AMALGAMATION OF NORTH/SOUTH: A HISTORIC MISADVENTURE

HISTORY OF THE NIGER DELTA QUESTION...Part 1.

This author is from the Niger Delta area and believes in the unity of our dear country call-Nigeria. However, the situation in the region requires the political will from our leaders and the led to holistically and honestly address the problems facing the Niger Delta region. We have (3) Major Deltas in the world: Missisipi Delta, Metong Delta and Niger Delta. Of all, the Niger Delta is least developed in terms of infrastructure.. Mahatma Ghandi of India, a renowned philosopher of our time once quoted of saying “The things that will destroy us are politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity and worship without sacrifice.” This saying captures some of the Socio-Political-economic events in Nigeria. The region Niger Delta is not new to unlawful and repressive treatments against her people, this predates as far back pre-colonial Nigeria. INTRODUCTION Historically, the Niger Delta conflict dates back to the Akassa Raid of 1895, when the inhabitants of the area resisted economic domination by British merchants. The consequences of the Akassa Raid included the British invalidation and overthrow of the Royal Niger Company (RNC) and later colonialism. However, the region's feeling of domination was exacerbated in the 1990s. The reason being that after many years of oil exploitation there is yet to be any subsequent development. Instead, the region has remained impoverished, polluted and under-employed (Etekpe, 2009; United Nations Department of Political Affairs and United Nations Environment Programme 2015, p.11). This article is unique because it identifies the nexus between the politics of oil and CSR conflicts, and offers suggestions on potential abatement measures for providing peace and stability. In fact, the inhabitants of the region have been subjected to untold hardship through oil pollution, environmental degradation, and the destruction of both the entire environment and the local populations sources of livelihood (Oviasuyi and Uwadiae, 2010,p.110; Okolie-Osemene, 2015; Adams, 2014; Aghalino, 2012; Aghalino, 2011; Aghalino, 2009; Arinze 2010; Aghalino and Okolie-Osemene, 2014; Evoh, 2009). This is one of the drivers of the conflict because land is a resource that means a lot to the people. According to Aghalino (2011, p.6 ) the need for and occupation of land by the oil companies which construct flow lines, flow stations and other oil installations is the main driver of acrimony between the oil companies, the government and host the communities. This is due to the socio-cultural significance of land in such communities where some corporate practices clash with the traditional beliefs of the people. GEOGRAPHY

The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Bight of Biafra side of the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is a very densely populated region sometimes called the Oil Rivers because it was once a major producer of palm oil . The area was the British Oil Rivers Protectorate from 1885 until 1893, when it was expanded and became the Niger Coast Protectorate . The delta is an oil-rich region, and has been the centre of international controversy over pollution, corruption, cultism/gang related violence and human rights violations . The Niger Delta, as now defined officially by the Nigerian government, extends over about 70,000 km 2 (27,000 sq mi) and makes up 7.5% of Nigeria's land mass. Historically and cartographically, it consists of present-day Bayelsa , Delta, and Rivers States . In 2000, however, Obasanjo's regime included Abia, Akwa-Ibom , Cross River State , Edo , Imo and Ondo States in the region. Some 31 million people of more than 40 ethnic groups including the Bini , Efik, Esan, Ibibio , Igbo , Annang , Oron , Ijaw , Itsekiri , Yoruba, Isoko , Urhobo, Ukwuani , and Ogoni, are among the inhabitants of the political Niger Delta, speaking about 250 different dialects. The Niger Delta, and the "South South Zone", which includes Akwa Ibom State , Bayelsa State , Cross River State , Delta State , Edo State and Rivers State are two different entities. While the Niger Delta is the oil-producing region, the Nigerian South South is a geo-political zone. The Niger Delta separates the Bight of Benin from the Bight of Biafra within the larger Gulf of Guinea. Map of Nigeria numerically showing states typically considered part of the Niger Delta region: 1. Abia, 2. Akwa Ibom, 3. Bayelsa , 4. Cross River , 5. Delta, 6. Edo , 7. Imo , 8. Ondo, 9. Rivers

Sub-regions Western (or Northern) Niger Delta Western Niger Delta consists of the western section of the coastal South-South Nigeria which includes Delta, and the southernmost parts of Edo , and Ondo States. The western (or Northern) Niger Delta is an heterogeneous society with several ethnic groups including the Urhobo, Igbo , Isoko, Itsekiri , Ijaw (or Ezon) and Ukwuani groups in Delta State, along with Yoruba (Ilaje) in Ondo State. Their livelihoods are primarily based on fishing and farming . History has it that the Western Niger was controlled by chiefs of the five primary ethnic groups the Itsekiri, Isoko, Ukwuani, Ijaw and Urhobo with whom the British government had to sign separate "Treaties of Protection" in their formation of "Protectorates" that later became southern Nigeria. Central Niger Delta Central Niger Delta consists of the central section of the coastal South-South Nigeria which includes Bayelsa and Rivers States. The Central Niger Delta region has the Ijaw (including the Nembe-Brass, Ogbia, Kalabari people , Ibani of Opobo & Bonny, Okrika, and Andoni clans). The Ogoni and other groups which consist of Igbo, Etche, Ogba, Ikwerre, Ndoni, Ekpeye and Ndoki in Rivers State. Eastern Niger Delta Eastern Niger Delta Section consists of the Eastern (or Atlantic) section of the coastal South-South Nigeria which includes Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. The Eastern Niger Delta region has the Efik, Ibibio , Annang , Oron, Ogoja (including Ekoi and Bekwara ) people, who are all related with a common language and ancestor.

PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD The Niger Delta has been a crying baby ever since almagamtion. At a point they were at the head of coastal trade and politics... So now the question is, what went wrong? Collaboral corruption of her own people? Colonial cum neocolonialism injustice? One question too many. The area was the British Oil Rivers Protectorate from 1885 until 1893, when it was expanded and became the Niger Coast Protectorate . The core Niger Delta later became a part of the eastern region of Nigeria , which came into being in 1951 (one of the three regions, and later one of the four regions). The majority of the people were those from the colonial Calabar and Ogoja divisions, the present-day Ogoja, Annang , Ibibio, Oron, Efik, Ijaw, and Igbo peoples. The National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC) was the ruling political party of the region. The NCNC later became the National Convention of Nigerian Citizens, after western Cameroon decided to separate from Nigeria. The ruling party of eastern Nigeria did not seek to preclude the separation and even encouraged it. The then Eastern Region had the third, fourth and fifth largest ethnic groups in the country (the Igbo , the Ibibio and the Ijaw ) after the Hausa - Fulani and the Yoruba. In 1953, the old eastern region had a major crisis due to the expulsion of Professor Eyo Ita from office by the majority Igbo tribe of the old eastern region. Ita, an Efik man from Calabar, was one of the pioneer nationalists for Nigerian independence. This era marked the outright play of tribalism in Nigeria's weaning democracy. After Azikwe lost his prominence in the Western regional election following Awolowo's.(Action Group) offering to his fellow Yoruba not to forget they are Yoruba before Nigeria. This call was well masticulated by the Yoruba, stamping the entrance of "cross carpet" in Nigeria's political anals. Event leading to Zik's loss of an important position to AWOLOWO'S AG, which he (Zik) may have emerged Premier of Independent Nigeria as leader of the NCNC. Meanwhile the North championed a clear regional party called, Northern People's Party. Azikwe coming back to contest from his homefront Ita was asked to relinquish for the leader of the party, in other for Zik not to be a floor member in his party. An incident which became a eye openner of concern. The minorities in the region, the Ibibio , Annang , Efik, Ijaw and Ogoja, situated along the southeastern coast and in the delta region and demanded a state of their own, the Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR) state. As a result of the crisis, Professor Eyo Ita left the NCNC to form a new political party called the National Independence Party (NIP) which was one of the five Nigerian political parties represented at the conferences on Nigerian Constitution and Independence. The struggle for the creation of the COR state continued and was a major issue concerning the status of minorities in Nigeria during debates in Europe on Nigerian independence leading to the initiation of Henry Willink's Commission (headed by former Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University) to come with a minority report as to the fears and measures to allay such fears in an independent Nigeria. "THE WILLINK COMMISSION REPORT OF JULY 1958” THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION APPOINTED TO “ENQUIRE INTO THE FEARS OF MINORITIES AND THE MEANS OF ALLAYING THEM” THE HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND. The Willink Commission named after Henry Willink, former Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University and head of a panel commissioned in September, 1957 to look into fears expressed by minority ethnic groups that the colonial imposed political structure would lead to the domination of the minority groups by the majority ethnic groups in the three regions of the federation. The commission was also charged with means of allaying those fears. A major contribution of the commission was the inclusion of much of the clauses of the European Human Rights Convention making Nigeria the first African country to have a broad human right clause enshrined in its constitution. 1. “More than 98% of people who inhabit this area (the ‘Ibo Plateau’ of the Eastern region) are Ibo and speak one language, though of course with certain differences of dialect. There are nearly five million of them and they are too many for the soil to support: they are vigorous and intelligent and have pushed outward in every direction, seeking a livelihood by trade or in service in the surrounding areas of the Eastern Region, in the Western Region, in the North and outside Nigeria. They are no more popular with their neighbours than is usual in the case of an energetic and expanding people whose neighbours have a more leisurely outlook on life.” 2. “Though there has been no great kingdom or indigenous culture in the Eastern Region, the coastal chiefs grew on their trade with the (European merchant) ships and they adopted customs, clothing and housing more advanced than those of the peoples of the interior on whom they had at first preyed for slaves. They came during the 19th Century to regard the people of the interior as backward and ignorant, and it was therefore a blow to their pride, as well as to their pockets, when the Ibos began to push outwards into the surrounding fringe of the country and particularly into the Calabar area, to take up land, to grow rich, to own houses and lorries and occupy posts in public services and in the services of large trading firms.” “It was among the Ibos, formerly despised by the people of Calabar as source of slaves and as a backward people of the interior, now feared and disliked as energetic and educated, that the first political party formed.” 