“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” - Matthew 5:9.

Dogs eating dogs and birds gnawing at each other's innards is one way to describe the war of words between the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Tunji Bello. Both are important members of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, occupying portfolios that impact on the day-to-day existence of Nigerians. For members of the upper and middle classes, Keyamo’s assignment is indispensable to their needs. With the state of insecurity in the country today, who wants to risk travelling by road, except those left with no other option?

 Last week, a professional colleague who helps out with my Abuja assignments narrowly escaped being kidnapped in broad daylight at Obajana on her way back to Abuja from Lagos. The passengers in the vehicle right ahead of her were not so lucky. They were whisked off into the bush by the kidnappers. She lost valuables because the kidnappers took time to ransack her vehicle. But we were all thankful unto God that none of the kidnappers’ bullets hit her - and also because, today, I am not reduced to soliciting for help in this column to pay God-knows-how-much ransom money! All because of the high cost of air travel which many Nigerians can no longer afford!

This yuletide period is when more misery is piled upon hapless Nigerians on all fronts, the airlines inclusive. According to reports, air travel has witnessed a 300 percent hike, especially on South-South and South-East routes. Why? Air Peace, which is at the centre of the spat between the Aviation ministry and the FCCPC, is, again, said to be at the centre of the astronomical hike that defies all logic. 

Air Peace flight from Lagos to Asaba in Delta State reportedly moved from N97,400 as of December 5, 2024 to N287, 800 by December 18; Abuja to Asaba (N95,400 on December 5 to N285, 800 on December 16); Abuja to Benin (N95,000 to N285,800 by December 16); Lagos to Port Harcourt or Abuja to Port Harcourt (N95,400 to N285, 800) ; Lagos to Anambra (N114,400 as of December 6 to N381 by December 17); Abuja to Anambra (N95,000 as of December 5 to N285,800 by December 23). and so on and so forth! 

The only logical reason I can think of is that some airlines behave like the typical Lagos “Danfo” and “Yellow buses”: During rush hours, those ones mindlessly hike transport fares to fleece hapless Nigerians! December is “rush hours” for travellers moving from one place to the other to celebrate Christmas and New Year but should airlines flying international routes also display the “Bolekaja” mentality of Lagos touts and “agberos”?  

Could this be the reason, then, why the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents (NANTA) has not only thrown its weight behind the FCCPC on this matter but also asked that the FCCPC investigation be extended to other airlines in the country?      

Keyamo says he is working assiduously to reposition the aviation industry to address the problem of air travel that has become the exclusive preserve of the rich. He adds that his efforts are already yielding the desired fruits and that, very soon, the cost of tickets will become affordable once again to the average Nigerian. That should be cheery news to anyone who has experienced the horror that long-distance travel especially has become on our roads.

 It used to be fun travelling long distances by road, be it by day or even at night. I for one loved the cool of the night to travel. Not again! Travelling during the day also had its own attractions: what with many stops on the way availing travellers the opportunity to alight from the vehicle, stretch their legs, and unwind! Sight-seeing the splendid and magnificent geography of the country was fun enough on its own. As you pass villages and towns one after the other, the flora and faunas, and the cultural heritage of the diverse peoples that make up the country come into view. For many, not any more! 

So, tackling insecurity and making the road safe for travel once again is a task that must be done. Simultaneously, making air travel affordable must also not be treated with levity. Keyamo says that is what he has been working hard at - and I salute his efforts!

At the other end, Tunji Bello, the FCCPC boss, is worried that Nigerians are being cheated and taken advantage of by Shylock businessmen and women. In this way, the FCCPC investigation is not limited to Air Peace or the aviatIon sector alone but also reportedly captures the banking and communications sectors; the driving force being the avalanche of complaints by members of the public.

 In the short period that he has been in the FCCPC saddle, Tunji has left no one in doubt that he has listening ears and sympathetic heart to the moanings and cries of suffering Nigerians. Hence, months ago, he issued an ultimatum to the market men and women and other traders to step down prices or face the music. The ultimatum may not have totally reversed the trend of high costs of foodstuffs but it gave notice that the masses now have a Daniel come to judgment. 

How can anyone forget Tunji and FCCPC’s intervention weeks ago when ubiquitous - I almost said “iniquitous”! - PHCN ordered Nigerians to shell out hundreds of thousands of Naira to buy and install new meters within the ultimatum of a few weeks? It was Tunji and the FCCPC that said an emphatic “No”, thus saving hapless Nigerians another 419 scheme that would have bored gaping holes in people’s pockets in these austere times and very close to Christmas and New Year!

These apart, Tunji and Keyamo are established and long-standing members of the “Aluta” and “Progressives” fraternity. While I was at the University of Ibadan for my NYSC and M. Sc class, I watched Tunji campaign to become the vice-president of the “Great Uite” Student Union. His strident “aluta” message - and handsome looks, to boot - won the election for him. Our girls love mobilising en-masse and voting for handsome duds at Student Union elections! 

Ask any of Tunji’s professional colleagues as journalists and they will tell you that he is one of the most approachable, responsible, and responsive of their colleagues that they can vouch for anytime, anyday. His conscience - and a heart for others - I dare to say, is not seared. Keyamo’s CV is no less intimidating! He has been a human rights activist for decades, fighting the cause of the marginalized and oppressed and standing on the side of the people - and on some occasions that I know, free of charge or pro bono, as the lawyers call it. 

I confess that Tunji and Keyamo are my comrades and friends. So, I don't want them to fight; especially when they are both engaged in a good cause but only coming in from different angles. Sheathe the sword, brothers, and bridge the communication gap! Stop dissipating energy on trifles! There is still much work to be done.   

For Tunji and the FCCPC, there are too many sharp practices out there by businesses that there is hardly any department where the people get value again for money. Quality and quantity have deliberately been compromised to cut production costs and maximise profit. If you buy a whole box of matches, you will be lucky if a few catch fire when you strike them. A tea bag that could make a jug of tea for a family of six in the past can hardly make one tea cup these days. How about a tin of milk? If you think it is only the established businesses that cheat consumers, try and buy a bunch of cooked walnuts in traffic. You will be lucky if half of the eight pieces in a pack are edible! 

The task before Keyamo is no less arduous. Thank God aircraft are not dropping from the sky these days like birds as they once did in this country. Keyamo has been proactive, not waiting for the deed to be done before acting, like he once told me when I confronted him with allegations that he acted prematurely to shut down Dana Air after the near mishap of its plane. But it will not amuse the minister to learn that eight months after and despite his intervention, Dana has yet to make my refunds despite repeated demands!

This is the kind of impunity, I think, that Tunji and the FCCPC are miffed about and which, I am sure, Keyamo himself can not be comfortable with. Like I have said repeatedly, there must be consequences for bad behaviour; otherwise, no progress will be made and this country will continue to move in cycles. In these challenging economic times, if I get my refunds from Dana, it will at least buy half-bag of rice, chicken and soft drinks for me and my family to celebrate Christmas and New Year with!

I read with much appreciation and delight Festus Adebayo’s column on Abati and Davido as Cockroaches. 

I do not know how they did it but the Nigerian Tribune is justifying its longevity by giving our country the gift of great columnists. Every week I read with a sense of satisfaction these Tribune Columnists and feel grateful that the grand era of the Newspaper column has yet to evaporate. Peter Pan, Sad Sam, Ayekoto etc. brought light to darkness. The Tribune columnists flood this present darkness with exhilaration like the experience of the floodlights of Liberty Stadium brought us as children in the 1960s.

But I respond to Festus Adebayo’s thoughtfulness in that piece not as a once upon a time columnist myself but as a worried citizen on the one hand and as a social scientist concerned about the State in post colonial Africa, especially about how the nature of that state prolongs the misery of the poor and vulnerable, and how the world views Africa.

Identity politics and ethnic baiting captured in the metaphors of Cockroaches and ‘cut down the tall trees’ in the run up to Rwanda’s genocide are in my view the result of leadership failure. Why did America become a melting pot and divisive politics make Africa poster child state failure? One Ronald Reagan video tells that story well.

The so called Igbo/Yoruba divide building up, as Adebayo points out, with possibilities of terrible foreboding yet fully appreciated by their champions, is a classic example. I would like to speak to that as one who has been a cockroach in many seasons.

For one born in Kaduna, baptized in Jos, started school in Kano, witnessed the pogrom in Gusau in 1966, and part of the civil war, including the civilian massacre in Asaba in 1967 and 1968, I first got sensitive to the cockroach syndrome as an undergraduate at UNN in 1973/74. My horrific war experience did not raise my sensitivity as much the experience of 1974. May be becoming more mature made that so. 

Seeing all of the other four universities in Nigeria at the time shut down from protests on the anniversary of the Adepeju killing by police at UI, I became part of a group that challenge the SUG calling for action. A few students understandably distraught that they lost three years while colleagues at Unilag, UI, Ife and ABU carried on with their studies, shouted at me ‘you Yoruba boy go and read your book’. I was not a Yoruba boy but a citizen who placed a premium on human solidarity. 

Even with the wounds of the civil war then so fresh the typecasting of people on ethnic lines was nowhere as horrible as it is today. Surely my group of friends which included people like Folu Ayeni the 1974 valedictorian at UNN who many years later founded Tantalizers with his wife Bose, my classmate from High School in Loyola College Ibadan, Gbenga Sadipe, Idiat Adesanya, Ronke Ashaye and even current NAFDAC DG Prof Adeyeye. Did that make me Yoruba. Clearly not. But the experience points to the danger of typecasting people.

Twenty years later the elections of June 12 got annulled. With no thought to the ethnicity of Chief MKO Abiola I rallied professionals with an OpEd piece: We must say Never Again. Public court records suggest I survived two assassination attempts for the effort of the Concerned Professionals. 

Years later I was chatting with a young CEO of a multinational from my part of the country on an unrelated subject when he remarked that he was a final year student in the University when the CP protests took place. He said he was put off by the fact that of the 39 of us that signed a published petition only myself and two or three others were not Yorubas. I had no recollection of how many signed the petition nor had I ever given thought to the ethnicity mix of the protestors. 

Then my classmate from Nsukka Femi Kusa wrote a vitriolic bashing of Igbos. I responded with an expression of my surprise at what I thought was uncharitable ethnic bashing and baiting. That alarmed me to the nature of the poison being concocted.

From my work in political economy I have celebrated what American political scientists Robert Melson and Howard Wolpe called competitive communalism in which ethnic nationality groups competed on who would most bring progress to their regions at the birth of of self government in Nigeria.

It required political leadership to continue to harvest the benefits of Federalism and the competition doctrine without spilling into debilitating dislike for people of other ethnic nationality groups. 

I became acutely sensitive to the fact that political actors were exploiting the emotions of identity politics. This was getting so divisive I feared it would make for a narrative that would make Nigeria unattractive for investment for both Nigerians of some disposition to risk and foreigners.

Opportunities to do something about my concerns kept coming. 

When the Oba of Lagos was said to threaten to drown Igbos if they did not act a certain way and opinions went wild I called for calm as the Oba had no tools to effect such a threat but was probably joking as he often did. 

A few Igbo business men said to me that my intervention calmed nerves and nipped over reaction in the bud. On a visit to the Oba in the palace his daughter reminded him how she told him I saved the day.

Then the Reverend Ladi Thompson came to see me to proselytize his initiative on bringing Igbo and Yoruba elite together to discuss and shake hands. I told him I was chair of the board of trustees of Nzuko Umunna which had organized the Handshake across the Niger summit which brought many Yoruba leaders to Enugu for the first time. His ideas were in tandem and music to my ears. 

I accepted Thompson’s invitation to host the YIGBA meeting at my home in Lagos. And the heavy weights came. From the Yoruba side they included Ptof Akintoye, former Secretary of UPN, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Dr Christopher Kolade and dozens of other Yoruba prominent people. From the Igbo side came past and future presidents of Ohaneze like Prof Joe Irukwu and Prof George Obiozor, General Ike Nwachukwu and dozens more.

Prof Akitoye set the tone of the conversation by recalling a visit to Chief Obafemi Awolowo just before he passed. He said Chief Awolowo lamented that he did not manage to fix the Yoruba/Igbo rift and that he then charged both him and Chief Olaninwu Ajayi to make that bridging project top priority.

On my part I invited the Distiguished submitters to try reading Jared Diamond on the evolution of human civilization and migration in man’s birth place in Africa. I assured them they would find the Igbos and Yorubas were close cousins and words like those which identify body parts, as language developed, before some migrated further East on the West African coastline would be similar. So the fact that imi in Igbo is imu in Yoruba, enu in Yoruba is onu in Igbo and eti is nti should make these cousins better behave towards each other.

So how did we get here that me, the ‘Yoruba boy’ of yesterday receives a storm of insults from people who have either not read what I have written or interpreted every word from the prism of their bias because they identify me as Igbo.

When I listened to a senior US diplomat who monitored the elections in Lagos in March of 2023 recount his observations and being traumatized by it, two emotions flowed through. One was to think of Dr Michael Okpara and the details of his support for Adegbenro and company during the elections in Western Region and of my own half a century of bridging effort. I decided my time of being verged on waste. All these because a few desire power no matter the cost for sustained social advance, the peace of a people and history’s judgement.

I realize this is not a uniquely Nigerian problem. Jurgen Habermas finds democracy and modernity to converge around rational public conversation but the philosopher of the public sphere can probably see how politicians play emotion in many countries, giving people like Joshua Greene at the Center for Moral Cognition at Harvard much to study about ‘ emotion, reason and the gap between us and them.

Last month I participated in part of the Rwanda Genocide conference at California State University in Sacramento. As I bantered with the Atorney- General of Rwanda I could not but wonder why politicians have not thought it proper to call off the people they have unleashed on social media to spread hate.

The cost may prove devastating for all. The book I am currently working on looks at How politicians underdeveloped Africa. It is to put in perspective Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa and not to question the merits of his thesis. Divisive plays on emotion constitute one way the politicians keep us poor. Whether they are conscious of it or not is another matter. 

As a cockroach baited from both sides through many seasons of angst I can feel the looming danger.

Patrick Okedinachi Utomi, is a Political Economist and founder of the Centre for Values in Leadership

In an interview with Time newsmagazine in 1975, abrasive Italian journalist, Oriana Fallaci, was accused of sometimes fabricating quotations that she attributed to her interviewees, for which she was derogatively nicknamed “Oriana Fallacious!”

In her response to the Time magazine interviewer, Oriana retorted that the accusation was vulgar, because it was untrue, saying, “It’s ridiculous. If I have the tape (recording) with the voice, how can they claim they never said what they did?”

Though Oriana Fallaci may not have been a fabricator of lies reported in the form of news, the phrase, “Oriana Fallacious”, has probably become a metaphor for journalists, mostly on online platforms, who fabricate stories, or fake news, usually to serve some purposes.

In Nigeria, some of these media houses and amateur citizen journalists, who are usually armed with cellphones, are paid to spread fake news, or outright lies, to deceive the public or publish hate speech that puts unwary victims in the line of physical or verbal attacks or discriminations.

Sometimes they spread falsehoods to mislead people. At other times, they report a true and accurate story, but in a manner that could be inimical to the subject of the story. This is common during political campaigns that mostly resemble war propaganda.

Perhaps the vilest lie told in recent times about the obviously “sexed up” story of possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction against Iraqi strongman, Saddam Hussein, by European and American superpowers under America’s President George Walker Bush, Jr., and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Weapons of Mass Destruction imply chemical and biological weapons of war that include nuclear-grade missiles with launch ranges exceeding the extent imposed by the United Nations. Some of the chemical weapons that Iraq was said to possess included mustard gas, sarin, cyclosarin and VX.

After prosecuting a devastating war against probably bewildered citizens of Iraq, American G.I.s ferreted Hussein out of an underground bunker, after which, he and his Minister of Defence, Ali Majid “Chemical Ali” al-Tikriti, were hanged in a Bagdad prison.

But later, Prime Minister Blair expressed “sorrow, regret, and apology” for the needless war and accepted “full responsibility without exception or excuse, for the consequences of the war”. But he neither confirmed nor denied that Iraq truly had WMD, beyond saying that there appeared to be mounting evidence of WMD.

In explaining the real he joined America in prosecuting the war, a partially repented Blair said “…because I thought it was right”, and, in the mode of Captain America, wanted to set the Iraqi people free from the tyranny of despot Hussein.

Such a good and generous heart. The spokesman and Director of Communications and Strategy of the Tony Blair Administration, Alistair Campbell, who denied that was a “sexing up” of intelligence reports, however, said that the issue would haunt Tony Blair till his dying day.

The phrase, Weapon of Mass Destruction, has become so notorious that America’s Lake Superior University describes it as the height of aggression, before banishing it into its list of terms of “misuse, overuse and general uselessness”.

Lately, to convince their citizens of the need to send military hardware to Ukraine, the West invented the story that Russia was about to invade the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military alliance of North America, Western and Central European countries.

NATO conveniently omitted to add that Russia, led by Mikhail Gorbachev, only agreed to the pulling down of the Berlin War in 1989 for the unification of Germany in 1990 on the condition that NATO would not expand eastwards towards Russia.

Ukraine, the theatre of the Ukraine-Russian War now wants to join NATO, like Poland, another member of the defunct Warsaw Pact nations led by Russia. Russia strongly objects to that because of its common border with Ukraine. America’s Secretary of State James Baker, during the second term of President Ronald Reagan, had promised that NATO would expand “not one inch eastward.”

Just 11 days before America’s 2016 presidential election, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James Comey, unnecessarily told the American electorate that the FBI was looking into newly discovered emails of Hilary Clinton, who was contesting to be America’s President.

She lost the election because the disclosure might have affected voters’ assessment of her integrity. In 2019, four years after the deed had been done, America’s State Department reported that “None of the emails at issue were marked as classified!”

Take a look at recent incidences of outright lies peddled as the truth in Nigeria, starting from the hoax on social media that former President Olusegun Obasanjo was dead. Understandably, Obasanjo, who wondered why anyone would wish him dead, had pronounced, “Those who harbour such thoughts will not escape such tragedy themselves.”

This is a reminiscence of the rumour of the death of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first (ceremonial) President of Nigeria in 1989. A committee of friends was even formed for his burial. Just as Obasanjo had done, Azikiwe cursed those who had spread the rumour, and two prominent members of his political family involved in that perfidy predeceased him.

A local stakeholder, lacking knowledge of the technicalities of the operation of a petroleum refinery, came on TV to declare a hoax, the announcement by Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited that the smaller Port Harcourt refinery was now operational. People believed him because of numerous false claims of the refinery rehabilitation by NNPCL.

