IPA Members Corner

12th August 2009

Dear all,

The Ijaw People’s Association (IPA) of Gt. Britain & Ireland would like to invite you to this year’s late Major Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro’s commemoration event in Europe.

The 2009 Isaac Adaka Boro day will be held on Saturday 10th October.

The theme for this year event is “The Niger Delta - The Critical Now!”

The venue will be at,
Ealing Town Hall, New Broadway, Uxbridge Road, Ealing W5 2B
Telephone: 0208 825 6060 Website: www.ealing.gov.uk

Time: Seminar session from 12am – 4pm. Dinner/Dance from 5pm – 12pm

Please don’t hesitate to contact the Chairman (Organising Committee) Mr.Inemo Samiama on 07944542320, Email: inemo@lineone.net
and, Secretary (Organising Committee), Ms. Rosetta Etemeowei on 07939148586 Email: retemewei@yahoo.co.uk respectively, if you require further information.

We look forward to seeing you at the event.

Inemo Samiama

Chairman Organising Committee

 

 

The Role of Women in the Struggle for Equality
             and Justice for the Niger Delta 
                                
                                              BY
                ELIZABETH TUBOLAYEFA TUBURU

               
               On the occasion of the 2008 Boro Day Celebration
                  in the UK on the 15th of August, 2008 at the Resource
                  Centre, 356 Holloway Road, London N7 6PA

 INTRODUCTION

BRIEF HISTORY:

The role of women in the struggle for equality and justice in the Niger Delta had began  since after the Aba women’s war of 1929, the Egba women’s movement of the early 1930s to the 1950s, then the Ogharefe women’s uprising of 1984, the Ughelli women’s anti-tax protest of 1984 – 1985, the Ekpan women’s uprising of 1986 and several others in 1990s which  culminated to how women mobilized and exercised their collective rights to enforce government to respect, protect and fulfill all human rights where standards on economic and social rights are being abused systematically.

The role of women in this struggle for equity and justice is very crucial because women depend on the environment for their daily needs such as water, fuel, food. They not only endure the most of environmental degradation, but also play a vital role in environmental management. The issues that pose challenges are worrisome as they reduce the quality of life of women and the entire human population of the Niger Delta. These imminent threats that women suffer economic activities have been recognized internationally. It is said to have underscored the agenda 21 of the UN conference on environment and development held in Rio de Janeiro Brazil in 1992.Thus it requires fairness in the part of multinational companies to deal with these yearning problems and in the other hand, government to enforce existing laws and policy to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime and mess to be accountable. Not only enforcement of laws but ensuring that appropriation of resources are equitably distributed in fairness and openness. The rule of law prescribes that when a person brings a dangerous thing (substance or animal) to one’s own land, and the dangerous thing escapes and causes harm, then that person is absolutely liable for damage caused. Rule in Rylands v Fletcher {1868}, L.R 3 H.L.330, {1861-73}, ALL ER. This rule indeed is a strict liability.

On this premise, women became increasingly aware of their roles in the Niger Delta so much so that they have formed variety of organizations such as Federation of Ogoni women’s Organizations (FOWO) the Niger Delta women for Justice (NDWJ), the Ijaw Women’s Organization for Human Rights. These organizations have built a strong grass roots base for resistance, and engaged in demonstrations and peaceful occupation of production stations to further the struggle for equity and justice in the Niger Delta.

Invariably, the exploitative activities of the Nigerian State and oil multinational companies have impacted more on the women than any other group. They suffer from gross exploitation, loss of viable farmlands and water pollution. When there is military occupation/siege of communities, the women suffer psychologically, emotional and physical impacts, very often raped and maimed as well as watch their sons, brothers, husbands and lovers tortured and killed. Not to forget dispossession of houses and homelessness.

According to Okon, women organizations and their protestations against oil politics are part of the history of the Niger Delta struggle. (Emen. Okon 2007) It seems there have been more protest action undertaken by women in the Niger Delta because they are worse affected by environmental degradation and conflict than their male counterparts.

WOMEN CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE STUGGLE FOR EQUITY & JUSTICE

OGHAREFE SAGA 1984
The women of Ogharefe laid siege to Pan Ocean’s Ogharefe Production station. demanded for land seized, pollution damage, and provision of clean water and electricity simply, basic needs that should be provided in any civil society. This protest was a poignant one as the women stripped naked insisted on their on terms and refused to be coerced by the company. The sight of thousands of naked women of all ages was too much for the management to take in so they fled the scene. Consequently, the women’s demands were adhered to promptly. This action led to the alliance between the women and the youth. It is note-worthy that the Nigerian government was not involved in this dispute, which was strictly between the concerned parties.

ON MARCH 29 AND 30 1986
Bonny women shut down Shell’s operation. The women blocked the helipad with their bodies in effort to win the compensation that the communities demanded from Shell for destroying their environment and for eroding their livelihood structures.

OPIA AND IKEBIRI JANUARY 4, 1999
This time around soldiers came by air and water and raided these communities killing unarmed women and children for protesting against the destruction of their livelihood sources. This monstrous atrocity was committed by Chevron Nigeria Limited who contracted soldiers.

 UGBORODO ESCRAVOS – JULY 2002
Again, peaceful protest by Niger Delta women against Chevron – Texaco and Shell to articulate their grievance and seek dialogue. The women were aggrieved that they could not fish in the Warri River and Ugborodo creek due to exploration activities, degraded soil and flooding. Moreover, they argued that Chevron preferred to employ workers from other communities whilst the indigenes remained unemployed.
Procedure:
Petition letter stating intention of action
A date – given a month by which they expect a reply from the said companies and probably an indication of what further action they will take if the companies does not respond within that time limit.
Due to non- compliance after a month the women occupied the premises and disrupted work in bid to force officials to negotiate with them so operations were brought to a stand still.
What do they expect to achieve?

• Jobs for their husbands and sons
• Clean up of oil spillage and protection of the environment
• Provide clean water, electricity, healthcare and free education
• Respect for local customs and traditions
• Assist indigenes by setting up Micro-economic enterprise

OUTCOME:
Chevron sent senior executives for negotiation which lead both parties to agree on a deal that will see Chevron- Texaco employing more local people and ensure a fair and equitable representation of qualified indigenes, funding for schools, electricity and other infrastructural projects. Also assisting in setting up poultry and fish farms in return for conducive and trouble free atmosphere for the company to carry on production. A five year memorandum of understanding (MOU) was drawn up between Chevron Nigeria      and the Ugborodo community and the Delta State authorities to guide and regulate the relationship between the company and the community within the Escravos area.
Did the women achieve their desired goal?

1. Unfortunately, their success was short-lived as Chevron did not implement their memorandum of understanding (MOU).
2. But Chevron said it had partly implemented the Memorandum of Understanding in sand – filling to enable construction in Ugborodo new town but progress was  halted in 2003 and 2004 when its operation were closed due to sub contractors who were unwilling to work in the area. 
3. They also, claimed that they could not meet its commitment under the Memorandum of Understanding because of violence and the financial losses incurred.
4. Chevron Nigeria went further to argue that the needs of the communities in the areas where they operate are many and that they are not in a position to provide all of them. It was against this back drop that the Ugborodo community decided to demonstrate on 4 February 2005.

The company instead used divide and rule tactics to destabilize the women. Therefore, it could be said that the success did not give them more participation in community development decision- making which is a huge draw back in the role of women in the struggle for equity and justice in the Niger Delta regions.

This goes on to show the contribution of women and how far they have gone to establish their role in the struggle for equitable distribution of an enormous wealth that is eluding the Niger Delta regions. Not only did it show women’s prowess of yielding result oriented non – violent protests strategies but had also, fueled international campaigns, networking and have gained unstoppable momentum in the region. Remarkably, the women’s struggle achieved success without any loss of lives. Nevertheless it's wrong to assume that women's suffrage and women's representation has made little difference.
Therefore, the agitation for equity and justice in the Niger Delta should be encouraged with participation of women in politics as never before.

 

 

MAXIMISING WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUITY & JUSTICE IN THE NIGER DELTA

THE WAY FORWARD: PROPOSED POSITVE ACTION

See diagram outlining proposal below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Positive discrimination policies for women taken from: Breaking Barriers. Norris, Pippa {2000}
Women’s social and economic position has gradually improved in many societies whether developed or developing countries due to long-term secular trends, such as developments in female enrolment in higher education, adult literacy and labour force participation. Nevertheless progress in female empowerment in elected office has lagged behind in many established democracies. At the start of the twenty- first century the glass ceiling for women’s political empowerment in elected office remains almost uncracked. Nine out of ten members of national parliaments worldwide are male, and women are more than one third of the legislature in only a few nations. However this phenomenon permeated to Nigeria under the past government which had increase in the number of women that held public positions, both elected and appointed. Women constituted about 40% of the appointed officers more than the affirmative action benchmark of 30%. Yet the general pace of progress remained glacial as government and non governmental organizations in Nigeria are absolved with masculine rhetoric and upholders of capitalism, which places Nigeria resources in the hands of the elites in society.

Yet against this backcloth, in recent decades countries as diverse as South Africa, India, Norway, Britain, New Zealand, and Argentina have experienced a decisive political breakthrough for women parliamentarians due to positive discrimination strategies implemented via party regulations or electoral laws. In a model of punctuated equilibrium, changing the rules for political recruitment has often although not always opened the door for women to enter elected office. Given this context, this section will analyse the major policy options proposed which may increase women’s representation.

Policy options for Gender Equality
Worldwide, three different types of recruitment policies are available to increase women’s representation, reflecting different cultural values and beliefs.
Rhetorical strategies, articulated in leadership speeches, party guidelines, or official party platforms, aim to change the ethos by affirming the need for social balance in the slate of candidates. Parties may wish to widen their electoral appeal through altering their public profile in parliament. Rhetorical statements may prove only a symbolic fig leaf of political correctness or they may represent the first steps towards more effective reforms if they influence the selectors who choose parliamentary candidates, and if they encourage more women applicants to come forward.
Affirmative action programmes aim to encourage applicants by providing training sessions, advisory group targets, financial assistance, as well as systematically monitoring of the outcome. These meritocratic policies aim to achieve fairness in the recruitment process, removing practical barriers that may disadvantage women The policies can be gender-neutral, such as providing training in public speaking and media presentation equally to all candidates , or they can be specifically designed to correct certain imbalances in women’s representation, for example targeting funding for women aspirants.
Affirmative action programmes can also be applied to the party selectors, for example training them to be a ware of the need for equal opportunities or providing standardized checklists of the qualities used for evaluating applicants. Gender quotas fall into this category if they are advisory rather than binding.
Positive discrimination strategies, in contrast, set mandatory group quotas for the selection of candidates from certain social or political groups. Although the term ‘quotas’ is often used loosely, these strategies vary in three important ways. First, quotas can be set at different levels, such as 20, 30, 40, or 50 per cent. Second, these quotas can be applied to different stages of the selection process, including to internal party offices, shortlists of parliamentary applicants, electoral lists of parliamentary candidates, or reserved parliamentary seats. Lastly, binding quotas can be implemented either by law or by internal party rules. In general, ceteris paribus, the higher the level of the specified quota, the closer the quota is applied to the final stages of election, and more binding the formal regulation, the more effective its impact. Thus the strongest version
would be legal measures specifying in the constitution that a high proportion of all parliamentary seats should be reserved for women, while the weakest would be party regulations specifying that women should be at least 10-15% of local party chairs, secretaries, or convention delegates.
.
Political minorities need positive discrimination; at least as a temporary stopgap measure, to overcome the historical disadvantages they face in winning elected office. A worldwide comparison indicates considerable variance in the type of positive discrimination measures implemented via laws or internal party rules.

Reserved Seats
The strongest measures specify certain reserved seats in parliaments for women. In India, for example, the 74th amendment to the Constitution adopted in 1993 requires that one third of the seats in local municipal bodies (village councils) are reserved for women (Rai 1998). Other countries with legal requirements of reserved seats for women in national parliaments
include Bangladesh (set at 9% of all seats), Eritrea (9.5%), Tanzania (6%),Taiwan, and Uganda (Dahlerup 1998; Reynolds and Reilly 1997: 97 -100). Reserved seats are also used to ensure the representation of specific ethnic, religious or linguistic minority groups in parliament, such as scheduled tribes and castes in India, the aboriginal community in Taiwan, Hungarians and Italians in Slovenia, and the Maori population in New Zealand. The main advantage of these measures is that, if effectively implemented, this guarantees the inclusion of women or other groups in office. Possible disadvantages are that legal regulations may be difficult to pass politically, given the power of incumbents, it can be argued that the use of reserved seats limits the electorate’s choice of candidates, the system may be seen as less fair than other ways to promote minority representation, and the level of the quota may reinforce the status quo, acting as a ceiling rather than a floor for any minority group.

Legal Gender Quotas in Party Lists
Alternatively electoral laws may specify that party lists of parliamentary candidates should contain a certain proportion of women or minority groups. In multimember districts, where election is determined by rank order on the ballot paper, laws may also sometimes regulate the position of female candidates throughout the party list, for example that women should be every third name on the ballot paper (a technique otherwise known as ‘zipping’). In the past, Communist parties in Central and Eastern Europe often used gender quotas, for example for representatives of official women’s organizations. These were subsequently dropped in the post -Communist parliaments, producing an immediate fall in women’s representation just at the time when these bodies gained in legitimacy and authority. More recently, ten Latin American states passed electoral laws in the 1990s it stipulated that all party lists had to contain a certain proportion of women candidates, although parties could determine their rank order. Due to problems in implementation only the Argentinean law has fully achieved its objectives,
but in other states in the region during the last decade these reforms have boosted women’s presence in Congress by about five per cent on average (Jones 1996, 1998, 1999; Htun and Jones 1999).

Party Rules
More often, rather than state regulation, quotas are implemented by internal party rules and procedures. This is the most common mechanism and it has been used with different degrees of success all over the world including the ANC in South Africa, CONDEPA in Brazil, the PRD in Mexico, the Social Democrats in Germany etc. A worldwide review conducted in the early 1990s, by the Inter – Parliamentary Union, found that twenty – two parties employed gender quotas when selecting candidates for legislative elections, while fifty –one parties used them for elections to internal party posts.. These measures were commonly introduced in Western Europe during the 1980s by parties of the left. The impact of these strategies has proven to increased women’s representation significantly, as shown by case studies of Norway (Matland 1993) and Germany (Kolinsky 1989). A recent study, comparing womens’representation in a dozen advanced industrialized societies in the late 1980s, found that women were 28% of MPs in parties with gender quotas, compared with only 22% of MPs in parties lacking such rules (Caul 1999).

However, many women campaigners have testified to the fact that having worked on equal representation of women in politics in more than 40 countries that encouragement, lobbying and training are helpful, but progress is too slow. As Helena Kennedy would say: "It's like waiting for fish to grow feet."

Why is Positive Action needed?
Positive action is needed not because women are not able to succeed on merit, but because discrimination in the selection process means they are rarely given the opportunity to try. Experience from across Europe has demonstrated that use of positive action is the key factor in determining whether or not a country has high level of women representation. Whilst other measures, such as better training and support for potential women candidates are of course, desirable, when used on their on, without positive action mechanisms, they do not make a significant difference. According to Fawcett, they are not aware of any country that has ever significantly increased its level of women’s representation without the use of positive action mechanisms by some of the parties.

WOMEN MPs IN BRITAIN: IS IT A SUCCESS STORY?

And when you hear the catalogue of new laws that have been passed, largely due to the backing of women MPs, you realise that yes, they have shaken things up quite a lot.
Think of many of the key achievements of the Blair/Brown years and you are thinking of women's achievements – from SureStart, the new deal for lone parents, the big extension in childcare, the increase in maternity and paternity leave, the introduction and extension of flexible working for parents, the minimum wage, and progress on the pay gap. Only last month we have seen the new equalities bill in parliament, piloted by Harriet Harman, ending discrimination for older people as well as women and ethnic minorities. Might the men have got there alone? One will categorically say no, because women MPs have themselves experienced how hard it is to juggle work and family, making them much more forceful in agitating for new laws. They have also lobbied women journalists, in the unofficial circles that exist at Westminster, to push such issues up the political agenda.
There have been less mainstream issues too, like domestic violence, rape, trafficking of women and children, and access to cancer services that have all been championed by women MPs. As
Vera Baird points out, men are much less likely to raise these issues – "they don't have the imminence in your psyche and your emotions if you're never going to be capable of experiencing them." Of today's 125 women Mps even though they rank a shameful 51st on the international women’s representation league they have made a difference in the history of Britain.
While Blair's Babes looked naive, fresh-faced and aware of how different they were, today's MPs look less excited and more ordinary. And that's perhaps the biggest achievement of the women MPs: today it's quite normal to see women up there at the centre of power, without anyone batting an eye.

PROPOSED ADOPTION IN THE NIGER DELTA

All – women shortlist
This is used in single member constituency elections to ensure a woman is selected in that seat.
Twinning
This is an adaptation of all-women shortlists intended to avoid the legal obstacles. It too applies in single member constituencies. Under this system two local parties select their candidates jointly, with a requirement that one man and woman be selected to ensure equal representation of men and women.
Clustering
This system is similar to twinning and again used in single member constituencies. It involves several constituencies clustering together with a requirement to select a certain amount of women between them. Proposed but never actually been used.
Zipping
This is used for proportional list elections. Here the members selecting candidates on a list are required to alternate men and women on the list. This system is widely used in Europe
LAWS THAT NEED TO CHANGE

The constitution needs to be amended to allow political parties to adopt positive action mechanisms without fear of legal challenge and reprisals. And also the law must ensure that candidates are still protected from negative discrimination. Though it seems to be interfering with choice. For instance, the decision of the Industrial Tribunal in Jespon & Dyas-Elliot v The Labour party {1996}condemned as discriminatory the Labour party’s now abandoned policy of giving preference to the selection of women parliamentary candidates.

OPTION 1 – Amend theSex Discrimination Act/Constitution to allow Positive Action by Parties

OPTION 2 = Amend the Sex Discrimination Act/Constitution to Exempt Political Selections

OPTION 3 = A New Electoral Law Permitting Positive Action

SET BACKS FOR WOMEN IN POLITICS IN THE NIGER DELTA

Culture of Politics
The culture of Nigerian politics is not supportive to women. The style is confrontational with an emphasis on money and power which portray our culture as patriarchal, but surprisingly, in many respects rural women assume much of the responsibility of managing the family expenses. The stark reality in the Niger Delta regions is that women gaining political power is considered a threat to the male dominated political structure therefore women are somehow used to taking the back seat and present themselves as living sacrifices ready to dance at political rallies with little or no token. Research among women voters has shown that many women are put off politics altogether by the way they see politicians behave, in fighting; sponsorships, violence very often ends in death. It seems sometimes like they are mad, shouting and roaring at each other.

CHILDCARE
Women are more likely than men to have responsibility for childcare, and for caring for elderly, sick or disabled family members. These caring responsibilities are a problem for women before they are even elected. Running for selection requires attending evening meetings several nights a week and the difficulty of arranging childcare, combined with the cost, can mean that women reject the idea of standing for election before they even start.

CASH
Women earn less than men at all levels and across all sectors of employment, and are therefore less likely to be able to afford expenses in running election. Would be candidates need money to fund campaigns, cover trips to campaigns and over night accommodation if they do not live in the area, publicity materials and the costs of childcare if they are young mothers just to mention a few of the huddles.
CONFIDENCE
The practical problems, first of running election, then requirement of public speaking, low self-esteem due to educational tittles of male counter part, no sound education, and the cultural image of what a parliamentarian is like, means that some women lack the confidence to put themselves forward.

