A SALUTE TO RIVERS WOMEN

JASON OSAI stands with the women against oppression

I shall start this piece by throwing modesty to the winds and borrow from the self-praise that characterize the redhead lizard, which praises itself when no one does each time it carries out the stunning stunt of dropping to the ground from a great height. The objective is to arm the reader with the fact that I am not asking people to do what I did not do when I could. Come with me.

          In a seven-day, one-man, live-in protest over an aspect of my alma mater’s housing policy, I occupied Hart Hall, a six-floor male hostel, at Murray State University, Murray Kentucky USA during Thanksgiving Holidays of 1974; I was 24. At the end of the protest, I wrote an article decrying the policy; the article was published by Murray State News as “Student Speaks Out”; it can still be accessed on Google “Murray State News Jason Osai”. That effort attracted the attention of the Senate of the State of Kentucky and yielded an adjustment of the university housing policy to accommodate the essence of my protest.

           In my early thirties, I was the spokesman and glowworm of Egbema Youths Association (EYA), which peacefully paralyzed the operations of Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in Egbema for two weeks until NAOC yielded to the demand for electricity, pipe-borne water, school buildings, scholarships and roads. The outcome of that first community action against a corporate multinational in the history of old Rivers State was such that a 1997 OP-ED in The Guardian rated Egbema, Rivers State as “the most infrastructurally developed community in rural Nigeria”.    

            Thereafter, I was elected Secretary-General of Association of Mineral Producing Areas of Rivers State (AMPARS). Under the visionary and dynamic chairmanship of the legendary Chief HJR Dappa-Biriye and my administrative stewardship, AMPARS audaciously demanded the creation of “a Commission for the development of the oil producing communities of the Niger Delta” from the stone-faced and taciturn Buhari/Idiagbon junta. That effort was sustained into the Babangida Administration and it fructified in the  creation of Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), which morphed into Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Now in my mid-seventies and at the departure lounge of life on earth, all I can do is write and speak, when invited.

        It took only one voice that shouted “BRING US FUBARA” and the insult of an injustice was confronted head on with a mass walkout thereby making a statement of protest that has resonated across the world. I hereby commend Rivers women for the show of unity, strength and purpose during the aborted parlay with the wife of the Sole Administrator imposed on Rivers State by President Tinubu. I cannot thank the courageous Rivers women enough for that profound act of patriotism.

          Rivers people, men, women, youths and children should brace up and reject the “Colony on the Coast” treatment that has been our portion in the affairs of a country that relies on our resources for sustenance. A nation where “bleeders masquerading as leaders” in power feed fat on our wealth while, in anguish, we languish in abject poverty. Though our tribe and tongue may differ, we should stand in brotherhood realizing that there is an “us-and-them” divide in this country and that we have always been on the receiving end.

          Engr Victor Masi was the only federal appointee sent to prison by the Buhari/Idiagbon junta. Prof Tam David-West was sent to Bama prison ostensibly for a gold wristwatch and a cup of tea by an administration that broke the record of corruption in Nigeria. Navy Commander Ibim Princewill was removed as Governor of Cross River State for no just cause. These and a lot more happened to us because we are the underdogs of Nigeria politics and that is only because  of our inability to contain our diversity and walk, work and talk as a people with a purpose.

          On the security front, it is said that those who do not heed the lessons of history are bound to repeat it. We learned from history books that Usman Dan Fodio went into Hausa land in 1804 and by 1808 he established Sokoto Caliphate and over ran Hausa communities of Northern Nigeria. Today, of the 19 governors of the North, 11 are Fulani irrespective of their demographic disadvantage within the context of the North. In tears, General Yakubu Gowon has expressed regrets for being an instrument of the Fulani in our ignominious past. General T.Y. Danjuma has advised his people that “the best form of defense is attack”. The Director General (DG) of the Directorate of State Security (DSS), Mr. Adeola Ajayi has publicly urged communities across the nation to be ready to defend themselves.

            Today, the bushes, riverbanks, swamps, forests and communities of Rivers State are infested with the Fulani, enabled by unsuspecting Rivers people in our characteristic hospitality. In a poem titled “Insidious Invasion”, I raised the alarm but our Iguana Syndrome kicked in. This April, Iliyasu Gadu wrote that “The killing fields of…parts of the country indicate a premeditated plan of action which could only have been at the instance of parties with enough motivation and resources to finance the mayhem”.

         It is a truism that “the snake will always give birth to long things”. Turkey was a Christian country until Muslim fanatics stepped in; today, Turkey is ninety-seven percent Muslim. The countries of North Africa have the same history. So,  I encourage Rivers women to raise the consciousness of this impending catastrophe amongst us, their sleepy husbands and communities;   while we should not despair, we should guard our loins in readiness. Granted that the art and act of subterfuge and subversion that characterize the Fulani failed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and some other African countries, we should not rest on our oars. For ransom to be paid to rescue a Nigerian army general from kidnappers, it means that we are on  our own. Therefore, we should rise up in action within the ambit of the laws and be prepared to protect Rivers State. We are told that, sometimes, evil wins with silence rather than tanks and assault rifles. The collective silence of Rivers State in the face of this imminent danger is ominous.

          I hereby invoke the fighting spirit of Harold Dappa-Biriye, Obi Wali, Claude Ake, Ken Saro-Wiwa and other no less patriots of Rivers State as I say: Wake up, Rivers people!

 Prof Osai writes from Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt