Before We Become Extinct

The problem that has befallen the Niger Delta region could be traced to the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates in 1914 by Sir Frederick Lord Lugard. This process gave birth to what today is known as Nigeria which originated from the word “Niger” founded during the exploration of the early sailors along the coastal territory.

After the amalgamation, the north and the south had economic independence with both sides depending upon agriculture for sustenance. The Niger Delta became economically relevant when oil was struck there in 1956. By this time, Nigeria was yet to be an independent state. But in 1960, the nation became independent. And in 1963, she became a republic and began to compete with other independent nations. After independence, however, the pre-independent close links that existed between the British colonists and the north made it possible for the north to dominate the administration and politics of post-independent Nigeria while the southerners only occupied menial positions.

Knowing full well that the south had more educated people than the north, and that if given opportunity, the south would emasculate the north, the northerners held tenaciously to the heritage bequeathed to them by the British. The stronghold on power by the north became tensed when oil became the mainstay of the nation’s economy. It therefore became difficult or near impossible for power to shift to any other section of the country other than the north; and so the north dominated power for a very long time.

Right from independence, the north had kept power. In 1960 when we attained nationhood, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was Prime Minister till 1966 when the first military coup took place. The coup enthroned Gen. Aguiyi-Ironsi as Head of State for only six months. He was subsequently over-thrown and Gen. Yakubu Gowon became head of state for nine years. Since then, with the exception of Chief Ernest Shonekan, the three-month Head of State, who was installed by Gen Ibrahim Babangida under an interim arrangement, the north ruled till 1999.

In a bid to control the oil which is the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy, leadership in the country has become a thing of “fight, kill and take”. In Nigeria, leadership is not pursued for its sake, but for the amassing of wealth.

And so the Niger Deltans were usurped, and their rights and privileges lost including their right to control their resources. The deprivation suffered by the Niger Delta has resulted in several agitations for equity to prevail in the control and sharing of the oil proceeds in the nation. This agitation has now turned violent as youths from the region often take up arms against the federal government.

It is, however, unfortunate that rather than pool our resources together and embark on a diplomatic and united fight for our due as was done by our fathers who started the struggle, we are rather kidnapping, killing and maiming our own sons and daughters. The Bible says “a house that is divided against itself will not stand”. If this is so, then fighting against ourselves would not produce the desired result.

According to Chinua Achebe in his novel “Things Fall Apart”, the white man had put a knife on the rope that held Umuofia together and they cannot act in singleness of purpose. Since the whiteman concentrated power in the hands of the north and walked away, things have always been falling apart in the rest of the country and the centre cannot hold.

The carnage that goes on unabated in the Niger Delta is nothing but internal terrorism? Do we have to destroy ourselves when we out to fight courageously and gallantly for our rights? We are a deprived people who should be united and fight for a common goal. Inward fighting, kidnapping and killing will further take us away from achieving this goal.

That is why it is incumbent upon all the militants in the Niger Delta to respond and take advantage of the amnesty granted them by the Federal Government by surrounding their arms and ammunitions. Let us be wise and deploy our efforts towards things that will benefit us as well as develop us, before we become extinct in the name of a Niger Delta struggle.