OTHER BARRIERS
The four C’s have explained why fewer women than men do not put themselves forward for selection as parties cannot account fully for the lack of women on the front line. There are no shortages of able women in any political party, but numbers selected remain low or non in the Niger Delta States. The main reason may be prejudice among local selection committees. It is said that women experience both direct and indirect discrimination as well as sexual harassment. Note: Bayelsa State; figures given below are based on last administration.

 

In conclusion, the Niger Delta women should be presented as autonomous beings i.e. not to be presented as a class, as radical feminism suggested, but as individual women naturally endowed with the same basic rights and privileges, and objected to the structural denial of women of full array of rights and privileges of citizenship men experienced. It is asserted that law will play a major role to serve in women’s liberation movement against patriarchy through the concept of equal rights and opportunities in Niger Delta. Hence using law as a means, Niger Delta women has contributed immensely to the struggle for equity and justice through their peaceful protests. Therefore, if women in the Niger Delta region are given equal opportunity as the men and not relegated to the background by their men folk, their full potentials will be utilized to the actualization of this struggle for equity and justice in the Niger delta.

To put it in a nut shell, given the power of oneness and solidarity putting our contrasting values together with one voice, eliminating subordination of women, then we will strengthened our stakes and lengthen our cords even further in the struggle for equity and justice in the Niger Delta. We don’t want to be a house with many rooms.

Quote:
Speech by Nobel peace prize winning Kenyan environmentalist and MP Wangari Maathai: This is a fable of a little humming bird in the burning forest.
“As all the other animals watched helplessly, the little bird flew backwards and forward to the river bringing back drops of water in its tiny beak to drop unto the fire. The other animals said, you are too small, you can never deal with this raging fire”

As the humming bird continued, they said what do you think you can accomplish? And the little humming bird replied: I am doing the best I can.

 Reference:

• Arguing Equality: Recognising the traps, by Gillian More. From The Critical Lawyer’s Handbook 2, 1997.
• Critical Perspectives on Women’s Rights: The European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms by Stephanie Palmer.
• Defining Civil and Political Rights (The jurisprudence of the United Nations Human Rights Committee) by Alex Conte, Scott Davidson and Richard Burchill. Ashgate Publishing Limited Aldershot England 2004.
• Breaking the Barriers: Positive Discrimination Policies for Women by Pippa Norris. Press draft @ 01/02/2000.
• The four C’s: Why are there so few women MPs? Fawcett Briefing. See www.fawcettsociety.org .uk and also www. Parliament.uk
• No more double takes: While the number of women in politics could be higher, it is at last normal to see them at the centre of power by Jackie Ashley, July 08 2008 see www.guardian.co.uk
• Resource Centre Reports: Nigeria: Ten years on: Injustice and violence haunt the oil Delta by Amnesty International, 3 November 2005: AFR44/022/2005.
• Women in the Niger Delta: Environmental issues and challenges in the Third Millennium, by A.O.I.Gabriel.
• Assessing Accomplishments of Women’s Nonviolent Direct Action in the Niger Delta, pages 173-179, by Iyenemi Norman Wokoma

  10. Cases: See Jespon and Dyas-Elliot v Labour Party (1996) & Rylands v Fletcher  
      {1868}, L.R 3 H.L.330, {1861-73}, ALL ER.

 

 

ISAAC ADAKA BORO’S LEGACY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS.

Your Excellencies, Ijaw Leaders, IPA President, Invited guests, Fellow IPA Members, Ladies and Gentlemen.

INTRODUCTION
AH!  EZON!!!
I am particularly delighted to make a speech for this year Late Major Isaac Adaka Boro’s Remembrance Day for the year 2008.I am an Ijaw (Ezon) by tribe from Sagbama local government of Bayelsa State of Nigeria. I believe in the sovereignty of Nigeria as a country just like my people do. However, let me emulate, Late Chief Bola Ige, who said he was a Yoruba before he became a Nigerian, in the same respect, may I say, I am an Ijaw before I became a Nigerian. Therefore, if there is a conflict between the two, I have no other options to take than the first.

A critical analysis of the Ijawman in the present day Nigeria will be incomplete if I do not look at the past, the present and the future. Therefore, let me quickly run you through the Nigerian history in relation to the Ijawman and analyse to the present day and future actions the Ijaws need to take to remain in this country called Nigeria.

When the Nigerian Civil War started, the military intentions of the coup plotters were not that of tribal, but tribal sentiments came in as a result of some sections of the country being more affected than others and therefore, there was a counter coup. These counter coups were still expressions or fears the tribal leaders had expressed before the independence. The resultant effect of these tribal sentiments finally resulted into the Nigerian Civil War. The Nigerian Civil War was fought primarily on tribal sentiments, and each of these tribes played different roles in order to protect their own tribal interest.

In the case of the north, their primary objective was to ensure that leadership remains with them and the protection of their groundnut pyramid industry. While in the case of the west, their primary objective is to ensure that their cocoa industry do not fall into the hands of whosoever comes into power and as such they were trying to balance between who should win at the end of the day. In the bid of this, they ended up agreeing with both Biafra and the North. While in the case of the Igbos, since they were already in the civil service in large numbers and also knowing that geographically the oil producing area is within their territory and as such they could easily protect both the oil and coal industries. While in the case of the minorities, since they do not have strong representation at the centre, they were constrained to fight along their various geographical representations.

The Ijaws who are the fourth largest tribe were grouped into the Western and Eastern Regions of Nigeria. However, they felt, the Igbos could not be trusted. They convinced Chief Ojukwu to call a meeting between the various tribes that will form Biafra as an independent state.  The essence of the meeting was to discuss the parameters by which these tribes will be recognised as a state if they win the war. The response the Igbos gave was that, the status quo remains the same, meaning that, if you were a minority in the former state (Nigeria) then, those tribes will still remain minorities. The Ijaws were not comfortable with the response. This led to the Ijaws pulling out of the Biafran state. The Igbos had under-estimated the determination of the Ijaws and even considered them as insignificant. This misunderstanding finally led Port Harcourt being captured by the Nigerian troops with Boro. The Ijaws action relates to Late Chief Bola Ige’s statement ‘The relationship between Nigerians should not be like that of the big fish and Jonah in the bible, rather it should be symbiotic’. This statement simply reminds me the actions of the Ijaws. The implication is that no Nigerian should be treated like a second class citizen rather everyone should be treated equally. Furthermore, the Ijaws cannot leave the stomach of the big fish and jump into the stomach of the Lion, who will first chew them before swallowing. This implies that we rather remain with the devil we know than the angel we do not know.

In Article 3 of the Kaiama declaration stated that, “The division of the Southern Protectorate into East and West in 1939 by the British marked the beginning of the balkanisation of a hitherto territorially contiguous and culturally homogenous Ijaw people into political and administrative units, much to our disadvantage. 

The fears expressed by the Ijaws before and after the independence are still the same today. The only difference is that, other tribes have overcome their fears and now consolidated a new position and have further compounded the issues with new groups struggling for the resources of the Ijawland. However, their new fear is let the Ijaw’s not realise that they are being exploited by the elite Nigerians. The various fears expressed by especially the majority tribes have been protected and they are now capturing new grounds and resources. They have effectively used the centre as a pretext to re-allocate the resources from the Ijaw land.

If Nigeria is a country with history and conscience, then the parameters in which proceeds from cocoa, groundnuts and coal were shared in the 50s and 60s, should have been the same parameters in which the present day Nigeria oil wealth should have been shared.

The gimmick immediately after the Nigerian Civil War was to keep Nigeria one, as one indivisible sovereign country. So, after the war, Gen. Gowon declared that ‘there was no victor and no vanquish’. This comment pleased Nigerians and it was expected that the government will abide by our words by ensuring that all tribal sentiments or fears being expressed before the civil war will be catered for. However, the contrary is the case up till this present day. The military did not only create chaos but rather fully implemented a tribal agenda by ensuring that major appointments go to the North while secondary appointment goes to the next strongest opposition who fought along with them i.e. the Yorubas. The Yorubas have not forgotten their rivalry between the major tribes and as such used Lagos as a pretext that it is the federal capital and so allocated most resources that goes to the centre to develop the west while continue to blackmail any other tribe person who might struggle appointments with them except those strong rivals from the north. The Igbos constantly struggle to remain in the Nigerian state even though defeated as a Biafran state, took their third position as a major tribe.

The implication of this kind of classification of tribes affected the Ijaws tremendously. They suddenly became an enemy to the Nigerian state because their considered to be Igbos and they also became an enemy to the Igbos because they [Ijaws] fought alongside with the Nigerian state. Today, the psyche of Nigerian has suddenly turned that oppressive word, ‘WAZOBIA’, to represent Nigerian tribes.  This concept of classification of three major tribes led to the word ‘WAZOBIA’ which simply stands for “come” in the three major languages, “WA”, “ZO”, “BIA”. However since the word was formed through western press, it simply placed the Yoruba word first. Obviously, the Nigerian state today has never change from the pre-independence days up till today.

As Late PA Awolowo said “Nigeria is simply a geographical expression and not a country”. This observation was highlighted again during formal British Prime Minister, Lady Thatcher in 1985 when she visited Nigeria and later wrote in her book, The Downing Street Years, “It is not easy to govern a country like Nigeria and it is somewhat artificially created, divided into Muslim, and Christian and pagan south.  I do wonder if there is any Nigerian in this country (Nigeria) who does not agree with this expression. However, there are strong binding factors and fears of the last Nigerian Civil War. The binding factors are the common resources of the Niger Delta oil being re-allocated to them at the centre while ensuring that resources of the victor of the war are kept for future development. The implication of this is that no single Nigerian tribe is willing to forgo, forfeit or negotiate with the resources of their areas. Therefore, various tribal leaders simply wait at the centre (FGN) for proceeds from oil revenue to be shared among themselves.

YES! General Yakubu Gowon (retired) had declared that the war is over, but is it really over? Even if the average man on the street accepts that the war is over but those tribal leaders who fought, have they agreed to drop their positions?  The same leaders today have taken up traditional, ministerial, political, ambassadorial, senatorial and all kinds of appointment from the Federal, State and from all government parastatals and commissions. When they retire from appointment or service, they simply need to re-declare their ages and pick up another appointment or their stooges and children taking up those appointments. Some have to serve the military for a number of years, retire and after 20 years become president at the age of 60 years.

Immediately after the civil war, the military played a very important role in the present day crisis, rather than being an impartial judge of what happened, they [military] consolidated the position of the victor. In so doing, censor figures were manipulated to favour the victor, states and local governments were created to favour the victor, national identity was based on the victor, tribal leaders were promoted and propagated as national leaders, religion was manipulated to favour the victor, national dressing was manipulated to favour the victor, appointments were manipulated to favour the victor, the present day Nigerian currency also carries the faces of the victor(Tribal leaders) and virtually all national identities and characters were geared toward the victor. Today, these issues are becoming prominent and therefore some have presented themselves as Nigerians while the rest are appendixes. The victor now had a lot of bargaining power and a lot of wealth to influence the society at large. Those who are in love, have to create states on behalf of their lovers just like in the case of Delta state, where the Ijaws of Delta state have to pass through Benin (Edo State Capital), to go to their state capital in Asaba (Delta State Capital-considered to be an Igbo land). In the same Delta state, the Ijaws do not have local governments based on geographical area (No maps) but towns and simply associated with a particular local government area, based on passed tradition. Port Harcourt had virtually fallen into the hands of the Igbos while the Ondo state radio station which used to broadcast news in Ijaw has totally been dropped.

Today, even though they have tribal agenda, they still parade themselves as national leaders. The present day Nigeria, the creation of states and local governments are major issues that cannot be treated with levity. This is because it is based on these parameters that various leaders can be represented at the Federal level and resources are also being allocated based on states and local governments. For example, Kano state has 43 local governments; Lagos state has 38 local governments while Bayelsa state has only 8 local governments.

WHO IS LATE MAJOR ADAKA ISSAC BORO?     
This is an Ijawman from Kaiama town of Kaiama local government area in Bayelsa state of Nigeria and a Christian with a military background. He fought along with the Nigerian troops to ensure that Nigeria was kept as one country. He died at the age of 30 years, and betrayed by some tribal leaders who presently are still parading themselves as national leaders. His 12 days revolution was killed by either General Obasanjo or General Adekunle (black scorpion) who are all Yorubas. This is not surprising because the Yorubas have continue for a long time betraying the Ijawman, using various means as cover including the use of Land Use Decree, the western press, bombing off the Odi town, using the Benin and Itsekiri’s as fronts to struggle for land while ensuring that oil companies’ headquarters are located within their territory. Boro was married and had children and his principles were primarily national but they were not recognised and up till today, they’re still not recognised. His concepts were influenced by his home upbringing, which is, identifying with the truth just like any other Ijaw man. He had friends across every tribe irrespective of religion and sentiment; primarily his beliefs are that “what goes to the goose must go to the gander”.  The implication of this is that Boro felt, if resources of the major tribes are sent to the centre at the rate of 50% while the remaining 50% is retained for the development of that area where the resources come from, why are the resources from the Niger Delta shared without consideration of the area that produces it?  Does Nigeria have two types of constitution, one for the major tribes, while other for the minority tribe? Likewise states and local governments were created on tribal sentiments and he realised that the Ijaws had no state. His observations later led to the creation of the Mid-western state and later Rivers state and presently to Delta and Bayelsa states. However, these states were re-absorbed either by the major tribes or minor tribes that are organised and represented at the Federal level.

MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS THAT LED BORO TO ACT 
Boro as an Ijawman and a fair minded human being looking at the Nigerian scenario could not comprehend why the Ijaws are treated so badly considering their population as the 4th largest in the country and making significant contribution to the economy. All attempts to make the Nigerian state understand the plight of the Ijaws went into deaf ears; therefore he had no option than to act. However, he was misconstrued by both the Ijaws and other tribes as a rebel. Today, do the Ijaws realise what Boro was fighting for? How can we represent him properly as a people he died for? Have the Ijaws today achieve those objectives he has been fighting for? Is it better now or worst with the balkanisation of Ijaws into various states with no central administration? Presently, Is the Ijaws a dyeing tribe with every dialect proclaiming to be a tribe of its own? For example, the Apos claiming to be Yoruba’s from Ondo state, the Kalabaris of Rivers state claiming to be a tribe of its own, the Opobos of Rivers state claiming to be Igbos, the Nembes claiming to be a tribe of its own, the Ogbias claiming to be a tribe of its own, the Okirikas claiming to be a tribe of its own, etc. SO WHO ARE THE IJAWS? According to the Vice President in his speech delivered last year at the Boro Day event, “This year, I intend to draw attention to the urgent need to get things right so that the sacrifices of our leaders and elders will not have been in vain. Among other things, I would also serve a reminder of the seven great cultures that have kept the Ijaws and their neighbours as one people under God.” Does the Vice President who is from Ogbia dialect agree to be an Ijaw man? The remaining ones have dialects of their own like the Mein of Delta state, the Tuburu of both Bayelsa and Rivers state, the Ogbe-ezon of Delta state, the Arogbos of Ondo state, etc are still presently representing the Ijaws but I wonder how the language will be if each one of them claim to be a tribe of its own. Ladies and Gentlemen, you can tell the remaining story. In the same vain, like other Nigerian tribes, they have various dialects. The Yoruba’s have Egbas, Ijebus, Oyos etc, while the Hausas have various minor ethnic groups like Kanuri, Fulani,Gwaris, with strong dialectical differences but yet have close associate with the Hausas and finally the Igbos have the Anambra Igbos, the Imo Igbos, the Abarkaliki, etc but yet they all have a central dialect that they speak. What is the difference between what the Ijaws have and the rest of the major tribes? It is simple, a common central dialect which should be coined out of all the various dialect of the Ijaw language.  Today we gather here to mark Boro’s Day; Does the Boro Day represent a tribe or a group of tribes? Please let each one of us analyse ourselves and see what category we fall into. If we are on the wrong side , for the sake of BORO let us represent him by not only marking his day but also carrying out his ambitions or wishes by ensuring that we are united as a people.                

WHAT MADE BORO TO FAIL
There are many factors that constitute our great leader Late Major Isaac Boro’s failure. Some of these factors include --- Government at the centre, the other major tribes, lack of communication, ignorance of his people and finally lack of central leadership of the Ijaws. May I kindly expanciate some of these factors that led Boro to fail.  In the case of the government at the centre level, there was a deliberate attempt to divide and rule the people by means of creation of states and the local government areas which created new identities for the people.

The quota system which was created then was to balance appointing leaders from various tribes and finally to ensure that resources coming to the centre were fairly distributed.  However, when the victors realised that they could absolve everything without the consideration of other tribes, they were only implemented where they are disadvantaged. Presently, quota system are no more respected because those who agitated for this type of system have consolidated their position as a result of long period of military rule. In implementing this system, schools and ministries were located based on the north and south of the country. The press really influenced a lot of these issues, thereby, anything that comes to the southern part of the country goes to the west, anything that goes to the federal capital goes to the west and the north was simply contented with the position of being leaders only.

In the case of traditional rulers, some tribes have promoted their various traditional rulers as first class chiefs, emirs, obas, olu etc and being recognised by the Federal Government while others are being portrayed as puppets of those first class traditional rulers. It is sad to know that a government at the centre which is supposed to be impartial towards every tribe has now become a tool of oppression. In the same vain, it has become a caricature that a government in the centre now re-creates another government in the name of traditional rulers to oversee all other tribes.

Therefore, the western press did a lot of damage by always placing the Ijawman as an Igbo man. The western press had always reported quarrels on the street among people as part of the struggle. Even if you are unduly treated in an office, when you react, they say that is Niger Delta struggle. Local government area which was created for the Ijaws were taken by the Itsekiri, by moving the Headquarter to their town outside the Local Government but when they say no, they say, it is Niger Delta struggle. So, when you graduate from their oppressive Universities with quota system attached to it to be admitted as a student (with 0.001% privilege as non-indigene even if you score 90% in JAMB) and you seek for a job, they say, it is Niger Delta struggle. The Ijaws are tramped by Yoruba’s, the Benin’s and Itsekiri’s (common history and background) from the western part while the Igbos is strongly contending with the Ijaws at the eastern part. In all these, the Ijaws are losing out because they are not represented properly at the centre.

For example, in the case of the Igbos, because of the Ijaw man’s culture of a child born by a slave or a bought woman becoming the head of the community, King Jaja of Opobo became the King of the Opobo’s with a bought woman from Igbo land. Today Opobo land is being considered as an Igbo territory. In similar type of story, the Yorubas had claimed that their ancestral father ‘Oduduwa’, came to Ile-Ife with a chain from above and conquered some minor tribes that were there and later ruled over them. Who were these people? Were they the Ijaws? Is it the same spirit ‘Odudu’ which the Ijaws fear up till today? Just like the Vice President had observed in his last speech that, “Some of our traditions are dying may not be news to those who care less of our collective survival as a people.”

Boro also failed as a result of ignorance of the Ijaws and the challenges they were facing. Even now I wonder whether the Ijaws have learnt their lessons. While they were in their comfort zone of plenty fishes and little agricultural support, the present reality have shown that nothing lasts forever.

