the great upsurges in history reverberate in due season "
The alarm clock chimed and woke me up. I quickly got up, cleaned up my eyes and made for the window. No Henry Okar anywhere. No kidnappers anywhere. No MEND. No MASSOB. I had been dreaming, a bad dream for that matter. Tufiakwa. But is it not true that dreams are mere figments of the imagination? Dreams are garbage in, garbage out. In the last two months the only things which has been ceaselessly occupying the public space in Nigeria is Niger Delta insurgency. So why shouldn't I go to bed and dream about Niger Delta Republic ? Why shouldn't I dream about Henry Okar?. You see, the whole story is nauseating. Living in Nigeria is almost like living in Somalia , Democratic Republic of Congo or Chad . Today it is The Atlas Cove. Tomorrow it might be the Third Mainland Bridge , Lagos . We live in perpetual fear; fear of the militants, fear of kidnapers; fear of hired assassins; fear of armed robbers; fear of our neigbours and fear of ourselves. Where is our freedom? Who is in charge of Nigeria ? Do we deserve all these mess?
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I have lived in the Nigerian Delta. A generous people that are run over by the greed of multinational oil corporations and paid for politicians. The people of a land have as much right to the resources of that land as any multinational corporation that seeks to divest them of it. One need merely look into the waters surrounding the delta to view the oil companies policies as flare stacks burn natural gas resources that could be GIVEN to the populace rather than burned in contempt of the people they are exploiting. The militants are merely the expression of a people who see their natural resources being stolen by greedy foreigners who do not care about the enviornment or the people that live in that enviornment. They merely pay for strongarm protections of their pillaging. Chevron and Shell and their alliance with arabic muslims have allowed northern despots to dictate life on the delta. They have been instrumental in the propagation of some of the most brutal dicatatorships on the planet. It is time that their greed was checked. The natural resources of an area should be shared by the people of that area not controlled by greedy men willing to commit any offense to take it from them.The oil in the delta should benefit the peoples of the delta.
This is a very interesting piece and encapsulates what ordinary Nigerians feel. However, there is no need to fear those who can only kill the body and that is where their power ends. The ONE to fear is He who can cast both body and soul in hell.
Evil only thrives for a season. The eyes of the Lord goes to and fro the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards Him. Thank God that no man dies and carries his/her wealth with him/her. It all ends here. But I know that as men cry out to God, He will hear their cry. The fact that Nigeria has not disintegrated today is because of the power and the efficacy of prayer. Nigerians must not despair or lose hope. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
God bless