CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND STATE CREATION: HISTORICAL REASONS WHY TORU-IBE STATE MUST BE CREATED FOR THE IZONS/IJAWS ~MOSIEND
SERIES: Part Three)
"Ijaw people must push the quest for an homogeneous Toru-Ibe State from Delta, Edo, and Ondo States"
"The creation of Toru-Ibe State will solve more problems than the creation of most other proposed states"~IduwiniVoice
MILESTONES OF THE STRUGGLE:
And this should be a wakeup call to the present generation of the Ijaws. In 2025, what may be of interest to the average Ijaw person, is how to make money. The fight for an homogeneous administrative bloc (Old Rivers), to safeguard the even development of the coastal areas, was expensive and difficult. The sacrifice of the heros of the Ijaw Nation echoes in eternity. Our forebears saw the future we are blind to today.
The Federal and the State Governments with capitals far inland are not sensitive and patriotic enough to consider the developmental needs of Riverine communities in Ondo, Edo, Delta, Akwa Ibom where the Ijaws inhabit. The creation of Toru-Ibe State for the Ijaws of Old Western Ijaw Division, is a matter of a right than a privilege. In this note, certain statements attributed to political figures in Edo and Ondo states is regrettable.
In 1976 State creation exercise, the same method was used to scuttle Western Ijaw from joining their brothers in the old Rivers State. Allegations of attempts to dominate smaller neighboring tribes, falsehood and other tribal sentiments were used by the Itshekiri, Benin's, Ilajes etc to weaken and stop Ijaw chances.
When states were eventually created in 1967, the Western Ijaws (present day Ondo, Edo and Delta states balkanized to weaken them) were included in the Mid-Western State instead of the Old Rivers State as desired, struggled and fought for since the colonial days.
The creation of Toru-Be State for the Ijaws of Old Western Ijaw Division, is for the long-term protection of our peoples political, economic, social and cultural heritage. There is no ulterior motive behind such a sincere demand. It is rather off point that the natural reaction of the Benin Kingdom, Edo State (a neighbouring tribe) to Toru-Ibe State is fear. Benin Kingdom, in the peak of its glory and civilisation deserves the respect of all, but Ijaw identity also deserves recognition.
The creation of Toru-Ibe State is not a declaration of war against the Benin Kingdom and Ilajes of Ondo state. It is for the good of region and the even development of the coastal line stretching from Apoi, Arogbo and Tobutoru Kingdoms in Ondo State through Furupagha, Olodiama and Egbema Kingdoms in Edo/Delta States down to Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area down to Kabowei Kingdom in Patani Local Government Areas of Delta State.
To the Ijaw Nation, this is a quest for inclusion by communities who have lived too long on the edge of administrative structures that do not reflect their culture and traditional identity.
In historical perspective, the following dates marked very important milestones in the struggle for the creation of the old Rivers State.
1.) 1950 (Jan. 7) Conference at Patani, Western Ijaw.
2.) 1954 (Oct. 3) Conference at Patani, Western Ijaw.
3.) 1955 (Oct. 3) Conference at Burutu, Western Ijaw.
4.) 1958 (Oct. 3) Conference at Port Harcourt, Eastern Nigeria.
5.) 1961 (July 29) Conference at Bomadi, Western Ijaw.
6.) 1961 (Dec.16-17) Conference at Odi, Eastern Nigeria.
7.) 1962 (June 21-23) Conference at Yenagoa, Eastern Nigeria.
8.) 1962 (Nov.16-17) Conference at Buguma, Eastern Nigeria.
9.) 1963 (date unknown ) Conference at Nembe, Eastern Nigeria.
OTHER MILESTONES:
10.) 1957 (November) Sir Henry Willink Minorities Commission set up.
11.) 1959 (August 26) Creation of the Niger Delta Special Area.
12.) 1961 (June) Establishment of the Niger Delta Development Board
13.) 1967 (May 27) Creation of States in Nigeria.
OTHER EVENTS THAT SHAPED THE STRUGGLE:
1.) September 25, 1951:
The Ijaw Union, Lagos, submitted a strongly worded memorandum to His Excellency the Governor, Nigerian Secretariat, Lagos, calling for the unification of the Western and Eastern Ijaws under one administrative unit. The memorandum was signed by representatives of Western and Eastern Ijaws.