Today, the Ijaws could not fish anymore because of pollution caused by exploration of crude oil and gas on their lands and rivers whose proceeds are being shared by other tribal leaders who are still parading themselves as national or traditional leaders. The price the Ijawman is paying cannot be quantified. For example, when Bayelsa State was created, it had just only one filling station even though it produces oil, or when their children look for work within the oil fields in their backyard, they have to travel all the way to Lagos or Abuja because the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC) is located in those cities. This reminds me of what Former President Obasanjo did when he came into power, within six (6) months, he changed Nigeria Ports Authority and the maritime Headquarters back to Lagos and at the same time, was bombing Odi village.  He [Obasanjo] never waited for any legislation or consultation to move these Headquarters’ back to Lagos knowing fully well that it will not benefit his people if they are sighted in Abuja. Reference to retired Major Umar Article in the Daily Independent Newspaper of 15 July 2008 where he stated that, “I also want it to be on record that the essence of fighting in that area is because the Nigerian Navy is at the vanguard of bunkering of oil in that area. They don’t want stability in that area so that if there is stability, the amount of money they are siphoning out of this country through illegal means will be stopped completely. This is why the Nigerian Navy is completely from a particular tribe, the South West, tutored by Obasanjo.” However, the same government refused to move neither the NNPC Headquarters’ nor agree for oil companies to move their Headquarters’ to the Niger Delta area because jobs which are presently enjoyed by the Yoruba’s will be taken by the Niger Delta people. When the issue of the formation of the NDDC was requested, it took the National Assembly two years to pass a legislation and the headquarters’ was sited a year after in Port Harcourt instead of Yenegoa to ensure that the Ijawman does not have anything at all. Even when the NDDC was given funds to start; it was given 700 million naira (about 2.5 million pounds) which was far less than the money given to the reconstruction or repairs of Ogunpa River/ stream in Ibadan town of Oyo state. Both Ogunpa and Lagos beach were given 1.5 billion naira respectively in sharp contrast to what was given to the NDDC to start. Even more painfully, a house confiscated by the Federal Government from Late Gen. Abacha which was auctioned at 950 million naira in Lagos. If a house could cost that amount of money, what does Obasanjo expect the NDDC to do with 700 million naira? Is it for building tents? Or photocopying of documents? Or is it meant for sharing? The Niger Delta area is one of the most backward areas of the country today with degradation, pollution, environmental oil spillage, gas flaring, acute unemployment, extreme poverty, no schools and industries and no sign of Federal presence, even though 90% of the Nigerian economy depends on this area. It has nothing to show for it, for example, the schools and Federal industries in Yaba (part of Lagos) are far more than all the schools or Federal presence in the whole of the Niger Delta. This is a sharp contrast to the case when the Western Region was using cocoa (whose house is located in Ibadan, Cocoa House). Today the Ijawman is still making the same mistake of building houses in Lagos and Abuja after they have been compensated with peanuts for making noise about the Niger Delta. I wonder who is going to develop the Niger Delta if we cannot do so as a people from that region. According to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, an Ijawman from the Niger Delta in his opening remarks of last years Boro Day speech that, “... Today, the almighty God has kindly changed my designation to Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and my residential address to Aso Rock Villa...”

 Let us make absolutely clear that today the resource control struggle is perceived to be a struggle of the South-South but in reality it is the struggle of the Ijawman, its resources, lands and rivers and its existence as a tribe. This is because the crisis and the killings are happening in Ijawland and no other place in the South-South. It is at the point whereby the Federal Government wants reconciliation or there is a little compensation or payment, that you will see the rest tribes surfacing themselves as part of the struggle. It is also in Ijawland that soldiers are presently stationed in the South-South and killing our people.

Most sadly, there is no edifice or infrastructure which could be used for conferences in the Ijaw land. When we want to gather, we are always at Lagos or Abuja or London talking about the South-South. I have never seen where AREWA or ODUA meetings are held in any other part of the country except within their geographical area.

 

THE POSITION OF THE NIGERIAN STATE TODAY     
We thank God that Nigeria is practicing democracy today after a long period of military dictatorship and adventure with unitary system of government. According to Late Fela Anikulapo Kuti, “Democracy simply means the Demonstration of craze” we can say that this is a layman’s interpretation of democracy and I hope Nigerians are not laymen. In analysing this issue, the military has consolidated the position of the North and the South-west and also compensated the Igbo’s by recognising them as the third major tribe. In this scenario, the Ijaws are the Guinea Pigs whose resources are still being shared among these three tribes. As retired Major Umar remarked in his article, “Secondly we must not forget why they don’t want stability in that area. All the Generals in the Armed Forces of Nigeria today, all of them have oil blocks in that area. Are the oil blocks in their own states of origin? But then they are disfranchising this people and the same constitution made us citizens of this country. We have the same equal and moral rights to be citizens of this country. So there is no justification whatsoever to fight the Niger Delta. If we want to fight, the Chadians have been infiltrating this country, let’s go and fight the Chadians. But the Niger Delta people are fighting for their own rights. They are not saying they don’t want to be Nigerians what they are saying is that they should be given equal rights like any citizen of this country. What is Borno State contributing to this country? What is Sokoto State contributing to this country? You are using their money to develop the Sharia States. All the governors of the 19 northern states have been accused by the then Chairman of the EFCC to have looted their states treasuries. And the money actually came from the Niger Delta area. So what moral justifications have we to war with them? Let’s arrest these corrupt people first, try them, retrieve this money and see what we can do to that area. There is no development in that area. This people have the moral right to agitate. And I am one who is saying that they have every right to agitate for what they are doing and we have no moral right to send any troop there.”

The constitution is created based on these parameters, states and local governments were created based on these parameters. As Late Fela Anikulapo Kuti said, this is a clear demonstration of craze by the constitution towards the Ijaw people. This is because the Ijawman is neither here or there in any of the states and therefore cannot be represented properly at the federal level.

Now asking the Ijawman to follow constitutional means is like a scenario where there are nine thieves and one owner. The ten men constitution in this scenario says that, the owner should look for legal means of ensuring that he has a majority vote among them. Obviously, it is an impossible scenario. Therefore, stealing will become a legal entity just like Nigeria.

The June 12 struggle of 1993 led to Obasanjo becoming the president of Nigeria, despite all the condemnation of his administration by Nigerians, the major beneficiaries were the Yorubas. The Ijaws whole heartedly supported the struggle by boycotting the constitutional conference organised by Late General Sani Abacha. However, the Yorubas were properly represented at that conference. The Yorubas never left the struggle for street protest only but almost everything which were controlled by them were totally crippled because the elites and technocrats along with the street boys joined the struggle. Today, Ijaw leaders are still looking for constitutional means of addressing the Niger Delta struggle. Where the youths have struggled and some people are given appointments then they will say, please, I do not want any problems but they end up being stooges to other tribal leaders. How long can the people of this area bear this?

 Another action taken by the Yorubas was that of the Odua People’s Congress (OPC), a youth organisation formed to protect the Yorubas interest was not only supported by the street boys, elites and technocrats but was supported by the Obasanjo’s Administration. Funds were raised and arms were also given to them by the administration. Today those who parade themselves as Ijaw leaders are still negotiating in Abuja and Lagos. I wonder when we will learn our lessons. I am disturbed because our children are still going to fight because our fathers refuse to fight for our rights and we are also refusing to fight for it. Let me make reference again to Umar’s article when he said, “Very good. Now there is nowhere in this country, in the world where a peaceful agitation brings out results. We have seen in the past what happened to Moses in Egypt. The Israelites agitated peacefully for 430 years and they were oppressed y the Pharaohs. And what God did was to destroy the Pharaoh and his troops. And this is exactly what has been happening in the history of the world. Those who fight peacefully end up being brutalised. Zimbabwe got its freedom not on a platter of gold, but by violent agitation. Namibia got its freedom not on a platter of gold but by agitation. South Africa got its freedom not on a platter on gold. They got their freedom by violent agitation. We must not forget that the people that are supposed to protect these individuals are the same people that are oppressing them. The only way they can be heard is by agitation. Ojukwu came with agitation and he was heard at the end of the day. That was why more states were created in the Eastern part of the country so that it would be developed. But what has happened in the Niger Delta? The area is completely creeks, just oil area. The Niger Delta area, the oil it produces is much more than what is produced in Dubai. Today, Dubai’s development is much more than what is happening in the Niger Delta. So I foresee that a peaceful solution cannot bring about changes, then automatically violent revolts can bring about changes.”
No matter how we negotiate, oppressing the Ijaw man looks constitutional and so they will never accept it. They always maintain their position until the Ijaws give up. Negotiation is all about give and take. We are always giving and they are always taking. When you ask, they say it is for the general interest of Nigerians. General interest is a collection of individual interest and so if that interest does not include the Ijaws then how can it be a collective interest? Remember, every creature gives birth to its kind.

For example, Odua People’s Congress (OPC) was operating very freely and their leaders were coming out publicly in TV and radio stations announcing that they (OPC) will protect the Yorubas at any given cost. The Obasanjo Administration had not seen that as a threat to the Nigerian sovereignty. The Ijaws was forced out of Ajegunle and Mile 12 in Lagos while the Ilajes were busy capturing Ijaw lands in Ondo State. The Bakassi boys from the Eastern part of the country were busy bullied along with Ijaw Youths Congress (IYC) from the Niger Delta by the Government; the OPC and Arewa youths were operating freely. Sharia was a no go area for Nigerians to openly and freely discuss but the Niger Delta issue is a general issue discussed, without representation from the Niger Delta.

Today, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is not only targeted by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) but other countries like Britain is being invited to join forces with the Nigerian Troops to properly colonise the Ijaws for the rest tribes of Nigeria. I do not blame these tribal leaders because the Ijaws are not organised like the rest. Even if the approach taken by MEND today seems wrong to so many Nigerians, we the elites, democrats, technocrats, colonised traditional leaders, government stooges etc must remember to join forces with these youth groups to stop this colonisation. The approach might be slightly different but we must be focused. Today, most people who are showing signs of interest in the struggle are not coming with clean hands because they know the source of the problem. Today, Tribal leaders are looting the Niger Delta resources pretending to be government officials. If they are government officials, is the Niger Delta not part of Nigeria? If so, why does the government show blind eye to the development of the area? Even, out of 52 weeks of a year production of crude oil, if one week production is committed to the development of this area for 5 years the crisis will stop, rather, they prefer to play politics with it.

THE POSITIONS OF THE IJAWS AS A TRIBE
The Ijaws who are the fourth largest tribe in Nigeria although balkanised into several states as minorities, covers Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Ondo, Edo, Akwa-Ibam, Lagos and Abia States. In all these states, they are only partially recognised in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers alone, while in the rest they are almost completely absorbed.

To avoid this evil day, the Vice President in his remark at last years Boro day event, had spoken of a seven great cultures, that is, ‘... Collective action, courage and community spirit; Hard work; Love, friendship and brotherhood; Respect for elders; Peace and harmony with the environment; Knowledge and wisdom; Culture of positive resistance.’

This should be a thing of concern, to those who parade themselves as Ijaw leaders and traditional Heads. You cannot be a leader of militants without being one.  Today, Nigerians are saying, it is Ijaw leaders who have stolen the money that came to that place. I doubt this position very strongly because if wealthy Nigerians are counted in that country, I wonder whether any so-called Ijaw leaders could be counted among the first 100. Obviously, they had used their names to steal. Otherwise, from where the Emirs from the north, the Obas from the west and Owelle/ Igwes get their monies from, to become one of the richest men in the country today? Are they the Niger Delta chiefs who we are hearing of? Is that the reason why every president, general, minister and ambassador who retires from active service, wants to be one traditional ruler? Is that the reason why, those strong first class chiefs wants a representation at the centre always to ensure that, the looting of the Niger Delta do not elude them? The way oil blocks (lands) are being shared in the Niger Delta to Nigerians, is it the same way lands from the north, west and east are being shared among Nigerians? Is that the reason why the land use decree is still being used despite the so-called democracy we are practicing? Is that the reason why, the traditional institution is booming today with every household producing princes and princess?

The Boro legacy is better remembered if we can recognise ourselves as a people with the same culture having the same type of difficulties. That is oppressed and its resources being reallocated by other tribal leaders under the pretext of one Nigeria.

Nigeria is a multi tribal society with multiple interest and several reclassifications. The leaders of other tribes have known this as a problem and since the military rule has positioned them properly, they want to retain that position the military dictatorship had placed them. The western press has to be controlled and the Niger Delta people have to be continuously blackmailed so that the wider world will not see the truth. If the Nigerian Government is confident of what they have done for the Niger Delta people, let them show it on video to the whole world; an area which makes Nigeria to be the six largest producer of crude oil (all from the Niger Delta) in the world.

Today, when the Ijaws talk, most Nigerians will tell you, it was the cocoa, groundnut, and coal money that was used to start the oil industry. This is a complete fabrication and lies. The Nigerian Government had never used these monies anywhere neither was these monies reserved for any development. The oil companies used their monies for everything while Nigerian Government officials simply sat and shared the money the oil companies claimed to have realised from the sale of these products. Up till today, the Nigerian Government does not have any means of measuring the quantity of crude oil that leaves the Nigerian shores. When this money comes, they simply divide it among themselves as government officials, traditional rulers etc and wait for the next, the oil companies will declare.

THE WAY FORWARD FOR THE IJAWS
In most cases, crises do not start overnight. Always, it starts in the form of grumbling, rumours, skirmishes, clashes and then political agitation. If not properly handled, the resultant effects are terrorism and finally to war. In most cases, the longer these issues are not resolved the bigger the wound and even where it is heeled, the bigger the scar.

It is a common belief that issues are easily resolved at their early stages than waiting for the appropriate time. The appropriate time of doing anything is the earliest possible time of rumour, clashes and skirmishes and then political agitation. Once issues are not resolved after these stages, the after-math of such silence or pretence is simply the postponement of the evil day.

Modern war-fare neither knows size nor might. The elements of good propaganda and surprise are lethal tools that cannot be eliminated. Moreso, the world order does not have permanent friends but permanent interest. Grouping of interest are everywhere. The days of clear distinctions of classes, tribes and colour are long gone and the whole world is a reclassified-simple-global-village of classes of group of people with common interest.

Man has used centuries to build civilisation up to the point he is. It will take him less than 1% of the same time and effort he used to build to destroy. Every man has the potentiality to destroy but not to create. While man takes conscious effort to guide where he has found himself, create and own property, capture and re-allocate resources, he must also be conscious to reach out to those he has deprived. For those who are deprived, the struggling process is a daily affair which he cannot ignore. For those who had re-allocated resources to themselves, they continue to look out for those who will oppose their new acquisition. Life is a rolling stone, for those who are on top today could be below when it turns down on their side. Man had continues to try to put a wage on this stone but it must roll on. That is why change is the only constant thing in life. Some had decided to put a wage on change, so that, they will only be on the better side of life but God is perfect and this change is a reflection of perfection.

The Niger Delta crisis is all about the Ijawman, there is no other tribe who is strongly agitating for the Niger Delta. That is the more reason why the Nigerian troops are stationed in Ijawland. The proposed  British troops for the Nigerian Army are further actions taken by the Nigerian Government to enslave and continuously colonising these people with stooges from that area as retired Major Umar had clearly remarked in his article that, “The Chief of Defence Staff is from Niger Delta. The Inspector- General of Police is from Niger Delta. The Vice President himself is from the Niger Delta and was among the people who destroyed the region. After all when the former governor of Bayelsa State, in the Niger Delta, Alamesiegha was accused of stealing so many billions, the Vice President was his deputy. What did he do to revamp the situation? Why didn’t they agitate for their people when they were there in power as governors of Niger Delta area? … Because what is happening there is exactly what is happening in Darfur, Sudan. It is the same thing happening in Zimbabwe, Iraq, Iran and Palestine”. This reminds me of the presentation given by Alpha Building Services and Engineering Training in London during the Bayelsa Business Forum held at the Kensington Hotel in June 2006, in respect of Alpha Affordable Homes and Vocational Training Courses. This was meant for training youths on various skills acquisition in the Niger Delta Area and was presented to the Bayelsa State government for implementation. However, till today, nothing has been done.

The British government has forgotten the American revolution of 1770s where they were imposed with various taxes like, New taxes 1764, Stamp Act 1765, Tea Act 1773 etc which finally led to the American Revolution in 1776. Today, Scotland is benefiting from the North Sea Oil in their geographical territory whereby the income per head of Scotland is at a ratio 5:1 compared to England and Wales. Today, Scotland has their own parliament and are still agitating for a break-away from the United Kingdom. This is a sharp contrast with the present day Niger Delta Crisis, where they do not have access to any of their resources.

The Ijaws represents the Niger Delta oil whether by the political or geographical definition of the Niger Delta. There is no other ways by which the Niger Delta crisis can be resolved if the Ijaws are not included. This is the main issue Boro was fighting for, 40 years ago. The Nigerian state had always used various tribal leaders to represent the Ijawman and it has never worked out and they are still struggling to do so.
        
The way forward for the Niger Delta crisis is simple and can be grouped into the following:

• Implementation of the Kaiama declaration.
• Resources relating to the Ijawman MUST be controlled by the Ijaws.
• Fair distribution system where individual state will be contributing to the centre (confederation)
• States and local governments MUST be created to reflect our size as a people.
• Nigeria MUST not be seen as an occupying super power over the Ijaws, but they must be seen as Nigerians and must be given the deserved respect like any other tribe.
• Traditional rulers claiming to be first class and third class which is not part of the Ijawman’s culture should be totally removed from the centre to where they are only applicable.

In all these Federal Government should allow the Ijaws to have a central governing body that will control and oversee the activities of Ijawland and his people, just like the way the Emir of Sokoto represent the Muslim of Nigeria though contested by the Yorubas.

Boro as a leader had envisaged this kind of problem that was coming in the future, because he knew that Nigeria is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-interest with strong cross marriages will be faced with a lot of problems if we continue to conduct ourselves this way. What he highlighted then was seen as being rebellious and Obasanjo/Adekunle took the opportunity to blackmail him and finally was killed. Today the misery is till not solved as to who killed BORO?

For now the Ijaws must carry Boro’s legacy forward irrespective of the side distractions and manipulation by both internal and external forces. The Ijaws must be united and set a goal to achieve i.e. controlling our resources and moving forward as people in a multi tribal society.

On the part of the Ijaws for us to move forward, we MUST re-classify our objective in hierarchical order:

• The Unity of the Ijaws as a tribe of people should be paramount. That is, every Ijaw dialects must identify themselves as Ijaws for us to move forward as a people in Nigeria.
• Communication – We must have common central Ijaw language and information systems like TV, Radio, Internet, Newspaper etc to inform our people to continue with the struggle to ensure that victory is achieved.
• Political Activities – Political activities that will lead us to the centre and redefine the situation, either to accept the Nigerian state as a legitimate State of ours, in which our interest is also protected as other tribes or….
• Development – Conscious efforts should be made by individuals or government representatives, who have Ijaws interest at heart to make little contribution to the well being of the Ijawland while the struggle continues (ALUTA CONTINUAL).
• Youths/cultural activities – I categorically state here that it would have taken us another 100yrs or if possible eliminated by the other tribes if not for the present youths activities in the Niger Delta area. We as elders present here today from Ijawland representing about 60% of Ijaws in Diaspora and the homeland representatives should make conscious efforts to either redefine some of the activities of the youths since we do not know what to do. We should support the youths and stand as elders to advise them on how to move forward. I categorically state here that most of the activities of the youth today are out of frustration either because we do not represent them fairly, as elders or various Federal Government representatives.