A professor of medicine, who appears to be a lobbyist of Sahel nations, is suggesting that France is cosying up to Nigeria to establish a military base in Northern Nigeria, obtain rights to Nigeria’s mineral resources and obtain petroleum and gas concessions. The Chief of Defence Staff denied any plans for a French military base in Nigeria.

While many were wondering if Seyi, the son of President Bola Tinubu, indeed wanted to be Governor of Lagos State in 2027, it took a swift announcement to debunk the fake news that was already taking the shape of the holy grail.

The semblance of fake news is turning up even in unexpected places, in the defamation tango between two attorneys, nonagenarian Afe Babalola, and civil rights activist Dele Farotimi, who published a book with content that Babalola thought was a defamation of his character and reputation.

Farotimi alleged that Babalola got the Supreme Court of Nigeria to reverse its judgment by correcting what amounted to a clerical error, which Farotimi, lawyer to one of the other parties, probably considered to be a substantially corrupt variation of the earlier judgement.

The police probably charged Farotimi to court on criminal grounds by relying on the article, “When False Publications May Amount to Criminal Libel”, wherein Babalola was said to have argued that, apart from civil claims, “a publication of false and misleading information can give rise to criminal prosecution”.

Though Babalola acknowledged that “defamation is a dual-nature offence, and it can be a civil wrong as well as a criminal act”, the Ekiti State Police Command may want to stretch and test the efficacy of criminal sanction that the Cybersecurity Act prescribes for online defamation.

One thing is clear: The outcome of the criminal suit will help define fake news and its consequences, as one wonders if the defamatory act attributed to Farotimi was his way of getting justice after a judgment.

In 2015, my friend, a retired federal Permanent Secretary, Dr. Goke Adegoroye from Akure Oloyemekunin Ondo state,  wrote a book titled “RESTORING GOOD GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA”. The book is well researched and a guide to good governance in this country. Dr. Adegoroye was director general of Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) between 1996 and 1998.  He became Director of Special Duties in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation between 1999 and 2005.

Dr Adegoroye was appointed Director General to head the bureau of civil service reforms by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005.

On page 219 of that book, he wrote:  “flowing from the argument above, it would also become necessary to take a second look at the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, in view of the mandate of the super-agency Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The current situation in the North East of Nigeria makes it imperative to review the establishment of the ministry. Otherwise, are we going to create a similar ministry for the North East? Whatever the case, an agency to commence addressing the rehabilitation of the region appears to be something that we cannot run away from in the immediate term. However, it would be appropriate to recognize that, apart from the resource derivation angle of the Niger Delta region, the root causes of the issues in the two regions are related and derive from youth restiveness, which must be comprehensively addressed as a national issue”.

Nine years after the publication of Dr. Adegoroye’s book, the Ministry of Niger Delta was scrapped and renamed Ministry of Regional Development incorporating all regional development bodies such as North East, North West and other development commissions.

Details for the establishment of that Ministry are still being worked out.

The Ministry of Niger Delta Development was created in December 2008 by President Musa Umaru Yar’adua (16 August 1951- 5 May 2010). The pioneer minister of that Ministry was my late boss, Chief Ufot Ekaette (1939-2019), who served as Secretary of the Government of the Federation between 29 May 1999 – 28 May 2007.

In creating the Ministry at that time, President Yar’adua explained then that the Ministry would have a Minister in charge of the development of Niger Delta area, and a Minister of State in charge of youth empowerment. The existing Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was to become a parastatal under the ministry.  President Yar’Adua said that the Ministry would coordinate efforts to tackle the challenges of infrastructural development, environment protection and youth empowerment in the Niger Delta.

In November 2009, President Yar’Adua allocated N64bn to the Niger Delta ministry for its 2010 budget. Defending the proposed budget in December 2009 before the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, chaired by Senator James Manager, Obong Uffot Ekaette explained that the ministry had difficulties achieving targets in 2009 because the N19.5bn allocated for its projects was unevenly spread.

Chief Ekaette was from  Ikot Edor, Onna Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State and I served under him for eight years. He was an Ibibio and a hardworking public servant, the like of which are not common in the public service today.  As they say, once in government, always in government. It may be by coincidence that Dr. Adegoroye’s suggestion is being implement by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR. I have toured many parts of Niger Delta. Any time I am in that region, I am full of pity. Pollution is not only destroying their lives but making lives unbearable. One needs to be there.

In most parts of Niger Delta, because of oil pollution and other environmental problems, you are only lucky to be above fifty.

Almost every Nigerian leader had attempted to ameliorate the problems of the people of Niger Delta.

The current President’s action could be interpreted to mean that there is nothing special about Niger Delta after all. That would be very unfortunate.