2.) July 12, 1952:
The Administrator of the Colony forwarded a reply from the Chief Secretary to the Government to the Ijaw Union, Lagos, expressing full sympathy for their aspirations for an administrative unification of the Western and Eastern Ijaws but regretted the difficulty in communication in the area at the time.
3.) August 5, 1953:
Chiefs of Rivers Province held a conference at Roxy Hall, Port Harcourt, chaired by Chief Ben-wari, and resolved finally that a distinct Rivers State be created in Nigeria and that the secretary of State be informed of this desire of the Rivers people. Their proposal included Western Ijaw and Opobo Town as part of the old Rivers State.
3.) January 8, 1954:
Council of Rivers Chiefs sent a delegations led by Chief O.M.P. Asisi Abbey and Mr. Harold J. R. Wilcox (now Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye) of the Ijaw Rivers Peoples League to Lagos to meet the colonial governor, Sir John Macpherson, to demand the creation of the River State. The composition of the proposed area of the State included the Western Ijaw Division of the then Western Nigeria.
4.) January 17, 1954:
Chief M. E. Soba, President of the Ijaw State Union, issued a press statement at Onitsha on the creation of the Rivers State comprising the Western Ijaws, the then Rivers Province and the Opobo -Andoni areas. Conferences to be held at Burutu in Western Ijaw Division and Abonnema in Degema Division were also announced. The Burutu Conference, held on the October 3rd 1955, eventually became an important milestones in the struggle for the creation of old Rivers State.
5.) August 28, 1957:
Brass Division Union, Calabar Branch addressed a resolution to Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Premier of Eastern Nigeria (on tour of Calabar Province) demanding the creation of Rivers State including the Western Ijaw Division, Rivers Province and Opobo Town.
6.) December 2, 1957:
Mr. J. M. Areweriyai, member of Parliament and Propaganda Secretary of the Ijaw State Union, told the Minorities Commission in Ibadan that it was the wish of his people that Ijaws of the Eastern and Western Regions should be grouped together in a Rivers State. Mr. Areweriyai made it clear his people had no wish to be in either the Mid-West State or the Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers State.
7.) December 21, 1957:
Western and Eastern Ijaws in Ibadan submitted a memorandum to the Sir Henry Willink's Minorities Commission emphatically urging the Commission to create a Rivers State embracing Western and Eastern Ijaws and neighbouring ethnic riverine communities.
8.) December 21, 1957:
In the Memorandum submitted at Ibadan to the Sir Henry Willink's Minorities Commission at Warri, (present day Delta State) the Ijaws asserted: "The demand for a Rivers State is a spontaneous one. It is not only the Ijaws of the Western Region that agitate for it. Both sections of the Ijaws are clamouring for a state that would augur well for their future".
It was further demanded that this call is consistent with earlier memoranda submitted to the Governor-General of Nigeria during an official visit to Western Ijaw Division in November, 1955.
9.) January 14, 1958:
The Ijaw Rights Protection Movement asserting that three of the seven local council areas in Warri Division were owned and controlled by the Ijaws protested to the then Governor, Sir John Rankine against a proposal to merge Warri Township with Ondo Province in Western Nigeria. In the protest it was emphatically stated that their merger demand was unchangeable, and that the Western Ijaw had demonstrated their wish to join their kith and kin in Eastern Nigeria to form the old Rivers State.
10.) September, 1959:
Under Section 243 of the Nigerian Constitution, His Excellency, the Governor-General of the Federation proclaimed Western Ijaw Division of Western Nigeria, Yenagoa Province, Degema Province and Ogoni Division in Port Harcourt Province of Eastern Nigeria as Special Area. Section 13-16 of the Nigerian (Constitution) Order-in-Council, 1960, created the Niger Delta Special Area which formed the nucleus of the Rivers State. Her Majesty the Queen of England gave assent to the Niger Delta Development Board Act, 1961 on the 6th June, 1961.
11.) August 15, 1961:
Rivers State Movement, Calabar Branch addressed a strongly worded resolution to the Prime Minister, Rt Hon. Sir Abubakat Tafawa Balewa, P. C. LLS., emphasizing the composition of the Rivers State including Western Ijaw Division and Opobo Town.