CONCLUSION
AAAHHHH! EZON!
The Ijaw People Association (IPA) as been in the vanguard of promoting and bringing Ijaws together to create awareness to the world at large. Just like the way, the IPA President has observed in some of his recent comments relating to the Niger Delta issues that “... Therefore, we appeal to you to persuade the Nigerian Government to do the right thing for the people of the Niger Delta. The people of the region have suffered in silence for over 50 years. ... Every successive government during this period treated the Niger Delta and its people as ‘spoils of war’. The people are now saying enough of this oppression and slavery... ”.
As I have said earlier on, the Ijaws had not learnt their lessons. We are being used by other tribes especially the Yorubas who continue to milk us dry while pretending to be our friends. The Obasanjo’s Administration is one the Ijaws should never forget in a hurry. According to Dr Okadigbo’s remarks, “Obasanjo’s Blunder- In the biggest internal military operation, Nigerian soldiers destroyed an entire village in the restive Niger Delta, igniting local and international condemnation for President Olusegun Obasanjo.”
I wish to add what Mrs Adaka Boro said in relation to the oppression of the Niger Delta People in which she declared that, “A million Obasanjos cannot stop us, the struggle continues.”

Well, let me finally rest my case here with what the IPA President has commented relating to recent issues of the Niger Delta that “They insisted that the people of the Niger Delta are not criminals or a lawless bunch. We are very peaceful and tolerant. Niger Deltans will always choose life so that they and their children may live. But the Nigerian Government has mistaken this great virtue of peaceful co-existence as weakness”.

Sam-James Miriki Hebden
IPA Member
15th August 2008

ALLUTA CONTINUAL!!!  YES WE WILL! YES WE WILL!  YES WE WILL!

 

A few things I need to talk about.
by Benaebi Benatari
Leadership Training Urgent

The Ijaw nation through institutions such as the IYC and INC need to set up a LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAMME and issue certificate of achievement to all who undertake the training. Only then based on actual work experience can a person come out and call him/herself a leader. One of the problems of Ijaw nation is for all manner of persons to claim that they are leaders just because they have held either public office, been in the armed forces or are businessmen, but with no evidence that they have personally contributed to the upliftment of the Ijaw Nation. These categories of people do not know how to unite their immediate close families let alone unite the various interests groups and communities that make up the Ijaw nation. This is a matter of urgency, because of the examples of failed leadership we keep on experiencing.

For Your Perusal

For those who wonder why certain things keep on happening in the world read this.

The security agencies of any country or state are suppose to be an arm of executive policy, of which the executive policy is the implementation of the national development objectives as agreed by the people through their representatives. The role of the security agencies is the protection of such national development objectives from internal and external sabotage. This is the true national interest that must be protected.

When executive policy coincides with national development objectives (Collective Welfare) and security policy is the protection of such national development objectives, we have a relatively peaceful, prosperous and harmonious nation.

When executive policy coincides with selfish personal interest, and security policy is the protection of such a selfish executive policy, then we have a situation of the executive and security agencies in conflict with the people and sections of the population that oppose such a selfish policy. This is the state Nigeria and much of the developing world is in.

Causes of overthrow and coups.

When executive policy is collective welfare and those who control the security forces enforce a policy of protecting selfish business interests, then executive policy and security policy are in conflict. In many instances this has led to the overthrow of legitimate government by security agents. Most African nations have experienced this.

On the global stage, when the rulers of the G8 enforce an executive policy that coincides with selfish business interests (multinational corporations) we have tension, crises and wars in the regions of the world that house the natural resources of the world. When the rulers of the G8 enforce a policy that takes into account the collective welfare of the world (which is rare) we have a minimum of tension, crises and conflicts in the world.

Nigeria is immensely wealthy, just as Africa is immensely wealthy, but our wealth is sapped by the trinity of evil - resource plundering, currency devaluation and corrupt governance. These three tools are used along with bribery, deception and force to keep a developing nation such as Nigeria in a permanent state of underdevelopment. So what is Yar'adua talking about with his vision 2020, when he has not even begun to address the issues of the trinity of evil?

Those who are at the recieving end, such as the region of the Niger Delta and the masses of Nigerians, are caught in the vice-like grip of the trinity of evil. And when they rebel they are labelled militants, terrorists and anarchists, even criminals.

The corrupt elite make things worse by purchasing unnecessary products and guns/weapons to suppress their own populations from the Developed Nations. This is economic and social suicide.

Are the corrupt elite enslaved by their own desires? And does their enslavement lead to the enslavement of the masses?

Or how else did the tran Atlantic slave trade continue for 400 years and how else is Africa being impoverished?

There is a saying in spiritual culture - You have to lose yourself to find yourself, or rephrased, You have to lose your person to find yourself, or rephrased, You will have to kill your selfish desires to find the selfless you, or rephrased You will have to crucify or execute your selfish personality to resurrect the conscience-spirit of God that is within you, or rephrased, they had to crucify Jesus in order to resurrect the Christ - the saviour of the world, or rephrased Jesus had to be crucified in order for the world to be saved from sin.

For positive changes to come sacrifices will have to be made. Sacrifices pertaining to our selfish behaviour - in order to save the Ijaw nation- save Nigeria - save Africa. - Break the chains of bondage, break the chains of corruption that are holding us back from our destiny.

Benaebi

July 14, 2008

Lawlessness and Yet Another Summit in the Niger Delta

By Inemo Samiama

The information I am receiving from my homeland fills me with hope and despair. Hope because I am aware that a summit on the Niger Delta is scheduled to take place in the near future, and I am hoping that the ongoing and enduring conflict in the Niger Delta will be finally and peacefully resolved. And despair, because I’m also aware that there is more and more military build up in the Niger Delta region, and we know that the theatre of any future conflict will be in our homeland, and my people will be most affected by any military operations carried out in the region. Examples of past military excesses and atrocities are many in the region.

Continue reading "Lawlessness and Yet Another Summit in the Niger Delta" »

Who is fooling who

by Benaebi Benatari

Who does Yar'Adua think he is fooling. He is in Japan telling who ever cares to listen that he wants help to solve the Niger Delta crises, that they should help in stopping illegal arms shipment and theft of crude oil.

Meanwhile his boys and girls are busy burying the EFCC and other anticorruption bodies. His brother Northerners of the AREWA blame Niger Delta governors for the present crises, but conveniently forget the role they have played. Their claim is true, but the ex governors who looted Niger Delta State resources are being protected by Yar'Adua as we speak. Some have planned and threatened to kill Ijaw leaders such as E K Clark, they are pretending not to know. The big time bunkerers are being protected by Yar'Adua as we speak. He is appealing to Gordon Brown to help. We in the UK will be informing the British PM that it is the Niger Delta that needs help, not the Yar'Adua regime.

For those of us who insist on attending the forthcoming summit, stop and think. What will be achieved when the current President is committed to protecting those who are the main cause of the problems? As I have stated before. Show me the evidence of sincerity of purpose of an administration that claims it is genuinely interested in resolving the problems of the Niger Delta.

The evidence before our eyes is an administration, or is it regime that is entrenching itself in more corruption and is prepared to loot even more than the past ones, despite the game of deception being played by Yar'Adua.

It is not rocket science to figure this out. If criminals continue to go scot free then crime will continue to increase. It may become more sophisticated, more hidden, more complex, but it will still increase, and the country will suffer. Many more will have to suffer, many more will have to die until the madness stops. The articles below makes us question IS YAR'ADUA REALLY IN CONTROL? IF HE IS, THEN WHY CAN'T HE ACT ON HIS PROMISES? IF HE IS NOT, THEN WHO IS?

Read on
Farida Waziri appoints former Bukola Saraki’s “Chief Security Officer”, ACP Abdulkadir Lanre Jimoh to head new team at the EFCC.

Last View on Thu 10th July, 2008
Last Modified on Tue 08th July, 2008 2:24:38 pm
Author: Posted by Admin Sahara
Saharareporters, NEW YORK

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has appointed Abdukadir Lanre Jimoh, a recently promoted Assistant Commissioner of Police to head one of its key enforcement teams. Mr. Jimoh was the main “hitman” for the Sarakis in Ilorin, Kwara state. He is a notoriously wealthy police officer popularly known as “Lanre Olopa” in Ilorin because of his mob enforcement capabilities for the Sarakis . Jimoh has since resumed to the EFCC.

Saharareporters could not immediately confirm his new designation but EFCC sources said Bukola Saraki has directed Waziri to allow him manage “Governance Team” , a team formerly managed by Ibrahim Magu who has been redeployed to the Nigerian police headquarters in Abuja.

Sources in the Nigerian Police Force, which seconded Mr. Jimoh to the EFCC, told Saharareporters that his recruitment to the EFCC clears the way for a total take over of the agency by corrupt former and current state governors.

Last Friday, Mrs. Farida Waziri, who attended a two –day Commonwealth Business Council in London, fired 10 team leaders at the EFCC who were directly involved in prosecuting corrupt former governors. One of the top team leaders that was sacked is currently involved with the prosecution of James Ibori, the former governor of Delta State who faces multiple corruption charges before a Federal High Court in Kaduna. Also, the officer who investigated the looting of Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria PLC, the commercial bank ruined by the Saraki family was sacked.

Officers of the London Metropolitan Police met with Mrs. Waziri last Friday to discuss ongoing collaboration with the EFCC under her leadership, however, they are very disappointed to learn of the removal of key officers earlier trained at the EFCC to assist with UK related investigations, especially the removal of the officer investigating James Ibori’s case at the EFCC.

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---
Mrs. Farida Waziri, the new Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss has concluded plans to scuttle the ongoing trial of former governor of Delta State, James Ibori. The EFCC chairperson who is currently attending a Commonwealth Business Council meeting in London secretly redeployed Bello Yahaya, a Superintendent of Police back to the Nigerian Police headquarters in Abuja. Prior to his redeployment, Bello was the key EFCC officer who investigated Ibori for massive corruption and graft while he was the governor of Delta State from 1999 to 2007. Bello who had trained with the London Metropolitan Police, was the designated officer handling cases involving the London Metropolitan Police in Nigeria. Bello is yet to be given a new posting by the police authorities in Abuja. With his removal Ibori’s case will lose its key investigating police officer.

In what has now become a Friday tradition at the EFCC, Mrs. Waziri signed off on the transfer of Osita Nwajah, EFCC’s spokesman to Enugu where he will serve as an assistant director for the EFCC. The Enugu office is an outstation headed by a Head of Operations, several levels below Osita’s current rank in the agency. This is seen by observers as a demotion aimed humiliating him to resign. This is the second time Osita will be transferred in the last two weeks on the assumption that he is being deployed to serve as the media anchor for the Enugu office.

Also redeployed is the former head of the banking and fraud unit Muhammed Wakili, an Assistant Commissioner of Police who was until his redeployment the deputy director of operations. He is known to have acted for Ibrahim Lamorde, the former acting Chairman of EFCC. Wakilli has been deployed to Gombe a relatively new office which hardly handles more than a dozen cases per month.

Bukar Abba, the deputy director of organizational services at the headquarters has also been transferred to Gombe as an accounts officer. His former position like that of Dapo Olorunyomi has been phased out of the EFCC.

It is believed that in seeking to remove all of EFCC officials seen to be loyal to the former chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, Mrs.. Waziri also removed Bala Ciroma, the head of operations at the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. His office is also being scrapped because of his reported loyalty to the former minister of the FCT –Nasir El - Rufai, a known friend of Nuhu Ribadu. s friend, Ciroma is also yet to be redeployed by the Nigerian Police headquarters.

The head of legal operations in the Lagos office, Saidu Atteh said to be one of the finest officers in the Lagos office of the EFCC and Emeka Nwonyi, the head of operations in Gombe has also been redeployed back to the police headquarters.

Another investigator, Abubakar Madaki, who has worked on the corruption investigations of several former governors including those of Ekiti and Oyo State, Ayodele Fayose, Rashidi Ladoja and his deputy, Bayo Alao Akala, as well as the celebrated case of the “Vaswani Brothers” has also been redeployed back to the police in Abuja.

Also swept off is the highly dreaded investigator, Ibrahim Magu who until his redeployment was a versatile investigator who moved between Abuja and Lagos offices of the EFCC.

Saharareporters had revealed how corrupt former governors recruited Mrs. Waziri. We also reported that she received a list of officers to be removed before she resumed office. A presidency official knowledgeable about her so-called “restructuring” told our reporters that, “she has carried out the agreement between her, the Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki as well as Ibori to the letter”.

Another EFCC official who spoke on the basis of anonymity with Saharareporters said, “Her decisions have come on Fridays since she resumed office and all these Fridays of decision announcements are characterized by an all day power failure when even the agency's power generating systems remain shut down. This reality has led commission staff to dub every Friday as "Dark Fridays".

MEANWHILE

Waziri wants psychiatric tests for public officers
Accuses UK, others of aiding graft
From Florence Oretade, Abuja
CHAIRMAN of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri has canvassed through psychiatric tests for all aspiring public office holders.

advertisement
According to her, most of the negative character traits exhibited by public officers in the country, especially massive looting of the treasury, are symptoms of mental illness.
Waziri also accused Western nations, especially the United Kingdom (UK) of aiding graft in Africa by making it easy for stolen funds to be lodged in their banks.

She spoke during a visit by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), to the commission in Abuja to seek its collaboration in fighting corruption.

She said: "I told the Met (Metropolitan) Police out there that 'you are creating the avenues for our monies to be taken here. Take a resolution to the United Nations that anybody coming out of Africa to fix money in your banks, they should be cross checked from the home country, otherwise you don't open the account.'"

If conditions are provided in opening accounts with the banks in these places, it would have gone a long way at curbing the act of corruption by African leaders, she said, adding:

"But the situation is that there are so many off-shore accounts and sometimes, when the account holders die, the money go to the countries unknown to many. These are the areas we are working on."

Waziri declared that her vision was to eradicate corruption, economic crimes and other crimes in the country and remove Nigeria from the most corrupt countries of the world to the best, non- corrupt country.

Besides, she proposed that a mental medical screening be included before granting appointment to public office holders to enable the country ascertain their mental health. According to her, massive stealing by public officers are symptoms of mental illness.

According to her, if an appointment were to be done, maybe, besides the security report, there was a need for mental medical report of people because of the primitive accumulation of wealth that some individuals engage in.

"You know, if you are stealing what you need, it is a different thing but if you are grabbing left right and centre through out, then your character should be called to question."

This, she said, is necessary to help many Nigerians who cannot even raise a voice against some of these practices. "They can not feed three square meal while those who occupy public offices through elections, return to their villages, demolish their shanties and replace them with paradise with no regard for their neighbours who can not feed. This is merciless," she added.

She disclosed that the Commission will soon launch its anti-corruption revolution policy, a first of its kinds where most Nigerians will come to work with the EFCC.

On the reason for his visit, Agbakoba said that the present EFCC law was too narrow to accommodate the heavy work it is doing to fight corruption.

He stressed that the ongoing probe at the National Assembly had to be dealt with care to avoid ridiculing the government itself.

He said while the probes are necessary, the media should endeavour not to raise a frenzy out of it like in the case of the transport minister because in my opinion she had done nothing wrong.

His words: "I will urge the media not take a frenzy out of this like in the case of Minister of Transport, Deziane Madueke. I did not see anything wrong in what she did because if am a Minister I must disburse funds. But if at anytime I disburse funds and it becomes an object of probe you wont get anybody again working for the government.

"So it is important to understand, if there are genuine probes those probes, needs to be dealt with, but to now make every money the government spends a matter for probe ridicules the government.

"Right now there is no government. Everybody at the National Assembly from NNPC to mint, name it all and is also affecting government work. The probes are necessary as the oversight function of the National Assembly, but they must be done very carefully and for a very good reason. Otherwise, it will become a joke, I will ask a question: " what has happened to the first probe on Petroleum Technology development Fund."

He proposed to Waziri a Crime Act that will be a wider law and provide enough latitude to catch the perpetrators of corruption, unlike the present one that is a bit narrower and specific.

On the assessment the Nigerian Bar Association is conducting on EFCC operation, he said he was happy that things are turning out bright because the commission is institutionalizing itself.

"The EFCC works, I see in three phases, the investigation, prosecution and recovery. The collaboration will enhance speedy trials and prosecution.

The quality of lawyers, method of prosecution by the commission needs to be upgraded and the charge sheet also has to be reduced to avoid complexity in the cases to achieve positive result, he advised.

He said: "I have always wondered why EFCC will charge a person with 300 count and come with five volumes of evidence whereas if you charge him on two count and ten pages of charge sheet you can win. Clever lawyers are entitled to do their job to make this more complex getting conviction and injunctions keep coming. But if you have a two count charge and put the man in prison for 20 years, it is enough deterrent. So those are the areas I hope EFCC will change-making the charges less, evidence less. Then you get your conviction quicker."

Also speaking in Ibadan, at the 4th Justice Muri Okunola Memorial lecture organised by the National Association of Muslim Law students, Lagos Governor, Babatunde Fashola, tasked African leaders to shun corruption by offering accountable leadership. He also admonishes citizens to also ask their leaders to give account of their stewardship.

Fashola, who was represented on the occasion by his Special Adviser on Religious Matters, Mr. Hakeem Kosoko said, "The general principle of leadership is to uphold justice while leaders should see themselves as servants and reform the citizens morally, politically, intellectually and economically. "

© 2003 - 2005 @ Guardian Newspapers Limited (All Rights Reserved)

The proof is in the pudding, Show me the evidence

by Benaebi Benatari

The proof is in the pudding, show me the evidence that the Yar'adua administration means well for the Niger Delta and Nigeria, or is it just buying time.

I have searched high and low for some evidence of good faith. Some say he is into strategic planning, that strategic planning takes time. REALLY?

He does not need time to release NDDC funds owed to it.
He does not need time to conduct Okah's trial in the open.
He does not need time to act on the ongoing probes that have unmasked corruptions left right and centre.
He does not need time to allow the EFCC to perform its job of ridding the nation of corruption.
He does not need time to send a bill to the national assembly increasing the derivation amount to 50%

He does need time to buy time in order to entrench the regime in further corrupt activities.

He only needs time if he is afraid. Afraid of what? one might ask

It is a case of one former corrupt regime, handing over to another corrupt regime. Yar'adua has so far demonstrated that he is on the side of corruption and the status quo that loots Niger Delta resources. That is why he needs time. If he was sincere and genuine, he would need no time. If he was sincere and genuine, but surrounded by corrupt advisors and ministers, he would get rid of them and constitute a fresh team to deliver his 7 point agenda.

Maybe he is taking his time because ultimately he is not in control. Is that why he is afraid? If Yar'adua is not in control who is? Who are the sinister forces dictating the tunes that Yar'adua is dancing to. The Niger Delta people are not fools. We need to know who are the real rulers of the country. If we are to sit down and talk, we want to talk to the actual rulers, not the puppets. But we are no in the mood to talk, we want action. Demonstrable, quantifiable, measurable action.

Yar'adua prefers to budget N400 Billion for Niger Delta security. Of course this money is destined to go into a few corrupt pockets. If he was serious he would allocate this money and much more to the NDDC.

As I see it, he prefers to prolong the crises so as to make money out of it. We understand the game now. Vote large sums of money for security and since security is shrouded in secret, the money can be siphoned. He can continue to claim to be honest and sincere with no paper trail to prove that it is to the contrary.

The Yar'Adua administration knows by now who are the main big time oil bunkerers. Is he one of them? His famliy is into oil business. The Yar'Adua Administration knows who are hindering the process. Why is it afraid of the sinister forces of the NNPC cabal, the former/present governors club, the oil/gas block thieves club.

The words of the GREAT ORACLE spoke some time ago, Yar'adua refused to heed the warning. I know he got the message. Let me repeat it again. The Yar'adua administration will continue to be a failure until it breaks the chains that keep it bondage to the shackles of corruption. The Regime inspite of its executive power is afraid of the likes of IBB, OBJ, Ibori, Odili, Saraki, criminal-elements in the security services, all agents of insecurity and national distablisation. As long has it continues to take direction from such negative destructive forces, we will not trust them to deliver. The downfall of the administration is a matter of time. Never underestimate the prayers and collective meditations of the good people of Nigeria. The Will of the Collective Interest must prevail over the selfish interest. It may take time, put the collective will prevail.