Before and after independence, Niger Delta has always been a special area. In fact, agitations from that region had always impacted on the government of Nigeria. As we all know in 1957, the minority question in the Eastern Region of Nigeria and other parts of the country came to the front burner and culminated in the appointment of the Willink’s Minority Commission by the British colonial government to enquire into the fears of the ethnic minorities and the means of allaying them. Although the commission did not recommend the creation of states as strongly advocated by the minority ethnic groups, especially the Ibibio, the Ijaws, the Calabars and the Urhobos it however, accepted the fact that genuine fear of domination existed among the minorities.

The sitting of the Commission was to demand for the creation of Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR) State, in a bid to bring succor to the marginalized minorities.

At the 1957 Constitutional Conference held in London, the leaders of the COR State Movement held a private meeting with the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Mr. Lennox Boyd. Also present at the meeting were, the then Governor-General of Nigeria, Sir James Robertson as well as the Governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, Sir John Stapledon. The Secretary of State for the Colonies assured the COR State advocates of the sympathy of the Colonial Office on the issue of the creation of states. Eventually, at the Conference, the decision to set up the Minorities’ Commission of Enquiry to look into the fears of the minorities and the means of allaying such fears, including the exercise of the creation of states, was reached.

Sir Henry Willink was named as the Chairman of the Commission. Other members of the Commission were, Gordon Hadow, Philip Mason, J.S. Shearer and K.J. Hilton who served as the Secretary. On the 26th of September, 1957, the Commission was inaugurated with the following terms of reference: 1. to ascertain the factors about the fears of minorities in any part of Nigeria and to propose means of allaying those fears, whether well or ill-founded; 2. to advise what safeguards should be included for the purpose in the constitution of Nigeria; 3. If, but only if, no other solution seems to the Commission to meet the case, then as a last resort to make detailed recommendations for the creation of one or more new states, and in that case: a) to specify the precise areas to be included in such state or states; b) to recommend the governmental and administrative structure most appropriate for it; and c) to assess whether any state recommended would be viable from an economic and administrative point of view and what the effect of its creation would be on the region or regions from which it would be created and on the federation. 4. to report its findings and recommendations to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Commission began its work in November 1957. Its sittings were held in all parts of the country and sat in Calabar for seven days in January 1958.

The COR State Memorandum to the Willink’s Commission in its memorandum to the Commission, defined the Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR) area to embrace 15 administrative divisions, seven of which were located in the administrative province of Calabar, three in Ogoja and 5 in the Rivers Province. 1. Calabar Province – Abak, Calabar, Eket, Enyong, Ikot Ekpene Opobo (Ikot Abasi) and Uyo 2. Ogoja Province – Ikom, Obubra, Ogoja and Obudu 3. Rivers – Ahoda, Brass, Degema, Ogoni and Port Harcourt.

As a result of the Willink’s Commission report, the Federal Government refused to create states for the minority. Instead, the then Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) created the Niger Development Board which was an acknowledgement of how important the Niger Delta was to Nigeria.

Section 159 of the 1963 Constitution states that “(1) There shall be a board for the Niger Delta which shall be styled the Niger Delta Development Board. (2) The members of the Board shall be – (a) a person appointed by the President, who shall be Chairman; (b) a person appointed by the Governor of Eastern Nigeria; (c) a person appointed by the Governor of Mid-Western Nigeria; (d) such other person as may be appointed in such manner as may be prescribed by the Parliament to represent the inhabitants of the Niger Delta. (3) A member of the Board shall vacate his office in such circumstances as may be prescribed by Parliament. (4) The Board shall be responsible for advising the Government of the Federation and the Governments of Eastern Nigeria and Mid-Western Nigeria with respect to the physical development of the Niger Delta, and in order to discharge that responsibility the Board shall – (a) cause the Niger Delta to be surveyed in order to ascertain what measures are required to promote its physical development; (b) prepare schemes designed to promote the physical development of the Niger Delta; together with estimates of the cost of putting the schemes into effect; (c) submit to the Government of the Federation and the Government if Eastern Nigeria and Mid-Western Nigeria annual reports describing the work of the Board and the measures taken in pursuance of its advice. (5) Parliament may make such provision as it considers expedient for enabling the to discharge its functions under this section. (6) In this section, “the Niger Delta” means the area specified in the proclamation relating to the Board which was made on the twenty-six day of August, 1959. (7) This section shall cease to have effect on the first day of July, 1969 or such later date as may be prescribed by Parliament”.

In addition, the Balewa government created Mid-Western region out of Western region in June 1963. The region comprised Benin and Delta Provinces of the Western Region with Benin City as the capital.