12.) July 31, 1963:
Mr. Harold Biriye (then as Chief H. J R. Dappa-Biriye), leader of the Niger Delta Congress at the all-party conference in Lagos to discuss proposals for a new framework for a Federal Republic of Nigeria, protest against rumors of Government abolishing the Special Area and the Niger Delta Development Board and said; "Some of the problems of the Special Area were caused by physical configuration of the territory. These natural causes will be there at all times; and no temporary solution is ever an answer to such permanent problems"
At this point in time, the question of the permanent physical problems of the Special Area, in which the Western Ijaw formed a part, (the reason behind demanding for a Rivers State) an offspring of the Special Area, should include the territory of Western Ijaw Division.
13.) January 1st, 1964:
The Rivers State Movement in Port Harcourt, issued a very strong appeal to redouble the struggle for the creation of Rivers State. The document signed by the President, Chief (Dr.) I. J. Fiberesima, gave a short chronicle of the struggle, referring to the component parts of the proposed state including Western Ijaw Division and Opobo Area.
14.) September 9, 1966:
Leaders of Thought, Yenagoa Province, petitioned the Governor-General of Eastern Nigeria for the creation of the Rivers State, including Western Ijaw Division.
15.) September 9, 1966:
The Leaders of Thought of the Niger Delta Area, following a consultative conference at Enugu, addressed a memorandum signed by Dr. I. J. Fiberesima and others to the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, calling for the creation of the Rivers State of which Western Ijaw Division was to form a part.
September 24, 1966:
The Council of Niger Delta Rehabilitation, Lagos Chapter, under the chairmanship of Mr. D.T. Ayawari, forwarded a specially prepared bill of self-determination to ex Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon.
The bill chronicled the history of the struggle for the creation of a River State and strongly called for its immediate creation by decree.
Resolution 18 (11) of the Bill, stressed that "The Rivers State shall comprise the present Special Area under the statutory declaration of the Niger Delta Development Board, plus Port Harcourt Province and part of Opobo Division in Nigeria".
MINORITIES COMMISSION REPORT REGARDING WESTERN IJAWS AND THE RIVERS STATE
In Chapter 4 (7) of the Minorities Commission Report, the Mid-West State Movement, fighters for the creation of Mid-Western State of Nigeria asserted; "A Mid-West stripped of all its outlying areas would be no State at all; the Ijaws we can spare"
Chapter 4 (17) of the Report notes: " Among the Ijaws of the Western Ijaw Division, we found no support for a Mid-West State, but an almost unanimous desire to be united with other Ijaws by whatever means this could be achieved ".
In Chapter 7 (15) the Report, the commissioners themselves made a far-reaching interpretation about the true feelings of the Rivers people in the following words: "We were impressed by the arguments indicating that the needs of those who live in the Creeks and swamps of the Niger Delta are very different from those of the interior. We agree that it is not easy for a government or legislature operating from far inland to concern itself or even fully understand the problems of a territory where communication are so difficult, building so expensive and education so scanty".
In spite of this incontrovertible evidence of the struggle for the merger of Ijaws into homogeneous administrative blocs, started in the colonial days, some less informed and political opportunists misled the public with false propaganda that Western Ijaws insisting on joining the Old Rivers State, were merely ambitious to form a majority Ijaw bloc that can create an Ijaw Hegemony. The propaganda was a calculated blackmail to create confusion amongst ethnic groups in the Niger Delta.
The Special Area for the Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB) that was created did not include all the Ijaws of the Western and Mid-Western Regions, but the Western Ijaw Division together with other Riverine communities of the former Eastern Region.
The demand for a merger now was then in conformity with the well proven constitutional decisions take by commissions, conferences and parliaments of Nigeria that created the Special Area which included the Western Ijaw Division.
From historical perspectives, it is clear that the case of Western Ijaw Division to merge with their kith and kin in the Old Rivers State was not a new idea or an ill-motivated move to dismember the then Mid-Western State. Also the Special Area for which the Niger Delta Development Board was constitutionally established was not a fulfillment of the aspirations of the Rivers Ijaws and their brethren. The current call for a Toru-Ibe State to correct the injustice done to my people, is in furtherance of the inevitable recognition of the propriety of grouping peoples together in one undivided administrative entity, for people who share identical experiences in a hostile geographical environment, the conquest of which only their closing up ranks can bring about.
To be continued..............
© AFOEGBA PETER GOODYEAR ESQ, PMP.
NATIONAL LEGAL ADVISER,
MOVEMENT FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THE IZON ETHNIC NATIONALITY IN THE NIGER DELTA (MOSIEND)
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