Yar'Adua is attempting just like OBJ, ABACHA and IBB before him to build a 'tower of babel' by keeping the Niger Delta in bondage. It shall surely tumble and all will end in confusion. So says the GREAT ORACLE.

The Yar'adua administration can step over the threshold and initiate the process of freeing the Niger Delta from bondage, or it can give in to the fear of 'big bullies' the vested selfish interests. Either way it can reap the rewards or take the blame and consequences of failure.

Once the Niger Delta is free the rest of Nigeria will become free and geniune peace prosperity and social harmony will commence. If the Niger Delta continues to be held in bondage, the Nation will not know peace.

We are fast approaching a major judgement hour, will the leaders of Nigeria face this divine tribunal with fear and dread, or with a joyful heart that they have turned their backs on wickedness?

Our Ijaw Language

by Inemo Samiama

Let me take this opportunity to commend Prof. Alagoa, Binaebi and others for all the fantastic work they’ve been doing on the history of the Ijaw people and their language. It is important to know where we come from and how our language and dialects has changed and evolved through the years.
I must admit that I am more worried about the present state of the Ijaw language.In order for a language to stay vibrant, to blossom and be alive, it has to be spoken, it must be used and taught, we have to pray and sing with it, Identify with it, be proud of it, celebrate it, to nurture it, to protect it, have fun and share jokes with it and pass it on from generation to generation.
It is a known fact that there are lots of disappearing dialects in the world today. The Ijaw language must
not be among those.

I have been away from the homeland for quite some time, but during my short visits home I did observe
that some relatives and Ijaw friends in Yenagoa, Port-Harcourt and Lagos could not speak the Ijaw
language. When questioned, their reaction was that it was not really important so they couldn’t be
bothered. I have observed the same attitude in some of our kinsmen and women in Europe. Some of these people are quite proud to be fluent in Yoruba and other languages. And they do like to show off those Yoruba language skills at every given opportunity. It is true that some of our parents migrated to Ghana, Lagos and other non-Ijaw territories where some of us were born. That has made it more difficult for some of us to master the Ijaw language. Of course I understand that it is not easy, but it is the total lack of interest in the Ijaw language among some of us that bothers me.As if speaking our mother tongue is irrelevant, not important or useful. My spoken Ijaw is far from perfect, but I will seize every opportunity to speak the Ijaw language, learn a new word or encourage a fellow Ijaw person to speak with me.

Our culture and language are crucial to our identity and existence as a unique and distinctive group of
people. The protection and development of our language should be high on the agenda of our state government and leaders. The protection of our culture and identity cannot be left to market forces. Most western governments (especially the French) vote substantial sums of money to support, develop and protect their language and culture. They realise that their culture has to be protected, that it could be diluted and threatened by other larger and stronger cultures and languages. It might not look like a priority compared to other needs such as providing the basic necessities (health facilities, education, food, security) to our long suffering people, but we should not ignore our culture and language, as we might live to regret it as a people.

I’ve come to the conclusion that some of us are simply too ashamed to speak our Ijaw language. That is really sad and dangerous, because loving thyself equals to loving who you are, where you come from, your language and culture, your food and your history. Loving our Ijawness is learning to speak the Ijaw language, and teaching our children how to speak our language. Our language should be cherished, loved, protected, defended, used, used and used, spoken by the old and young in our schools, families, gatherings and in our state radio and television stations. I have never been a fan of Wazobia, but I will forever be at the forefront of the battle to develop and protect the Ijaw language.
I have also observed a tendency among some of our people to reject their Ijawness when they become born again Christians. As if there is some sort of incompatibility between being a born again Christian and respecting and appreciating our Ijaw culture. No more “Oru”, ”Awigiri” and “Egbesu” stories and stuff like that. Strictly gospel music. No devil music, devil culture, our culture… the Ijaw culture. I believe that one can be a good devoted Christian and still be a proud Ijaw man or woman. This is not criticism, it is an observation.

As a music producer working in Europe, I wish to see the Ijaw language as vibrant as Wolof, Zulu, Yoruba and others. I wish to hear young Ijaw singers singing R&B music with the Ijaw language, I want to see youths rapping and toasting with the Ijaw language just like they do with Zulu and Xhosa language (Kwaito music in South Africa), Ga, Ashanti and Fanti with Hip life in Ghana and Arabic (Rai music from North Africa). So that other youths can identify, enjoy and sing along to their songs in Ijaw. So that our children will not feel that the Ijaw music of King Robert Ebizimor is only for their parents. Most of our youths might not identify with the music of King Robert Ebizimor, but rather with 50 Cents or Beyonce. That is normal; it is just a generation thing. If young people sing and rap with the Ijaw language, other Ijaw kids will love it. I know they will because I’ve seen it happen in South Africa, Senegal, Gambia, Ghana and in the Yoruba land. This is a very effective way of keeping the younger generation interested in our Ijaw language.

It is the responsibility of every Ijaw man and woman to take the necessary measures to ensure that the Ijaw language continue to exist and flourish.

inemo@lineone.net

Nigeria We Hail Thee......

by Inemo Saamiama

The attitude of my fellow Nigerians to the plight of the people of the Niger delta bothers me a
lot. The comments one hears from some Nigerians who are not from the Niger delta about the crisis
there are simply shocking. The refusal by some Hausas, Ibos, Yorubas and other tribes to see anything wrong with the exploitation, abuses, chronic underdevelopment and total lack of basic infrastructures in the Niger delta, despite generating the bulk of the countries revenue is quite simply mind-boggling.

I’ve had the opportunity of debating the Niger delta situation with Nigerians from other tribes in my
travels across Europe, some felt that the situation is unjust and should be corrected. Others are of the opinion that the people of the Niger delta are too nice (a polite way of saying we are “mumu”, “mungu”, “ode” ,etc) to have tolerated the situation for so long. I remember joining many other Nigerian students to protest against the apartheid regimes in S.Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia because of the injustices we felt was being perpetrated against the black people. Many Nigerians supported the Nigerian governments various peace making ventures in Chad, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Darfur, spending billions of oil money to bring peace and stability to those countries. Yet, I have not heard about any mass protest by students or other Nigerians calling for justice or a change in the federal government policies in the region.
After all, injustice is injustice, whether in Bayelsa, Nigeria or Palestine. All they want is peace in the Niger delta, so that they can continue to pump the oil in our land without any hindrance.

There are numerous articles, books, documentaries, fact finding missions, enquiries and news reports
on the Niger delta, so I reckon that most people in Nigeria today are aware of the true state of things in
the region. Yet there is no clamour from the majority of Nigerians to resolve the Niger delta crisis. Maybe it is because the fighting is taking place in the Niger delta and not in Lagos, Abuja or Kaduna.

Even more shocking is the fact that the country is full of God fearing Christians, pastors, priests and Hajj
going Moslems, alhajis and alhajas, preaching Christian love, loving thy neighbour, giving and sharing. Yet when it comes to the Niger delta story, all these bible and Koran carrying religious people simply refuse to see anything wrong with the present state of affairs in the region. Especially the leaders, decision makers and all those in the corridors of power. Even Obasanjo is a born again Christian.

The question is why?????

Are Nigeria and the Nigerians so drunk with this oil from the Niger delta that they cannot see injustice
when it is staring at them in the face?. Are they so addicted (like crack addicts) to oil that they are afraid that the people of the Niger delta might prevent them from getting their next “fix” of oil, if they admit that something is terrible wrong with the way Nigeria is exploiting, brutalising, and maltreating the people there. And yet they want peace.

And now we are hearing that 224billion naira withheld by Obasanjo from the NDDC has simply expired. Really!!! So our region and our people have been short changed again.

All this has been going on for a very long time. And they continue to pump out the oil from the Niger delta. And they continue to make their money, develop their areas and enrich themselves. We all know this oil will not last forever, after all there is an expiry date.

So the question is how do we Niger deltans accept such callous, disrespectful and abusive treatment from our own government. Can one actually love a country that shows you no love?

Will you fight and die for such a country?

Nigeria we hail thee…(sorry I can’t remember the rest of the anthem)

inemo@lineone.net

The Niger Delta Struggle - Time is not on our side

by Inemo Samiama

My fellow Ijaw people, let me clearly state here that time is running out for us with regards to oil and gas in our land. You don’t have be Einstein to know that in the next 20 – 50 years, most of the oil wells in the Niger delta will probably dry out. When that day arrives, the oil companies, the wajobia business men
and the soldiers will all pack up their bags and leave the Niger delta. The oil boom (doom?) will be over.
Remember Oloibiri!

And we will end up with a devastated environment that might take over 200 years to recover.
Our ecosystem including plants, trees, fishes and animals might never recover.
Our people will be left cursing themselves and their leaders for what they could have done and didn’t do.
We will be left wondering about what happened to all the billions of dollars generated from the oil and gas exploration in our land. We will be asking ourselves how we allowed others to take all this money away while we stood aside and watched them. We will hide our faces in shame every time we see images of other oil producing areas such as Dubai, Libya and Venezuela.

There might be 2-5% of our people who will be laughing and smiling to the bank, and thanking God
for the oil that was found in our land, but the vast majority of our people will be looking at the shining
lights of Abuja, Lagos, Abeokuta and will be really pissed off, envious, angry, bitter and traumatised.
Those of us that wanted peace will finally have peace, because there won’t be any more struggle. At least not with outsiders, although there is the possibility that we might turn against one another to fight for the left overs. And something tells me it is not going to be pretty.

It is quite possible that without oil and gas, the Sharia people might feel that they do not want to have anything to do with us the infidels any more. Just too much trouble. And they might decide to separate from us so that they can exploit the iron ores and other minerals in their land which has been left untouched, while they’ve been bingeing on the Niger delta oil. The word “One Nigeria” will become a Latin word. Expired! Extinct! (Like the NDDC 244billion naira)

A reminder! This is just my artistic mind running wild.

Those of us that collaborated with the outsiders to commit such a crime (because it is a crime) against
our people will run to their properties and bank accounts abroad. All those who sold their souls, daughters and dignity to the politicians for T-shirts and beers will finally wake to realise that they have been screwed big time.

Wait a minute. No need to bring out the Kleenex and handkerchiefs just yet, it is not too late. We can
still make Nigeria, the oil companies, the Americans, the Chinese and all the others listen to us. It will demand courage, determination, standing together and even more sacrifices.

If the world economy is going to be affected, so be it. Our future well being, development and survival is at stake here.

If a few careers and positions of Niger delta politicians and civil servants are threatened, so be it. The welfare of 98% of our people is more important.

Practical solutions?

• Pro-active, coordinated and mass engagement of all sons and daughters of the Niger delta in a national and international campaign to highlight the Niger Delta crisis.
• Keep our story in the news and the pages of the newspapers all the time.
• Get others involved, we can’t do it alone.
• More initiatives like the Preye initiative.
• Organise peaceful protest marches and sit in’s.
• Instead of wearing T.shirts with politician’s faces, wear one with a message about the struggle. Car bumper stickers, badges, etc.
• Know who the enemies are. Show some love to your fellow Niger Deltan
• Don’t pretend all is well in our land. Speak about it, writers should write, singers should sing, Lawyers must quote the law books.

We’ve always been known as very welcoming and hospitable people. And it is true that we’ve welcomed the slave merchants, the palm oil traders and today the oil workers. Show your displeasure.
We don’t have to threaten them with guns (the freedom fighters will do that),
But the rest of us should show these invaders in our land that we are not happy. You don’t have to smile or laugh with them. Show them in a subtle manner that they are not welcomed in our land anymore. Make them feel uncomfortable.

Some of us have expressed the need for us to stand united. It is a necessity now. Yes, there is a need for us to concentrate on the bigger picture. Pull together in the same direction and speak with one voice (maybe 2 but not more).

We are in our land, our territory and our home. They are the uninvited invaders. Our struggle is
just.

I can’t wait to see the outcome of the peace talks. We want change, we demand change and one way or the other, we’ve got to have some positive change in the Niger Delta.

But my people, time is not on our side.

Bless you all.

inemo@lineone.net

Niger Delta - We need the outside world

by Inemo Samiama

In order to resolve this crisis in our land, we will have to engage the governments, legislators and
people of other nations, especially the western powers to come to our aid. They are part of the problem,
so they will have to be part of the solution. This is a must, a necessity.

The Nigerian authorities will not change their ways without external pressure from the buyers of the
oil and gas from the Niger Delta. There are many examples of citizens of western nations, protesting, petitioning and querying their governments through their legislators, senators and representatives, thereby leading to a change of policy in their governments. A few examples are, the apartheid regime in South Africa, East Timor and the on-going struggle in Tibet.

Obviously, our state and federal legislators has a significant role to play, as well as VP Jonathan Goodluck. I think we should not over-estimate their ability to change 40 years of abusive and oppressive policies by the various Nigerian governments against our people. Nigeria is used to taking the Ijaws and the people of the Niger Delta for granted.

Some western governments might want the Niger Delta crisis resolved, not because they love us, but because it’s in their economic/strategic interest to do so. It’s also a fact that they are more likely to pay attention to the voices of their own citizens whose votes can put then in or out of power, than our pleas.
But there is a need to bring our plight to the attention of the world, it will make a huge difference.

Nigeria’s solution to the solving the Niger Delta crisis has been through intimidation, brutality and buying/paying off key individuals and personalities in our Ijawnation. Obasanjo was a master of this game. Most of our chiefs and leaders have been compromised by their greed. Most Ijaw sons and daughters holding federal government positions are simply pursuing their careers and are answerable only to who ever appointed them and pays their salaries. Their scope of manoeuvring is quite limited, if they want to continue benefiting from the system. It might not be in their interest to rock the boat, not even for a so called Ijaw struggle.

We need the outside world, we need their legislators, ministers, humanitarians and concerned citizens to
help us to resolve this crisis. We can't do it alone. It shouldn't be one or the other. we need a heavy
and sustained internal and external pressure on the Nigerian authorities, for them to realise once and for
all that, it won't be business as usual in the Niger Delta anymore.

inemo@lineone.net

Control of information from the Niger Delta

by Inemo Samiama

I wish to draw the attention of members of the Ijawnation to the very dangerous new tactics of the
Nigerian government with regard to the presence of foreign journalists, humanitarian activists and other
concerned individuals in the Niger Delta. This new tactics of accusing foreigners who are involved in
exposing the atrocities and the oppressive actions of the Nigerian military, the unethical behaviour of the
oil companies as well as the deplorable living conditions of the people of the Niger Delta of espionage should be exposed and resisted.
We should not allow the Nigerian government to prevent the outside world from knowing what is happening in the Niger Delta.

The case of the Nigerian foreign minister who tried to use the government propaganda machine to deny the accurate and factual reportage of the CNN African correspondence Jeff Koinage is still very fresh in our memories. It goes without saying that it will be almost impossible for Mr.koinage to come back to the Niger Delta with a visa issued by the Nigerian authorities.

The Nigerian authorities, the multinational oil companies, the British, American, Chiness, French and
other western governments will all want to keep the suffering, cries and pleas of our people away from
their public, because they know that public opinion can be influenced by information on how local tribes
are being abused and oppressed by their own multinational companies. Obviously, all they want to
do is to continue to pump the oil from the Niger Delta without any public protest or outcry.

The Nigerian government is also very concerned about its image in the international community, and is
trying to portray an image of a democratic country in which the rule of law reigns. We all know the truth
about what is happening on the ground. The dictatorial tendencies from Obasanjo to the present government will not disappear over night. We have to be extremely vigilant about the activities of the Nigerian authorities in their various manoeuvres to shut out the Niger Delta from the international community.

Every single atrocity by the occupational forces in the Niger Delta should be exposed, every incidence of
rape by a Nigerian soldier should be documented, every incidence of army brutality should be noted and
communicated to human rights organisations such as Amnesty international and Human Rights Watch. Every opportunity should be seized to expose the suffering, oppression, abuses and the deplorable living
conditions of our people to the outside world. We must never allow the Nigerian authorities to dictate or
decide what news comes out the Niger Delta. We owe it to our grand mothers and fathers, as well as to our children and great grand children to force and implement that change that will lead us to RESOURCE CONTROL in the Niger Delta.

The propaganda war is as crucial as the armed struggle. Nigeria would like to and is trying to
control the flow of information from the Niger Delta. We should be aware, resist and fight
against this by any means necessary. What is going on in our land should be exposed for the world to see and hear.

The whole of the Niger Delta is becoming a restricted security zone. While people from other regions in Nigeria move about freely in their areas, the people of the Niger delta are being boxed into restricted, sensitive high security zones. Where excessive military presence, extra judicial killings and all sorts of atrocities are allowed to be committed by the Nigerian security forces.

We were in our land before Nigeria was created, before the white men came, before oil was discovered
and the oil companies came. It is our fundamental human right to live peacefully, with unrestricted and total freedom of movement in our land.

Most of the information about the Niger Delta region and militants from the Nigerian Government officials is pure propaganda, and the Nigerian authorities are just preparing the ground for even more draconian laws to control the occupied Niger Delta territory.

We all wish for a peaceful Ijawland, where progress and development will flow like the River Nun to our
long suffering people. Yes, most of us will like to wish away or pretend that there is no "struggle" and
there are no troubles in the Ijawland. That we have peace and love in Nigeria, with unity and fraternity in this our "Wazobia" one Nigeria.

The truth is that, the Niger Delta is an occupied territory. We are under military occupation, and
any soldier can shoot, arrest and beat up any Nigerian or foreigner in our land and get away with it.

Yesterday, it was Joel Bisina that was arrested. Tomorrow it could be me. Imagine, I come home
with some white friends, a video crew to shoot a video for some of my tracks as an artist, or to shoot
a documentary about my homeland. An ignorant soldier will see some white people with cameras
and assume that we are spies for a foreign government, and as such are a security threat to our dear
Nigerian nation. After all, we are in the Niger Delta. And cameras and recording equipment are very
sensitive items, Nigeria has very valuable secrets to protect there.

Ijaw people, we are not free in our land. We are under military occupation, and we are being seriously
oppressed. I should have the right to come to my homeland with any recording device and film or
record images that I want for my personal or professional use without fear of intimidation or arrest.

Can I ?????????????

inemo@lineone.net

 

THE NEW UK IMMIGRATION LAWS SORT APPLICANTS ON THE BASIS OF THEIR USEFULNESS TO SOCIETY:

The history of British nationality law is a story without a central character culminated in inconsistency of events since the post-war era. The first major immigration legislation of the post- war period was the commonwealth immigrants’ act of 1962. It was enacted on the grounds of unemployment, overcrowding and to foster racial harmony. In the argument of unemployment, the changing requirements of British capitalism in the 1960’s necessitated the shift in state policies on new commonwealth immigrants from settlers, citizens to contract workers. The shift would preserve the stratum of cheap labour for the British economy to carry out essential jobs, which the indigenous white workforce will refuse.

 we can argue that since 1971 act the number of work permits issued has fallen as the British unemployment rate has fallen.
Furthermore, the 1971 act also effectively discriminated against black workers by the introduction of the concept of patriotism which was intended to give the right to residence to persons with close ties to Britain. In practice, the majority of overseas patriots have been found in the ‘white’ commonwealth of Canada and Australia.