On May 27, 1967, the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (90) created Rivers State in the Niger Delta Region of Southern Nigeria and South Eastern State. The two states were created out of the old Eastern Region. General Gowon named Brigadier General Udukaha Jacob Esuene (1936-1993) from Eket as governor of South Eastern state. He also named Lieutenant Commander Alfred Papapreye Diete-Spiff (82) who was then twenty-five, as governor of Rivers state.  No other Nigerian leader did anything for that region until General Ibrahim Babangida (83) GCFR created Akwa Ibom out of Cross River state on 23 September 1987. He then named my friend HOMEBOY, Brigadier General (rtd.) Jonathan Anene Tunde Ogbeha from Lokoja who was born on September 1, 1947 as the pioneer Military Governor of the state. General Babangida went further to create Delta state on August 27, 1991. He named Air Commodore (retired) Luke Chijuba Ochulo from Okpofe Ezinihitte Local Government Area in Mbaise in Imo state as governor.

On July 9, 1992, same General Babangida established Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) through decree No 23. The objectives of the Commission shall be—

(a) to receive and administer the monthly sums from the allocation of the Federation Account in accordance with confirmed ratio of oil production in each State—

(i) for the rehabilitation and development of oil mineral producing areas, (ii) for tackling ecological problems that have arisen from the exploration of oil minerals; (b) to determine and identify, through the Commission and the respective oil mineral producing States, the actual oil mineral producing areas and embark on the development of projects properly agreed upon with the local communities of the oil mineral producing areas;

(c) to consult with the relevant Federal and State Government authorities on the control and effective methods of tackling the problem of oil pollution and spillages; (d) to liaise with the various oil companies on matters of pollution control (e) to obtain from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation the proper formula for actual oil mineral production of each State, Local Government Area and community and to ensure the fair and equitable distribution of projects, services and employment of personnel in accordance with recognised percentage production; (f) to consult to the Federal Government through the President, the State, Local Governments and oil mineral producing communities regarding projects, services and all other requirements relating to the special fund;

(g) to render annual returns to the President, Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and copy the State and Local Governments on all matters relating to the special fund; (h) to advise the Federal, State and Local Governments on all matters relating to the special fund; (i) to liaise with the oil producing companies regarding the proper number, location and other relevant data regarding oil mineral producing areas; and (j) to execute other works and perform such other functions which in the opinion of the Commission is geared towards the development of the oil mineral producing areas

(2) The sums received by the Commission under subsection (1) (a) of this section shall –

(a) be used for the rehabilitation and development of the oil mineral producing areas on the basis of the ratio of the oil produced in the particular State, Local Government Area or community and not on the basis of the dichotomy of on-shore or off-shore oil production and

(b) constitute a special fund which shall be maintained in an account with the branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria at Moscow Road, Port Harcourt

(1) The Commission shall consist of—(a) a Chairman;(b) one member to represent each of the oil mineral producing States, that is – (i) Rivers State, (ii) Delta State, (iii) Akwa-Ibom State, (iv) Imo State, (v) Edo State, (vi) Ondo State, (vii) Abia State and (viii) Cross River State.

On October 1, 1996, General Sani Abacha GCFR (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) created Bayelsa state out of Rivers state and named Yenagoa as the state capital. He also named my friend, Captain Phillip Oladipo Ayeni (1949-April 21, 2017) from Oke-Imesi in Ekiti state as the pioneer governor. On June 5, 2000, President Olusegun Obasanjo (87) GCFR established the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The NDDC mandate is Formulation of policies and guidelines for the development of the Niger Delta area, conception, planning and implementation, in accordance with set rules and regulations, of projects and programs for sustainable development of the Niger Delta area in the field of transportation including roads, jetties and waterways, health, employment, industrialization, agriculture and fisheries, housing and urban development, water supply, electricity and telecommunications, Surveying the Niger Delta in order to ascertain measures necessary to promote its physical and socio-economic development, Preparing master plans and schemes designed to promote the physical development of the Niger Delta region and the estimation of the member states of the commission.

It also mandates the Implementation of all the measures approved for the development of the Niger Delta region by the Federal Government and the states of the commission, Identify factors inhibiting the development of the Niger Delta region and assisting the member states in the formulation and implementation of policies to ensure sound and efficient management of the resources of the Niger Delta region, Assessing and reporting on any project being funded or carried out in the region by oil and gas companies and any other company, including non-governmental organizations, as well as ensuring that funds released for such projects are properly utilized.

NDDC also has mandate in Tackling ecological and environmental problems that arise from the exploration of oil mineral in the Niger Delta region and advising the Federal Government and the member states on the prevention and control of oil spillages, gas flaring and environmental pollution, Liaising with the various oil mineral and gas prospecting and producing companies on all matters of pollution, prevention and control and Executing such other works and performing such other functions, which in the option of the commission are required for the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region and its people.