The European community and other foreign sources have, on the other hand, contributed a rising proportion, being responsible in 1989 for rather more than half of the total number of immigrants. This indicates that even this post war legislation has been essentially an exclusive policy rather than one of immigration.

Hall et al (1978,p299) argued, it is from the inception of these acts that we find “the really tough hassling” of the immigrants community – the police fishing expeditions, the inspection of passport and documents, the routine spot checking of people on the streets ( suspected illegal immigrants), the heavy surveillance of ghetto areas and raiding of social centres. This lead to a huge uprising, demonstrations and debates in the history of Britain.

In the post-war era immigration, British politicians saw immigration and race relations as emotional, irrational and intractable matters, not amenable to the reason, negotiation and compromise which characterized economic and class issues of society.

Regarding employment and economic problems, at the above time the British should have thought of immigration as the resolution to economic foes, instead of as an irrational matter. Some political parties behaved as if the economic health of the country was the furthest thing from their mind. One thing they failed to understand is at this period, most immigrants came for pursuance of education not to do menial jobs. More people were going out than entering.

However, according to social trends, the governments’ annual statistical survey, the aging population after the Second World War has meant that death will exceed the birth rate by the year 2030. This indicates that the working population will again decline where immigration will again become a balancing legislation needing a review, a repeat of history. A total review of immigration laws. Thus demonstrating that immigration is not a new phenomenon in Britain. Remarkably, this is the biggest shake up of the immigration system in its history, and an experienced upheaval. As a result immigrants since the eighteenth century have always been met with legislative measures.

Excerpts from research: Tuburu.E.T (1999) The post- war immigration legislation of the UK has been the most constitutionally significant legislative programme in the nation

HIGHLY SKILLED MIGRANTS UNDER THE POINTS BASED SYSTEM {PBS}
These new laws are based loosely on an existing Australian scheme, which has become increasingly complicated according to some sources, the UK government recently announced a ‘points- based’ system through which immigrants would be graded and admitted (or not) to work in Britain.
An individual’s value to society would be evaluated according to his or her aptitude, experience and age, then the final score placing the person on one of five tiers. Existing employment route for low-skilled workers from outside the EU would be ended. All but an elite group of highly skilled migrants would need a UK sponsor to vouch for them. Why the inclusiveness? Give me your engineers, surveyors, computer scientists, managers, your huddled entrepreneurs yearning to breathe life into our economy. The elderly? Weak? Dependent? Poor? Thanks, but no thanks.

Nevertheless, the answer is not obvious and we must not be carried away with emotions at such enactments. There are three main points worth considering.
Firstly, we are talking about immigration not asylum. To rate those claiming asylum according to their usefulness would indeed be contravening the law and perhaps morally unacceptable. To do the same to applicants who are making an open, informed free choice to participate within a society is another matter.
Secondly, Britain is a society that is known to enforce civil liberties and with so many rights that comes with it. To mention a few, social support and welfare provision in all its various ramifications. It would constitute a peculiar imbalance to guarantee individuals those rights with no commensurate contribution on their part.
Lastly, immigration control should be taken seriously because it tells us not only about a country attitude to those without, but also to those within it. Invariably how a country treats its immigrants indicates a reflection of it’s commitment to civil liberties. It is less well recognized that through its definitions of belongers and non -belongers, or desirables and undesirables, a community is able to define the sort of internal society it wants. Therefore, a government may use immigration laws as well to define its internal political priorities.
Having analysed the whole system, it could be said that point based system may make a positive contribution to the welfare state thereby enhancing the lives of the vulnerable in society if this is the case. Or because between 2001 and 2005, migrants contributed 15% to 20% of the growth in the UK and contributed to approximately £6 billion to output growth in 2006. So what is the challenge therein? Would it yield anticipated contribution? The hard truth is that when I lift my eyes and look around the world, I do not see this pattern of inclusive proposals going away I see a systematic discrimination that is evolving,

What are the new tiers?
There are currently over 80 different application routes to work or study in the UK. It is hoped that the majority of these will be encapsulated into one of the following five tiers:

• Tier 1 – Highly Skilled Individuals to contribute to growth and productivity

The tier is aimed at attracting the most highly skilled workers and will replace the current HSMP scheme and points will be awarded on a similar basis to the current scheme. This tier will also include post-study work applications (replacing the current IGS), entrepreneurs and investors.
Highly skilled migrants will be free to seek employment anywhere in the UK and these applicants will not be required to have a sponsor, making it easier for employers to take on such migrants. These migrants will be required to have English language skills at Council of Europe level ‘C1’.

• Tier 2 – Skilled workers with a job offer to fill gaps in the UK labour force

This tier will replace the current work permit schemes and will be available to migrants who are filling a particular job within the EEA, which no suitable worker from the EEA could fill. The applicants must pass the “Resident Labour Market Test” or RLMT, meaning that the jobs must be advertised for at least two weeks. This is similar to the current system and is a tool used to protect the domestic labour force.
These migrants will be required to show English language skills at level ‘B2’ (approximately ‘C’ grade at GCSE).

• Tier 3 – Low Skilled Workers to fill specific temporary labour shortages

(The implementation and design of this tier has been frozen until Bulgarian and Romanian quotas are lifted.) When this tier is developed, it is likely that it will be quota-based and permission to work will be strictly time limited.

• Tier 4 – Students

These applications are available for those students who want to come to the UK to study for six months or more – the educational institution will be the sponsor. The leave will be tied to the institution but not the course of study.

• Tier 5 – Youth Mobility and Temporary Workers

This tier will replace the current working holidaymaker scheme. It will cover, for example, creative workers and sportsmen and women.
What is sponsorship?
It is believed that those who benefit from migration should help in maintaining the integrity of control, and therefore the leave granted to migrants will now be tied to a sponsor (sponsors are not required for Tier 1 applicants). A certificate of sponsorship will be issued by the sponsor asserting that the applicant is suitable.
Employers will be required to be on a list of licensed sponsors and will be required to show the following:

• it is a bona fide establishment;
• it is registered with HMRC and have audited accounts; and
• it is registered with the appropriate authorities.

Sponsors will be under a duty to report to the authorities if the migrant fails to show up to work and provide details to the Border & Immigration Agency on request.
All sponsors will be graded, either ‘A’ or ‘B’. The ‘B’ rating is transitional and gives sponsors who have not complied with the regulations a chance to get their ‘house in order’. If a sponsor does not improve, it is likely that their licence would be withdrawn. A licence will also be withdrawn if a key person in an organisation is convicted of a serious immigration offence.
No more work-permit applications!
The current work-permit scheme is being completely replaced by a new licensing and sponsorship system, introduced under the Government’s much trumpeted points-based regime.
Some of the finer details of how the scheme will operate have yet to be spelt out. But we do know that, by the end of this year, an employer will need a licence before it can sponsor any foreign workers. Once granted a licence, an employer will have access to an online ‘sponsorship management system’ which will allow it to issue a sponsorship number to any foreign national it wishes to employ. The individual will then use this number to apply for a visa or permission to be in the UK.
This means employers will no longer have to submit work permit applications to Work Permits (UK) in Sheffield. Instead, they will effectively be able to issue their own work permits via their licensed access to the online sponsorship system.
Licences will be required to be renewed every four years.
However, there are inevitably some anomalies and unanswered questions that will need to be addressed, for example:
UK Students will only be able to switch into Tier 1 and will no longer have the option of switching in country into work permit employment.
Are employers who recruit at graduate entry level happy to have their new recruits issued with a blanket permission to work in the UK under Tier 1, rather than being tied to them under a work permit?
The Tier 1 sub-category of Post Study Work will enable UK students to work for up to 2 years in the UK following completion of their study, but will not count towards the qualifying period for settlement. Will this really be such an attractive option for migrants looking to base themselves here?
The maintenance test imposed for Tier 1 migrants (apart from investors) applying from overseas would require a migrant with a spouse and 3 dependent children to show funds of at least £6,800, irrespective of where in the world they currently live. We assume that funds provided by way of an advance from the employer will be accepted, but will bank loans also be acceptable? And are employers happy to have to take on this additional financial burden? Citizens of 17 countries will be exempted from the English language requirement, as English is deemed to be the majority language in these countries. It is interesting to note that South Africa is not included whereas Belize is (where according to one source only 3.9 % of the population speaks English as a first language).
The Government has published a Statement of Intent for both Tier 2 and Tier 5 of the new Points Based System for immigration (“PBS”) on the 6th May 2008. Although the Government reserves the right to change the details as deem fit. Government has announced these Statements as “strict new criteria” that will allow for “much tighter skilled and temporary worker migration”.    
Time Frames
All the proposals in this article are subject to final confirmation, but the general principles of the five tiers and the introduction of sponsors are unlikely to change. Tier 1 had already been launched with Tiers 2 and 5 in the third quarter of 2008 and Tier 4 in the first quarter of 2009.  
Biometric information will need to be provided by all migrants by the end of 2008.
More controversially, full appeal rights are being replaced by an internal administrative review – therefore decisions will only be overturned if there has been an error of fact. So employers are encouraged now to start planning for the new regime, and to take special care that applications under the existing system do not damage their prospective sponsor’s “credit rating”.
Additional changes had been announced as part of the country's on-going comprehensive immigration and border security reform program. These include rules for refusal of entry and cancellation of stay for foreign nationals who make false representations in their immigration applications, and lengthy bans from re-entering the U.K. following immigration violations.  These became effective February 29, 2008.  
As from February 29, an application for a U.K. visa ("entry clearance") or permission to remain in the U.K., if already present ("leave to remain") will be refused if the applicant has made false representations, including the submission of false documents (whether or not material to the application or to the applicant's knowledge) or the withholding of material facts, in his/her application. Immigration authorities now must refuse applications in such cases, whereas discretion was previously permitted. Similarly, foreign nationals waived of the entry clearance requirement may be refused at the port of entry if the Immigration Officer believes the individual is making false representations to attempt to enter the U.K.
Also effective , an applicant who has already obtained entry clearance or who already has other permission to be present in the U.K. may be refused entry to the U.K. and/or have his/her immigration permission revoked if the Immigration Officer believes he/she made false representations in the application process.
From April 1, 2008 applications for entry clearance or leave to remain in the United Kingdom will be refused if the applicant has previously violated U.K. immigration laws by (a) overstaying; (b) violating a condition attached to his/her leave; (c) entering without authorization; or (d) making false representations in an application for entry clearance or leave to enter or remain. The same rules apply to individuals waived of the entry clearance requirement who are seeking to enter the U.K. Certain exceptions apply for violations committed more than ten years ago, periods of unauthorized stay of less than 28 days, or if the foreign national has been outside the U.K. for a significant period of time since the violation.
In addition to having their applications refused, effective April 1, 2008, foreign nationals who make false representations in their applications will be banned from re-entry for 10 years. Individuals who departed the U.K. at the Government's expense will be required to repay the expense associated with their departure before they may re-enter the U.K.
EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE

Permission to work and leave to remain

Kelly v University of Southampton UKEAT/0295/07    

In this case the EAT considered a claim for unfair dismissal by an employee who was dismissed because she no longer had leave to remain in the UK . Her work permit however still subsisted. The EAT held that it was not automatically reasonable to dismiss an employee where continued employment would breach a statutory enactment. It also held that whilst it is reasonable to expect employers to ensure that their employees continue to have permission to work in the UK Parliament could not have intended them to police the continued existence of their employees leave to remain in the UK .
The employee, a US citizen, had permission to work for the employer for 60 months, but her leave to remain expired after only 48 months. She was dismissed as the employer took the view that it could not continue to employ her as doing so would be committing a criminal offence. It was held that the employee was permitted to work under the immigration rules even though her leave to remain had expired. In those circumstances her dismissal was automatically unfair
UNFAIR DISMISSAL
In Klusova v London Borough of Hounslow the employee in question was dismissed when her immigration leave to remain in the UK expired. The employer argued that it was a fair dismissal - relying on the rarely used s 98(2)(d) of the Employment Rights Act. As she was an illegal ‘overstayer’, it would have been ‘a contravention of a statutory duty or enactment’ for her to continue to work in the position which she held.    
Unfortunately for the employers the evidence was that, under immigration law, if, when an individual’s leave to remain in the UK expires, they have already made an application to the Home Office for an extension to it, then it is not illegal for that individual to continue to work in the UK until that application has been decided upon by the Home Office.
However, the employers did succeed in their alternative argument that, as they dismissed through a genuine but mistaken belief that it would have been illegal to continue to employ her, this could count as 'some other reason justifying dismissal' to make an otherwise unfair dismissal fair.
Nevertheless, the claimant still succeeded to a certain extent because the employer had failed to follow the statutory procedures and so the dismissal was automatically procedurally unfair.

 

Points to take into consideration:

• Where s 98(2)(d) applies, the employer does not have to use the statutory dismissal procedures before dismissing the employee (see Reg. 4(1)(f) of the Dispute Resolution Regulations). However, to avoid making the mistake of the employer in Klusova, it may be safer to use the statutory procedures in any event.
• The penalties for employing illegal workers are severe – and about to get more so., if an employer negligently employs an illegal worker it could face a fine of up to £10,000. If the employer does so knowingly, it could face an unlimited fine or its responsible officers could even face imprisonment.

CHARITY
The Charity Commission has recently published a revised and updated timetable for the development of its advice and guidance for charities on ‘public benefit’. This follows a consultation exercise carried out by the Charity Commission on draft guidance on the principles of public benefit.

Late March 2008: Expected date for public benefit provisions to come into force.
July – December 2008: Supplementary guidance on public benefit to be published.
March 2009: Charities will begin reporting on public benefit as part of their annual reports to the Charity Commission.
As a reminder the Charities Act 2006 (“the Act”) makes it a requirement of all charities, including those which provide for the advancement of education, must be able to demonstrate that they are established for the public benefit. Under section 4 of the Act, the Charity Commission for England and Wales must issue guidance in relation to the public benefit criteria and carry out consultation before doing so. Once the guidance is published and the public benefit provisions in the Act are in force, trustees will have a duty to consider it and take a view whether their charity meets the requirement.
NOTE
Facts are correct to the best of my knowledge even at the time of going to press. It’s however, written as a general guide, so it is recommended that specific professional advice be sought before any action is taken. Besides, these updates are aimed at providing info on most recent developments in the UK, but also an insight in keeping abreast on proactive basis.
Elizabeth Tuburu 
Member of IPA (UK & Ireland)THE NEW UK IMMIGRATION LAWS SORT APPLICANTS ON THE BASIS OF THEIR USEFULNESS TO SOCIETY:

The history of British nationality law is a story without a central character culminated in inconsistency of events since the post-war era. The first major immigration legislation of the post- war period was the commonwealth immigrants’ act of 1962. It was enacted on the grounds of unemployment, overcrowding and to foster racial harmony. In the argument of unemployment, the changing requirements of British capitalism in the 1960’s necessitated the shift in state policies on new commonwealth immigrants from settlers, citizens to contract workers. The shift would preserve the stratum of cheap labour for the British economy to carry out essential jobs, which the indigenous white workforce will refuse.

 we can argue that since 1971 act the number of work permits issued has fallen as the British unemployment rate has fallen.
Furthermore, the 1971 act also effectively discriminated against black workers by the introduction of the concept of patriotism which was intended to give the right to residence to persons with close ties to Britain. In practice, the majority of overseas patriots have been found in the ‘white’ commonwealth of Canada and Australia.

The European community and other foreign sources have, on the other hand, contributed a rising proportion, being responsible in 1989 for rather more than half of the total number of immigrants. This indicates that even this post war legislation has been essentially an exclusive policy rather than one of immigration.

Hall et al (1978,p299) argued, it is from the inception of these acts that we find “the really tough hassling” of the immigrants community – the police fishing expeditions, the inspection of passport and documents, the routine spot checking of people on the streets ( suspected illegal immigrants), the heavy surveillance of ghetto areas and raiding of social centres. This lead to a huge uprising, demonstrations and debates in the history of Britain.

In the post-war era immigration, British politicians saw immigration and race relations as emotional, irrational and intractable matters, not amenable to the reason, negotiation and compromise which characterized economic and class issues of society.

Regarding employment and economic problems, at the above time the British should have thought of immigration as the resolution to economic foes, instead of as an irrational matter. Some political parties behaved as if the economic health of the country was the furthest thing from their mind. One thing they failed to understand is at this period, most immigrants came for pursuance of education not to do menial jobs. More people were going out than entering.

However, according to social trends, the governments’ annual statistical survey, the aging population after the Second World War has meant that death will exceed the birth rate by the year 2030. This indicates that the working population will again decline where immigration will again become a balancing legislation needing a review, a repeat of history. A total review of immigration laws. Thus demonstrating that immigration is not a new phenomenon in Britain. Remarkably, this is the biggest shake up of the immigration system in its history, and an experienced upheaval. As a result immigrants since the eighteenth century have always been met with legislative measures.

Excerpts from research: Tuburu.E.T (1999) The post- war immigration legislation of the UK has been the most constitutionally significant legislative programme in the nation

HIGHLY SKILLED MIGRANTS UNDER THE POINTS BASED SYSTEM {PBS}
These new laws are based loosely on an existing Australian scheme, which has become increasingly complicated according to some sources, the UK government recently announced a ‘points- based’ system through which immigrants would be graded and admitted (or not) to work in Britain.
An individual’s value to society would be evaluated according to his or her aptitude, experience and age, then the final score placing the person on one of five tiers. Existing employment route for low-skilled workers from outside the EU would be ended. All but an elite group of highly skilled migrants would need a UK sponsor to vouch for them. Why the inclusiveness? Give me your engineers, surveyors, computer scientists, managers, your huddled entrepreneurs yearning to breathe life into our economy. The elderly? Weak? Dependent? Poor? Thanks, but no thanks.

Nevertheless, the answer is not obvious and we must not be carried away with emotions at such enactments. There are three main points worth considering.
Firstly, we are talking about immigration not asylum. To rate those claiming asylum according to their usefulness would indeed be contravening the law and perhaps morally unacceptable. To do the same to applicants who are making an open, informed free choice to participate within a society is another matter.
Secondly, Britain is a society that is known to enforce civil liberties and with so many rights that comes with it. To mention a few, social support and welfare provision in all its various ramifications. It would constitute a peculiar imbalance to guarantee individuals those rights with no commensurate contribution on their part.
Lastly, immigration control should be taken seriously because it tells us not only about a country attitude to those without, but also to those within it. Invariably how a country treats its immigrants indicates a reflection of it’s commitment to civil liberties. It is less well recognized that through its definitions of belongers and non -belongers, or desirables and undesirables, a community is able to define the sort of internal society it wants. Therefore, a government may use immigration laws as well to define its internal political priorities.
Having analysed the whole system, it could be said that point based system may make a positive contribution to the welfare state thereby enhancing the lives of the vulnerable in society if this is the case. Or because between 2001 and 2005, migrants contributed 15% to 20% of the growth in the UK and contributed to approximately £6 billion to output growth in 2006. So what is the challenge therein? Would it yield anticipated contribution? The hard truth is that when I lift my eyes and look around the world, I do not see this pattern of inclusive proposals going away I see a systematic discrimination that is evolving,

What are the new tiers?
There are currently over 80 different application routes to work or study in the UK. It is hoped that the majority of these will be encapsulated into one of the following five tiers:

• Tier 1 – Highly Skilled Individuals to contribute to growth and productivity

The tier is aimed at attracting the most highly skilled workers and will replace the current HSMP scheme and points will be awarded on a similar basis to the current scheme. This tier will also include post-study work applications (replacing the current IGS), entrepreneurs and investors.
Highly skilled migrants will be free to seek employment anywhere in the UK and these applicants will not be required to have a sponsor, making it easier for employers to take on such migrants. These migrants will be required to have English language skills at Council of Europe level ‘C1’.

• Tier 2 – Skilled workers with a job offer to fill gaps in the UK labour force

This tier will replace the current work permit schemes and will be available to migrants who are filling a particular job within the EEA, which no suitable worker from the EEA could fill. The applicants must pass the “Resident Labour Market Test” or RLMT, meaning that the jobs must be advertised for at least two weeks. This is similar to the current system and is a tool used to protect the domestic labour force.
These migrants will be required to show English language skills at level ‘B2’ (approximately ‘C’ grade at GCSE).

• Tier 3 – Low Skilled Workers to fill specific temporary labour shortages

(The implementation and design of this tier has been frozen until Bulgarian and Romanian quotas are lifted.) When this tier is developed, it is likely that it will be quota-based and permission to work will be strictly time limited.

• Tier 4 – Students

These applications are available for those students who want to come to the UK to study for six months or more – the educational institution will be the sponsor. The leave will be tied to the institution but not the course of study.

• Tier 5 – Youth Mobility and Temporary Workers

This tier will replace the current working holidaymaker scheme. It will cover, for example, creative workers and sportsmen and women.
What is sponsorship?
It is believed that those who benefit from migration should help in maintaining the integrity of control, and therefore the leave granted to migrants will now be tied to a sponsor (sponsors are not required for Tier 1 applicants). A certificate of sponsorship will be issued by the sponsor asserting that the applicant is suitable.
Employers will be required to be on a list of licensed sponsors and will be required to show the following:

• it is a bona fide establishment;
• it is registered with HMRC and have audited accounts; and
• it is registered with the appropriate authorities.

Sponsors will be under a duty to report to the authorities if the migrant fails to show up to work and provide details to the Border & Immigration Agency on request.
All sponsors will be graded, either ‘A’ or ‘B’. The ‘B’ rating is transitional and gives sponsors who have not complied with the regulations a chance to get their ‘house in order’. If a sponsor does not improve, it is likely that their licence would be withdrawn. A licence will also be withdrawn if a key person in an organisation is convicted of a serious immigration offence.
No more work-permit applications!
The current work-permit scheme is being completely replaced by a new licensing and sponsorship system, introduced under the Government’s much trumpeted points-based regime.
Some of the finer details of how the scheme will operate have yet to be spelt out. But we do know that, by the end of this year, an employer will need a licence before it can sponsor any foreign workers. Once granted a licence, an employer will have access to an online ‘sponsorship management system’ which will allow it to issue a sponsorship number to any foreign national it wishes to employ. The individual will then use this number to apply for a visa or permission to be in the UK.
This means employers will no longer have to submit work permit applications to Work Permits (UK) in Sheffield. Instead, they will effectively be able to issue their own work permits via their licensed access to the online sponsorship system.
Licences will be required to be renewed every four years.
However, there are inevitably some anomalies and unanswered questions that will need to be addressed, for example:
UK Students will only be able to switch into Tier 1 and will no longer have the option of switching in country into work permit employment.
Are employers who recruit at graduate entry level happy to have their new recruits issued with a blanket permission to work in the UK under Tier 1, rather than being tied to them under a work permit?
The Tier 1 sub-category of Post Study Work will enable UK students to work for up to 2 years in the UK following completion of their study, but will not count towards the qualifying period for settlement. Will this really be such an attractive option for migrants looking to base themselves here?
The maintenance test imposed for Tier 1 migrants (apart from investors) applying from overseas would require a migrant with a spouse and 3 dependent children to show funds of at least £6,800, irrespective of where in the world they currently live. We assume that funds provided by way of an advance from the employer will be accepted, but will bank loans also be acceptable? And are employers happy to have to take on this additional financial burden? Citizens of 17 countries will be exempted from the English language requirement, as English is deemed to be the majority language in these countries. It is interesting to note that South Africa is not included whereas Belize is (where according to one source only 3.9 % of the population speaks English as a first language).
The Government has published a Statement of Intent for both Tier 2 and Tier 5 of the new Points Based System for immigration (“PBS”) on the 6th May 2008. Although the Government reserves the right to change the details as deem fit. Government has announced these Statements as “strict new criteria” that will allow for “much tighter skilled and temporary worker migration”.    
Time Frames
All the proposals in this article are subject to final confirmation, but the general principles of the five tiers and the introduction of sponsors are unlikely to change. Tier 1 had already been launched with Tiers 2 and 5 in the third quarter of 2008 and Tier 4 in the first quarter of 2009.  
Biometric information will need to be provided by all migrants by the end of 2008.
More controversially, full appeal rights are being replaced by an internal administrative review – therefore decisions will only be overturned if there has been an error of fact. So employers are encouraged now to start planning for the new regime, and to take special care that applications under the existing system do not damage their prospective sponsor’s “credit rating”.
Additional changes had been announced as part of the country's on-going comprehensive immigration and border security reform program. These include rules for refusal of entry and cancellation of stay for foreign nationals who make false representations in their immigration applications, and lengthy bans from re-entering the U.K. following immigration violations.  These became effective February 29, 2008.  
As from February 29, an application for a U.K. visa ("entry clearance") or permission to remain in the U.K., if already present ("leave to remain") will be refused if the applicant has made false representations, including the submission of false documents (whether or not material to the application or to the applicant's knowledge) or the withholding of material facts, in his/her application. Immigration authorities now must refuse applications in such cases, whereas discretion was previously permitted. Similarly, foreign nationals waived of the entry clearance requirement may be refused at the port of entry if the Immigration Officer believes the individual is making false representations to attempt to enter the U.K.
Also effective , an applicant who has already obtained entry clearance or who already has other permission to be present in the U.K. may be refused entry to the U.K. and/or have his/her immigration permission revoked if the Immigration Officer believes he/she made false representations in the application process.
From April 1, 2008 applications for entry clearance or leave to remain in the United Kingdom will be refused if the applicant has previously violated U.K. immigration laws by (a) overstaying; (b) violating a condition attached to his/her leave; (c) entering without authorization; or (d) making false representations in an application for entry clearance or leave to enter or remain. The same rules apply to individuals waived of the entry clearance requirement who are seeking to enter the U.K. Certain exceptions apply for violations committed more than ten years ago, periods of unauthorized stay of less than 28 days, or if the foreign national has been outside the U.K. for a significant period of time since the violation.
In addition to having their applications refused, effective April 1, 2008, foreign nationals who make false representations in their applications will be banned from re-entry for 10 years. Individuals who departed the U.K. at the Government's expense will be required to repay the expense associated with their departure before they may re-enter the U.K.
EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE

Permission to work and leave to remain

Kelly v University of Southampton UKEAT/0295/07    

In this case the EAT considered a claim for unfair dismissal by an employee who was dismissed because she no longer had leave to remain in the UK . Her work permit however still subsisted. The EAT held that it was not automatically reasonable to dismiss an employee where continued employment would breach a statutory enactment. It also held that whilst it is reasonable to expect employers to ensure that their employees continue to have permission to work in the UK Parliament could not have intended them to police the continued existence of their employees leave to remain in the UK .
The employee, a US citizen, had permission to work for the employer for 60 months, but her leave to remain expired after only 48 months. She was dismissed as the employer took the view that it could not continue to employ her as doing so would be committing a criminal offence. It was held that the employee was permitted to work under the immigration rules even though her leave to remain had expired. In those circumstances her dismissal was automatically unfair
UNFAIR DISMISSAL
In Klusova v London Borough of Hounslow the employee in question was dismissed when her immigration leave to remain in the UK expired. The employer argued that it was a fair dismissal - relying on the rarely used s 98(2)(d) of the Employment Rights Act. As she was an illegal ‘overstayer’, it would have been ‘a contravention of a statutory duty or enactment’ for her to continue to work in the position which she held.    
Unfortunately for the employers the evidence was that, under immigration law, if, when an individual’s leave to remain in the UK expires, they have already made an application to the Home Office for an extension to it, then it is not illegal for that individual to continue to work in the UK until that application has been decided upon by the Home Office.
However, the employers did succeed in their alternative argument that, as they dismissed through a genuine but mistaken belief that it would have been illegal to continue to employ her, this could count as 'some other reason justifying dismissal' to make an otherwise unfair dismissal fair.
Nevertheless, the claimant still succeeded to a certain extent because the employer had failed to follow the statutory procedures and so the dismissal was automatically procedurally unfair.

 

Points to take into consideration:

• Where s 98(2)(d) applies, the employer does not have to use the statutory dismissal procedures before dismissing the employee (see Reg. 4(1)(f) of the Dispute Resolution Regulations). However, to avoid making the mistake of the employer in Klusova, it may be safer to use the statutory procedures in any event.
• The penalties for employing illegal workers are severe – and about to get more so., if an employer negligently employs an illegal worker it could face a fine of up to £10,000. If the employer does so knowingly, it could face an unlimited fine or its responsible officers could even face imprisonment.

CHARITY
The Charity Commission has recently published a revised and updated timetable for the development of its advice and guidance for charities on ‘public benefit’. This follows a consultation exercise carried out by the Charity Commission on draft guidance on the principles of public benefit.

Late March 2008: Expected date for public benefit provisions to come into force.
July – December 2008: Supplementary guidance on public benefit to be published.
March 2009: Charities will begin reporting on public benefit as part of their annual reports to the Charity Commission.
As a reminder the Charities Act 2006 (“the Act”) makes it a requirement of all charities, including those which provide for the advancement of education, must be able to demonstrate that they are established for the public benefit. Under section 4 of the Act, the Charity Commission for England and Wales must issue guidance in relation to the public benefit criteria and carry out consultation before doing so. Once the guidance is published and the public benefit provisions in the Act are in force, trustees will have a duty to consider it and take a view whether their charity meets the requirement.
NOTE
Facts are correct to the best of my knowledge even at the time of going to press. It’s however, written as a general guide, so it is recommended that specific professional advice be sought before any action is taken. Besides, these updates are aimed at providing info on most recent developments in the UK, but also an insight in keeping abreast on proactive basis.
Elizabeth Tuburu 
Member of IPA (UK & Ireland)

What is Egbesu?

Izon Cultural Studies

By IHD Copyright Ó 2008

What is Egbesu?

Contributed by Benaebi Benatari

It is commonly stated that Egbesu is the god or deity of warfare. While this statement is correct, it is at the same time misleading as it does not address all the functions of the metaphysical intelligence, and how it relates in the divine scheme of things. In order to answer the question who and what is Egbesu?, we must have a technical understanding of the cosmology of the Supreme Being (God!), and how It governs the universe. We can use a number of references texts to aid our task, such as the Christian Bible, or even older sacred books such as the Ancient Egyptian Book known as “The Book of Knowing the Forms of the Creator”.

In the Christian Bible, in the book of Genesis 2.26 the Supreme Being is made to say “Let us make man in our image”. This gives us the impression that the Supreme Being is talking to other lesser beings. Indeed this is the case.. In Psalm 82 we have the following statement;

“God has taken his place in the divine council; in the mist of the gods he holds judgement:”[1]

In the Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition, these other or lesser beings or smaller gods! are called “angels”, meaning “messengers of God”. In the Ancient African spiritual tradition, from which the above mentioned religions learnt most of their spiritual doctrines, these lesser beings or gods are known as metaphysical or spiritual or divine intelligence’ s. They are the attributes or forms of God, also known as the forces of nature that govern the visible and invisible universe. They are not apart from God, but are the forms of the God that It uses in administrating the universe.

The Spiritual culture of the Ijo can be traced back to the ancient city of Annu or Onnu ( Heliopolis to the ancient Greeks , the On of the Bible, the city where Moses the Hebrew lawgiver was educated). This city was a major theological centre of ancient Egypt and ancient Africa , even the whole ancient world. It was also one of the main intellectual centres that were the foundation of ancient African spiritual culture. At Annu was centralised the cultivation of the Creative attributes or aspects of the Supreme Being in the form of Tem the Almighty Creator, his female counterpart Temeta, the Supreme Intelligence Atum, and his energy/power aspects known as Ra. Now these terms are direct translations of the ancient Egyptian language, by present day Egyptologists. In modern Ijo, these terms have survived in the form of Temeowei or Temuno (Tem), Tamara (Temeta), Adumu (Atum) and Urau (Ra), the Egyptology ancient Egyptian rendition in brackets . This is born out by the following extracts;

"......ZIBARA TEME BI MO:

The creator deity in Ijo religion is feminine. Thus most of the words which refer to the Supreme Being are feminine. TAMARA is the woman who created us; WOYIN means 'our mother'. WODAU is a Christian version of our father. ZIBARA is the deity that gives life. It is from her that the Ijo ask for blessings in life. It is on your knees that you plead to Zibara..... Foot note; Zibara - Goddess of prophecy, divination, often called upon along with the Creative Deity Tamara. Teme - Life-Breath, soul the double. Oru - god, goddess, a major deity, as distinct from Tamara or Woyin, Woyingi, Tamuno, Oyibau, Temeowi...."[2]

"....The supreme creator God is the basic part of all Ijo religion. In the eastern delta, God is Ayiba (begetter as well as killer) or Tamuno (creator). In the poetry of the drum, God is Oloma Ogina, or Oloman Ogina. In the central and western delta, God is Woyin (our mother) Ayibarau (she who begets and kills), Oginarau, and Tamarau (creator). God is a female idea among the matrilineal Ijo..."[3]

"...The religion of the Ijo, who are perhaps the most ancient people in West Africa , is still distinct from that of all surrounding tribes. The supreme deity, partly identified with the sky, is a Goddess called Tamuno by the Kalabari, Ayiba by the Brass people and Tamara by the western section of the tribe - who is deemed to have created everything, man, animals, trees, etc. The symbol to which sacrifices are made, especially by children is a clay pot, containing black earth, and which is most rare. Second only to Tamuno comes the earth god, Amakiri.... It is interesting to find that in this most ancient of the tribes, the earth deity is male and that of the sky is female like the early Egyptian Geb or Seb and Nut whose offspring’s, according to Heliopolitan doctrine were Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephtys and Horus Anubis. It should be remarked also that it is this tribe where the mother Goddess is still supreme that the clearest traces are to be found of the dual organisation, of religious and civil or war chiefs..."[4]

Because of the ancient roots of Ijo spiritual culture, it is not surprising that Ijo culture expresses knowledge of certain fundamental spiritual concepts, such as the Tree of Life spiritual initiation system, as practised by the cosmological/ theological school of Annu , reincarnation and the survival of the soul after physical death, ancestor communication ritual with the deification of ancestors. Most of all is the conceptualisation of the Supreme Being as the Almighty Creator, who manifests Itself in the form of the Supreme Creator of the Universe (God), in the forms of the Supreme Creator (metaphysical intelligence’ s or deities, so called angels or gods) and as the creatures that make up the universe (as the inner intelligence dwelling in all things including human beings).

Oru in modern Ijo is the survival of the ancient Egyptian term Horu or Heru (Horus), which means deity or god. It also corresponds to the co-ordinating functions of the Will of God as manifested in the universe, and at the same time the co-ordinating function of the will of man, as manifested in our mental (mind) expression. Teme means to make, or create, or the creative essence, and again is the same as the ancient Egyptian Tem which means Creator. Thus Oru-Teme or Teme-Oru, refers to the Supreme Creator manifesting in Its various forms, which we understand to be the metaphysical intelligence’ s or spiritual entities which are termed deities or gods and goddesses (Oru).

The term Oru has caused much controversy within Ijo traditional thought, because Christian missionaries translated the term to mean devil. The term does not mean devil, for the concept of the devil as an evil spirit ebing is non existent in Ijo theology. Oru or Eru derived from the ancient African term Horu (Horus) or Heru. The fact that Oru does not mean devil or demon is borne out in the story of the fight between Horu and Set. In this ancient Egyptian story. Horu is the principle of good, while Set (the Christian Satan) is the principle of evil. Horus or Oru also corresponds to the angel Michael in the Hebrew tradition..

The term Oru also means deity or god/goddess and corresponds to the Christian concept of angel. Indeed it is the same, because an Oru is a servant or messenger of God.

Ijo traditional spiritual culture places much emphasis on the mental focusing on the Orus or servants of God. The Orus exist to help human beings in their day to day running of their affairs. Since it is the Orus (metaphysical intelligence’ s or forces of nature) that govern the natural world, and the governing of the natural world has not been known to fail, we can see how cultivating an Oru would benefit the individual and society. This is because Ijo culture has the correct understanding that, in order to manifest an aspect of the Supreme Being (God) one must become at one with the attribute that one is focusing on. The mental focusing on a divine attribute is called worship. It is through worship that one is able to awaken the divine attribute within oneself. This is what worshipping God is all about.

When The Supreme Being creates the universe, It first lays down the laws that the universe is to be based on and governed by. These laws translate as the hidden patterns of nature and the laws of interdependence and interrelationship between all things, seen and unseen. In short the so called laws of nature. After making these laws, God manifests an attribute of Itself that will enforce the laws. This divine enforcer is known as EGBESU in Ijo culture

Laws are useless if there are no means of enforcing them. This aspect or principle of God is termed “divine enforcer” divine executor”. And since it is used to restore law and order when there is an infringement, it is also termed the god of war, meaning that it is the manifestation of God fighting against the forces that threaten the divine order. In the Christian tradition, it is the angel that holds the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain used to lock up the dragon Satan the devil, principle of evil (Revelations 20.). In the Ijaw spiritual tradition it is known as Egbesu (bearing in mind that Angels or Oru are non other than the various manifestations of the Supreme Being which It uses to govern the universe).

Egbesu is also known by other names in Ijaw language, such as Agadagba-oru, Ako-oru, Dirimo-oru or Dirimo-asain, to name a few. Egbesu is the offensive and defensive power of God used to protect righteous people from the forces of evil. This was understood by the Ijaws and also neighbouring tribes such as the Edo. In his Book ‘Benin (1971) subsection ‘Some Tribal Gods of Southern Nigeria (1951) page 22, J U Egharevba comments on the Gods of the Ijaws:

“ Tamaran or Aiyiba by Brass people and Tamuno by the Kalabaris: Deity, God, the Supreme Being; the Creator. Egbesu: The God of defence or protection next to Tamaran both in power and in importance. But very antogonistic against the evil doers. It is also the God of war; “

Take note of the statement ‘but very antagonistic against the evil doers. It is also a God of War.

Egbesu then is the spiritual foundation for combating evil. It is the main spiritual tool (weapon) for overcoming evil. It is used to enforce the divine order in the natural realm, so that all things coming into being can take place in their own space and time without infringing upon other things. It is used to make sure that all things are functioning as a unified whole, despite their outward differences. Of the utmost importance to human beings is its influence in the social order, whether we know it or not. Like it or not, the social order constructed by human beings must follow the blueprint of the universe as laid out by the Almighty Creator. When it is not so then social disorder is the result.

Two major principles must be adhered to when constructing a society. The first is that all things, be they human beings, interest groups or animals, must not infringe on each others time and space, following the principle that no two things can occupy the same time and space at the same time. The second is that all things, be they human beings, interest groups, enterprises, animals and plants, are part of a unified system function as a whole. This is evident in ecosystems, but is applicable to human society as well. As such anything that threatens the smooth functioning of the whole system, through infringement of other’s time and space, must be restored to its proper role, through force if it is not a free agent, and by a combination of force and gentle persuasion if it is a free agent. The only free agents in the universe outside of God are human beings. Not even the so called angels are free. Thus in the divine order, things are forced back into equilibrium if they threaten to go astray. That is why nature has not been known to fail. In the social order constructed by human beings, it is another matter. It is here that Egbesu plays a leading role in making sure that society is governed by moral principles instead of greed.