The people of that region owe a great debt of gratitude to President Umaru Musa Yar’adua GCFR who on June 25, 2009 established the Amnesty Programme to militants who directly or indirectly participated in militancy. President Yar’adua also sustained the NNDC and in addition as earlier mentioned created the Ministry of Niger Delta. He did a lot for that region. Not only because it is the hen that lay the golden eggs for the country but because of the plight of the people of that region. President Yar’adua named Air Vice Marshal(retired) Lucky Ochuko Ararile (70), the Ovie of Umiaghwa-Abraka Kingdom in Ethiope-East Local Government Area of Delta State as the pioneer coordinator of the programme.

The scrapping of the Niger Delta is a big setback.

In the struggle for full emancipation of the Niger Delta, several men and women were in the fore front. They include Major Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro (10 September 1938 – 9 May 1968), known as “Boro”, Ken Saro Wiwa (10 October 1941- 10 November 1995), Dr. Okoi Arikpo (20 September 1916 – 26 October 1995), Sir Egbert Udo Udoma, KBE, (21 June 1917 – 2 February 1998), John Togo, Chief Wenike Opurum Briggs  (10 March 1918 – 21 April 1987), Chief Eyo Ita Esua (14 January 1901 – 6 December 1973), Obong Victor Bassey Attah (86), late Captain Samuel Timinipre Owonaro (Rtd), Nottingham Dick, Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye (1920-2005), Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo (born 1971), Chief (Dr) Edwin Kiagbodo Clark (97), Asari Dokubo, Jaja of Opobo, Nana Oadelomu  (1852–1916), Henry Okah (65), Ateke Tom(60), Farah Dagogo(42), Soboma George, John Togo, Solomon Ndigbara and many others.

Between February 20, 1966 and March 7, 1966, at Yenogoa in the Port Harcourt Judicial Division, Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro, Samuel Timipre Owonaru and Nottingham Dick appeared before Justice John Aniemeka Phil-Ebosie from Anambra state, for treason, contrary to section 37 (1) of the Criminal Code (Federation). The same Justice Phil-Ebosie later became Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal.

The case was retried on December 5, 1966 in the Supreme Court with the then Chief Justice of the Federation, Sir Adetokunbo Adegboyega Ademola (1 February 1906-29 January 1993), Justice Charles Dadi Omeha Onyeama(26 April 1916- 5 September, 1999) and Justice George Baptist Ayoola Coker (27 January 1917-7 February 1981), presiding.

By Section 108 of the Electoral Decree 1977, the fourth Chief Justice of the Federation, Hon. Justice Darnley Arthur Alexander GCON, named Justice Ebosie along with Justice S.J. Ete and Justice Alkali Alhaji Abubakar as a member of the Gongola state electoral tribunal on July 2, 1979.

In 1982, Justice Phil-Ebosie was awarded the Commander of the Order of the Niger by President Aliyu Usman Shehu Shagari GCFR.

Before pronouncing judgment on June 21, 1966, Justice Phil-Ebosie requested Adaka Boro to make his speech, he said “Today is a great day’ not only in your lives, but also in the history of the Niger Delta. Perhaps, it will be the greatest day for a long time. This is not because we are going to bring the heaven down, but because we are going to demonstrate to the world what and how we feel about oppression….Remember your 70 year old grandmother who still farms to eat, remember too, your petroleum which is being pumped out daily from your veins, and then fight forever your freedom”. My people “had long sought a separate state, not because they loved power but because their conditions were peculiar and the authorities did not understand their problems. There is nothing wrong with Nigeria. What is wrong is the total lack of mercy in our activities”.

I think Major Adaka Boro was right afterall. We don’t understand the people of Niger Delta. We tend to judge the people of that region by the bluff, blusters, lifestyle, threats and uncoordinated efforts of some their leaders. We assumed that since we made one of them, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (67) who served as President between 9 February, 2010 and 29 May, 2015, that we have found solutions to their problems. Not at all. A lot of mystery has enveloped that region. Real distress. The page is not turning there.

Real suffering is still going on in that region. Very terrible suffering.

If we are to go with the argument that the huge budgetary allocations to the Niger Delta Ministry, the Amnesty Programme and the NDDC can’t be justified then there is no Ministry or agency in the centre, that can escape the hammer.

By Presidential fiat, President Muhammadu Buhari on August 21,2019 established the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. He then put the following Agencies under the Ministry. National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons, North-East Development Commission (NEDC), National Emergency Management Agency, National Agency for Prohibition and Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), National Senior Citizens Centre and National Commission for Person with Disabilities.

The impact of that Ministry has not been fully felt in most parts of the country. All we read about of the Ministry are scandals upon scandals of high proportion.

On October 23, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR established the Ministry of Livestock Development by a fiat. The same government that scrapped the Ministry of Niger Delta, the area that produces the goose that lay the golden eggs, has not only sustained the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development but has established the Ministry of Livestock Development.

It is very complex understanding the government these days.