Going Back to Ancient Egypt (Ancient Africa) we can see that as far back as the Old Kingdom Egbesu was one of the spiritual intelligences (deity, force of nature or genii) that were called upon by society to protect it against evil forces and guide it in war. Egyptologists have translated the term EGBESU in the form of BES, BESU, BASU or BISU, dropping the EG at the beginning. This is understandable as they derived the spellings from approximate translations based on educated guesswork.

According to EAW Budge – (The Gods of the Egyptians – Studies in Egyptian Mythology Volume 2, 1904, 1969, pp284-289) the author elaborates on EGBESU, which he translates as BES or BASU:

“…Among the foreign gods known to the Egyptians is usually mentioned BES, who according to some is of Semetic, and according to others of African origin; we may note, however that the name of the god appears to be Egyptian, and it seems to have been bestowed upon him in very early times because of the animal’s skin which he wore; the animal itself was called “Besa” or “Basu.”……as a god of war and slaughter and as a destroying force of nature he carries two knives in his hands; as a warrior he appears in a short military tunic, which is fastened round his body by a belt, and he holds in his left hand a shield and a short sword in his right… he seems to have been regarded as a protector of children and youths…….In the Heliopolitan and Theban Recensions of the Book of the Dead the name Bes does not occur, but in one of the vignettes to the cxlvth chapter xxi of the Saite Recension this god is seen guarding one of the pylons of the house of Osiris in the underworld. At some period under the New Empire the original attributes of Bes were modified, and he assumed the character of a solar god and became identified with Horus the child, or Harpocrates; little by little he was merged in other forms of the Sun-God, until at length he absorbed the characteristics of Horus, Ra, and Temu……he only exhibited his terror and ferocity to the wicked, while to the good in the underworld he was a true friend and merry companion….The figure of Bes suggests that his home was a place where the dwarf and pygmy were held in esteem, whilst his head-dress resembles those head-dresses which were, and still are worn by the tribes of Equatorial Africa, and this would lead us to place his home in that portion of it which lies a few degrees to the north of the equator. The knowledge of the god, and perhaps figures of him, were brought from this region, which the Egyptians called the “Land of the Spirits”… The earthly kinsmen of the god who lived to the south of Egypt were, no doubt, well known even to the predynastic Egyptians….In his original conception Bes is certainly African, and his cult in Egypt is coeval with dynastic civilisation…”

“…BES….Originally a deity of protection of the pharaoh, he became a popular god of the every day Egyptian people, and was often depicted on household items such as beds, headrests, chairs, mirrors and ointment pots and even painted on the walls of the house. He was also depicted on various weapons, such as daggers, due to his fighter aspect. He was also often depicted of 'magic wands' that the Egyptian magicians used for their spells or on an amulet to ward off evil. His use as a god of protection for the daily people came to be a sign of joy and good humor, because he drove away ill humor and evil. He was thought to also be able to protect people from dangerous creatures of all types, especially when he was connected with the child Horus in the story of his growing up in the Delta area of Egypt……He also became a god of childbirth, frightening away all of the evil spirits that could kill of the baby of newborn child. If problems arose during labor, a clay statue of Bes was often placed at the head of the expectant mother while spells were recited to the god, asking for his help……..Despite his fun-loving nature, he was also regarded as a god of war from early times. He used his lion-like, ferocious nature to destroy or scare the enemies of pharaoh, as well as the evil spirits that were thought to plague the people of Egypt (including sickness, dangerous creatures and other such troubles). He was thought to be especially protective of women and children…..” Egyptian Gods Index

Note the statements - " until at length he absorbed the characteristics of Horus, Ra, and Temu……he only exhibited his terror and ferocity to the wicked, while to the good in the underworld he was a true friend and merry companion"

The above proves the fact that Egbesu or Bes was associated with the Supreme Being (TEMU meaning the CREATOR) and the other forms of the Creator and as such the divine-force was used against the wicked or evil doer, and a friend of the good.

Thus it is clear that BES (EGBESU) is connected to inner Africa, and since the ancestors of the Ancient Egyptians originated from inner Africa it would be natural for them to venerate the same deities. In order to understand the above extract let us clear up some points. The term Sun-God is the Egyptology translation for the CREATOR or SUPREME BEING, of which the terms RA means Creative Energy, HORUS means Deity, and TEMU means THE CREATOR. Thus it is clear from the statement above that BES was one of the forms of the CREATOR which It assumed as a force of nature. The animals closely associated with Egbesu (Bes) were the lion, leopard and panther. They were used as symbols to represent the divine aggressive force needed in warfare and combat situations. We are now in a position to elaborate on Egbesu. Repeating what we said earlier;

Egbesu operates on the principle of synergy. All factors that will establish righteousness must come into play before the force of Egbesu produces an effect. Egbesu cannot be utilised by the ordinary man (who has not overcome mundane temptations) as he or she lacks spiritual discipline. The Divine Enforcer or Corrective Force of the Supreme Being known as the deity or god of warfare (to the layman) can only be utilised by the righteous or upright beings metaphorically rendered as children or babes (the innocent through wise guidance wage a war that is just). It cannot be called upon by evil doers or be used for dubious purposes as it is against and antagonistic towards evil and evil doers. The Divine Enforcer, as the god, deity or angel of warfare is not called upon to start a war, but to end injustice, conflict and confusion. He comes not to start a war, but to end it. That is why it is only in exceptional circumstances that it is called upon. One of these exceptional circumstances is when an individual or community is under attack from other communities with evil or diabolical intentions (evil forces), and they themselves are innocent and blameless.

In Ijo the Divine Enforcer is known by several names such as Egbesu, Dirimo-asain, Agadagba-oru, Ako-oru. The Egbesu is the defensive and offensive power of the Supreme Being used to uphold the divine laws of nature, and to protect the upright or righteous from evil. If you are a person who consistently infringes divine law (i.e. the laws of natural justice), or commits wrong, then you cannot call upon Agadagba or Egbesu to help you in times of strife or conflict. That is why the priests of Agadagba require all persons who seek the protection of the Divine Enforcer to confess their sins. After a sincere confession, and a further commitment to uphold righteousness and truth in times of strife and conflict, you will be protected within the circumstances you find yourself, i.e. to say an individual or community will be protected by Egbesu as long as they themselves do not infringe the laws that are enforced by Egbesu.

The symbol of divine force is the leopard. Therefore the leopard is sacred to the Agadagba or Egbesu priesthood. (In the Christian tradition Egbesu is the angel of God who chains the Dragon Satan, the principle of evil and confines him to the bottomless pit for a thousand years- Book of Revelations Chapter 20, verse 1)

Egbesu is the aspect of God that manifests as a metaphysical or spiritual intelligence that is responsible for the maintenance of the divine order. Any infringement of the divine order is met with a force that restores the equilibrium between all things. Since human beings live in a world that is a part of the divine social order, any human being that infringes on the laws of nature will automatically feel the effects of that infringement. Put in a graphic way, if you infringe the laws of fire or heat, you will get burnt, if you infringe the laws of health, you will fall sick.

Egbesu is the offensive and defensive power of God used to protect the righteous or upright people from the forces of evil. Egbesu is the corrective force of God used to restore order when there has been an infringement within a unified natural system such as an ecosystem, which as we said earlier is ultimately a part of the divine order created by God. Egbesu is the divine enforcer and executioner. You reap what your sow as the saying goes. Egbesu is the divine security agent of God, securing the social order of societies that abide by the laws of nature, securing the minds of individuals who uphold divine law, from negative spiritual and psychic influences or attacks released by other minds. Because of also being a spiritual and psychic protector the Egbesu force was utilised in the form of amulets and charms to be worn as protection to ward off spiritual and psychic attack. It is also utilised in spiritual warfare, commonly referred to today as psychological warfare.

All things, all individuals, function in the divine scheme of things that is known as the universe. If an individual is a constant transgressor or deliberately infringes the divine order as represented by the laws of nature, then you cannot expect to be protected by divine law. Therefore you can only receive protection from Egbesu if you yourself are not a transgressor or constant infringer of divine law. If you are not a transgressor you have the right to defend yourself and your society against infringement by persons who seek to do so. You also have a right to implement justice on behalf of the whole society that is being destabilised, and the corrective forces of God will assist you in doing so. This is Egbesu.

Individuals who are in full compliance with the divine order, such as an Egbesu priest, have the ability to invoke the corrective forces (Egbesu) of God, if the social and environmental order within the human habitat is destabilised. This invoking of Egbesu will take on the form of waging aggressive physical warfare or psychological and spiritual warfare against the forces that are causing the destabilisation and disharmony, with the aim of re-establishing order and harmony, while at the same time being protected from harm. That is why Egbesu is termed the god of warfare. It is not invoked to cause war, but to end injustice wherever it may be.

In traditional Ijo society Egbesu priests presided over some communities. Thus we have the Agadagba of Egbesu of Arogbo-Ijo, Egbema-Ijo, The Egbesu priests of Olodiama-Ijo, Operemo-Ijo at Amabolou, to name a few.

Seeking Assistance from Egbesu: Seeking the assistance of the corrective forces of God to correct an injustice or infringement of our fundamental rights to make a living requires discipline and means living in harmony with the laws governing the universe. You cannot do it any other way. Thus an Egbesu priest, and the men who will carry out the defensive work will undergo a training programme that will discipline their person and harmonise their being with the offensive and defensive powers of God. After the training programme, and in accordance to the sincerity of the individuals undergoing it, Egbesu will protect them and help them carry out their task of restoring law and order in the land, or righting a wrong. In an emergency situation an Egbesu priest can invoke the corrective forces of God to help a community in a conflict situation where they are clearly innocent, and are being victimised. All men or soldiers engaged in physical combat must as a matter of priority confess their sins, while at the same time make a sincere commitment to fight according to divine law. This means that innocent people are not victimised in a warfare situation, even if your own people are.

In calling upon the benevolent forces of God in times of conflict, where it is clear that you are not at fault or guilty of infringing the divine order, you must not give in to fear. Any time you give in to fear, you deny God dwelling within. God dwelling within is non other than the inner intelligence guiding all things. So if you deny It then it will not come to your aid in times of crises. Easier said than done. This is where the training or initiation program becomes essential.

We are now in a position to understand why Egbesu has been invoked by concerned Ijaw people in the protection of the Niger Delta environment our home, against those who seek to destroy it through ecological and environmental degradation caused by oil exploration, and against those neighbouring people and the corrupt elite who are ruling Nigeria, who want to infringe and violate the God given rights of Ijaw people to a fair share of the resources that are being generated by our homeland.

For Egbesu to be 100 percent effective in protecting the collective interests of the Ijaw people there is a demand placed on us to become unified in purpose and root out corruption within our mist. Without these conditions. Egbesu will aid us according to our due. The law of “you reap what you sow” must take its course.

Although it is convenient to conceptualise EGBESU as some kind of genii to be invoked at will, in reality it is by living truth that one invokes Egbesu. LIVE BY THE LAW OF GOD WHICH STATE THAT THERE IS NOTHING IN THIS WORLD, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE THAT WILL MAKE YOU VIOLATE THE LAWS OF JUSTICE AND EQUALITY - THE SPIRITUAL POWER THAT YOU WILL ACQUIRE FROM LIVING THIS TRUTH IS GOD’S AUTOMATIC PROTECTION FROM THE HARM AND INJUSTICES OF OTHERS - THIS IS EGBESU.

Nigerian Newspaper reports on Egbesu:

“…His Majesty Pere Defae Mejiya Ebenezer Eperetun Aaga II is the Agadagba of Arogbo-Ijaw Kingdom…..Pere will not make two sentences in Ijaw without mentioning Egbesu. This reporter asked him who is Egbesu? According to him [Egebsu] is the Ijaw God of War and Peace. The Egbesu is a very strict god, but very loyal and quick to respond to requests by his people. Egebsu does not forgive anyone who breaches his instructions. For instance, Egbesu is strictly against the killing of women and children. Pere said on October 7, he handed over three women war prisoners to the police at Igbokoda. But he did not tell what happened to male war prisoners. Egbesu was also said to have turned his back on two Ijaw fighters because they stole at the war front. They died. There are about 21 denominations of Churches in Arogbo-Ijaw kingdom. The spiritual headquarters of the Cherubim and Seraphim is located somewhere on the waters of the Ijaws. Yet, they seem to be quick to relate with Egbesu than with the Almighty God….According to them, Egbesu’s response is like the speed of light…..”

(From Taste of Ijaw Lifestyle-The Guardian on Sunday, p29, 25/10/98, by Alabi Williams).

“…Navy Captain Olubolade, the past administrator of the state, came and tried to hold the people of Bayelsa hostage. Among human beings, not everyone is docile in the face of intimidation. Those of us considered courageous and who have access to the use of words and the wherewithal to defend what we say, became critical and told the world what Olubolade was turning the state into. On June 22, after General Abdulsalam Abubakar became head of state, we wrote a petition titled “Olubolade’s profligacy in Bayelsa State” which received the attention of the Head of State and resulted into Olubolade being invited to Abuja for questioning. He was angry over this and asked how a “bloody civilian” could cause him such embarrassment. I was picked up on 16th of July at the Bayelsa State liaison office in Port Harcourt and taken to Bayelsa and kept like Nichodemus - locked up in a guest house attached to Government House, Yenagoa. Later, news went out that I was being held at Government House. Where? Members of my organisation did not know. However, on July 20th, some members of my group marched on to Government House, on information that the man they were looking for was there. They divided themselves into four platoons made up of 12 people each and stormed Government House. They got to the gate and dislodged the security men, arrested them and took their guns, then headed towards the quarters unharmed. Naturally, security operatives noticing an insurgence will definitely fire to quell it. They fired at these boys but not one was harmed. When the boys got to any of the security operatives, they brought them down and removed their guns without any blood spilled. Then they got to the Milad’s lodge, disarmed the men stationed there and began looking for me without knowing where I was. They ransacked the whole premises and when the guards, guarding their leader (myself) saw the boys approaching where I was incarcerated, they fired at the boys without a single one of these boys being injured. The boys got to the people firing at them and locked them up in a room there. By this time, I had come out on hearing noise and commotion. When they saw me they became jubilant and with the guns they had seized from the security operatives, we marched out. Government House, Yenagoa became naked. We marched majestically out of the road and had an Ogelle procession to the water front, arranged some boats and went downstream. We went through many towns and finally returned the seized guns to them through Peremabiri, at the police station there. We handed over the guns to the inspector we met there, one Frank Bassey, who took them to the DPO at Oporoma. It was a miracle. People who were not there may disbelieve but it did happen….The Story of your release definitely has all the elements of a fantastic tale. Since your release there has been all kinds of stories about Juju, Egbesu and so on?…”

(From The Guardian on Sunday Newspaper 18/10/98)

“…Ijaw Crises: Egbesu Boys disarm soldiers – The crises over the Kaiama Declaration by the Ijaw Ethnic group in the Niger Delta deepened on Thursday as the dreaded Egbesu Boys of Africa launched a counter attack on soldiers in Yenagoa, disarming them and causing a stampede in the Bayelsa State capital. One of the Egbesu followers however, had his brains scattered during the crossfire between them and the soldiers. The victim was described as ‘a mere follower’, who had earlier been stopped from joining the team…..Soldiers who mounted several checkpoints, were disarmed and some of them were believed to have been kidnapped. Two hours after the boys had retreated, the soldiers and policemen had not returned to their duty posts….”

(From NewsReport Journal Monday 04/01/99).

“…Lt Col Obi….He decried the activities of militant youth groups such as the Egbesu Boys in Bayelsa State….most of the youth are level headed, adding that it was unfortunate that groups such as the Egbesu Boys were allowed to hijack their movement…”So, the youth are not Egbesu per se.. But most of those people who belong to the secret cult go for the youth forum to perpetuate problems and the unfortunate thing about Egbesu is that they believe they are invincible because they used to go for the cult initiations and believe it makes them bullet proof and they can attack anybody and carry weapons and carry on with their attacks,” he said…”

(From Thisday Newspaper 14/1/99).

“…What then is the role of the SEA (Supreme Egbesu Assembly) in the Struggle in the Niger Delta. Indeed what is Egbesu? The questions were put to the council and drew the following response…It is the culture of the Ijaw man. The deity of the Ijaw man (that) people are now calling Egbesu. It has been right from inception.. This is no secret…Egbesu stands for truth. The Egbesu is the unifying spirit of the Ijawman and the father and mother of the Ijaw nation…..Sometimes people say that Egbesu is secret cult and that they use all kinds of concoctions. All these are fallacious statements. The fact is that it stands for truth. It stands for justice. The Egbesu will not stand and be watching its children being wiped out by people who don’t know how we came about.. So the binding spirit of Ijaw land is Egbesu and Egbesu is God Himself. Traditionally that is the way we pray to God. We know God. No Ijaw man has at anytime substituted anything for God, hence anything we are doing we call on his name to guide us. If it is wrong we will stop. If we are doing anything that is according to your [God’] wish, you [God] give us the protection. Egbesu is not used for any dubious means. It is not used in making fast money. It is used in facing the truth and the challenges of our times. Whatever anybody calls it – secret cult, fetish, they don’t bother us. As a matter of fact the whole Ijaw race has been unified by Egbesu and that is why we talk with one voice”, the SEA officers stressed…. The session lasted far into the night..by 8. am everyone moved by canoe to the shrine where certain rites were performed by the Pere, dressed in all white….Preye who represents the militant wing of SEA warned: “If the Federal Government can approve all my requests, I have no problem, but if they refuse, I will fight. If my hands come up they are bullets, my eyeballs are bullets, my nose is bullet, my tongue is bullet, my teeth are bullets.. If the Federal Government says they will kill men, they will kill the whole of Ijaw Kingdom as well…As was explained by the Director of mobilisation of SEA, Daunemighan, the fight that ensued just before the Pere’s departure from the shrine was the effect of the storm of the spiritual forces at play seeking a channel to express themselves…..”

(From Egbesu Boys – Ijaws Parallel Army, The Guardian on Sunday 6/12/98, pp17 – 19)

“….Egbesu is a religious institution that runs across the Ijaw area of the Niger Delta. It exists in one form or the other. Even in places where it is not now known as Egbesu, there is or must be some institution that does the same thing as Egbesu does. And the functions of Egbesu in all these communities are to provide protection, provide discipline and to provide for the security and self-preservation of the people. Whenever there is some conflict and a situation in which the particular community has to defend itself either by aggressive means or otherwise, this kind of institution is consulted. Usually persons that will be engaged in any activity of this sort are screened. There is a selection process. It is not something open to everybody. Egbesu decides who can do what and also provides rules and regulations, discipline and minimum level of training. For the people involved in the struggle, contest and so on, having a call for military mobilisation is necessary and that is what Egbesu is all about. It is an instrument of discipline because, it controls the proper organisation and use of force by determining when there is a just cause that are for the good and protection of communities, not in an unjust activity that would oppress other people. Some people are surprised that this type of thing could come up at a time when everybody seems to be now Christian sometimes even Pentecostal. They are asking why this thing is now rampant when it is supposed to be driven off in these communities. Egbesu has come because these are, as it were, the residual spiritual resources of the people that they have to fall back on when they are driven to the wall….”

(Prof E J Alagoa, 2/10/99 Interview).

[1] The Bible (Revised Standard Version)

[2] Ifie E Deinyi. Twenty Five Ezon Moon Night Rhymes, p40.

[3] Alagoa E J ((1972) A History of the Niger Delta, p20

[4] Talbot P A (1926) The People of Southern Nigeria vol 2, p39