3. “It is important to remember that of this (Ogoja) Province’s 1,082,000 inhabitants, 723,000 are Ibos, almost entirely in Abakaliki and Afikpo (Divisions), while the census classifies 350,000 as “Other Nigerian Tribes.” 4. The Rivers Province …includes the two divisions of Brass and Degema, both overwhelmingly Ijaw, and the Ogoni Division. The former Rivers Division also includes over 300,000 Ibos of whom 250,000 are in Ahoada Division and 45,000 in Port Harcourt. Port Harcourt is a town of recent growth and of rapidly increasing importance; it is built on land that blonged originally to an outlying branch of the Ibo tribe, the Diobus, but is largely inhabited by the Ibos from the interior who have come to trade or seek employment….Of the total 747,000 in the Rivers province, 305,000 are Ibos, 240,000 are Ijaws and 156,000 are Ogonis.” 5. “The strip to the south of the Ibo block, is physically, divided by a block of Ibo territory, tipped by the important Ibo town of Port Harcourt and tribally divided between the Ijaws and the Ogonis.” 6. “In the whole of this non-Ibo area there is present in varying degree some fear of being over-run, commercially and politically, by the Ibos….. if Ahoada and Port Harcourt, which are really Ibo, are considered with the solid centre of Ibo population, there are 54 seats for the Ibo area and 30 for COR (Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers) in (Eastern Regional House of Assembly).” Background Minority fears about unequal treatment in the three powerful regions of Nigerian were expressed at the 1953 constitutional conference. In 1957, during another conference, the British colonial secretary appointed an old chum, Harry Willink, and assisted by Phil Mason, a director of Race Relations Institute, Chatam, Gordon Hadow, deputy governor of the Gold Coast and Mr J.B. Shearer to look into the fears of the minority groups. The following terms of references guided the commission: To Ascertain the facts of the fears of minorities in Nigeria and proposing means to allay those fears whether well or ill founded. To advise what safeguards should be included for this purpose in the constitution. If, but only if no solution seems to the commission to solve the case, then as a last resort to make case for the creation of states. To report its findings to the secretary of State for the Colonies. Report Contrary to the voluntaristic expectations of classical federal theory, Nigerian federalism, as federal experiments elsewhere in Africa (mckown, 1988a) , was not necessarily a result of local impetus inherent in calculation of advantages each unit would gain while retaining its local autonomy. It was also not explicitly introduced as a mechanism for local development and self rule. Federalism was introduced as a British administrative expedience designed to cope with Nigeria’s ethnic pluralism though the latter, it is often argued, made its introduction as a mechanism of political accommodation almost inevitable (awolowo, 1966). There is even suggestion that federalism was introduced as a British stratagem for maintaining indirect influence on Nigeria after independence (okonjo, 1974-chapters 9 and 10). What is certain however, is that Nigerian federalism was built up from a process of devolution or fissiparity, not accretion or aggregation as was typical of older federations-canada, Australia and the United States. The state essentially devolved part of its powers to regional governments (nwabueze, 1983:34; bach, 1989:221; ekeh, 1989:27). While federalism was thus useful both to the outgoing colonialists and the nationalist politicians as a tool for striking a balance between regional and national identities (mawhood, 1983), the balance struck was, and remains uneven, considering the interest of minority groups in the country. The adoption of federalism also failed to meet its political ends in Nigeria in its early years. The system adopted in 1954 was structurally flawed right from start (awolowo, 1966:21; olowu, 1990b:203). The flaws include (i) the correspondence3 of regional administrative units with the geography of the three major ethnic groups-hausa-fulani, Yoruba and Igbo which effectively regionalized the ruling class (ii) imbalance in the composition of the regions with the northern region dominating the rest both in geographical size (75 percent of Nigeria’s landmass) and population (60 percent); and (iii) the majority-minority ethnic structure within each region which underlined a permanent state of tension and instability. These, with the weakness of the federal centre which made the regions the repository of original sovereignty and ethnicity as the basis for political support, resulted in a tripartite conflict structure aggravated by the challenge it posed to minority ethnic groups to assert themselves (afigbo, 1989:12). It also threatened the legitimacy of the centre and its ability to give leadership appropriate to the demands of nation-building. The reproduction of these structural defects at the level of exercise of state power informed perceptions that federal development resources were concentrated in the north. This promoted a structure of politics based on psychological fears of political and economic domination (elaigwu, 1979) and retarded political participation. Moreover, the structure posed difficulties for the ruling class in reconciling their private interest with maintenance of the conditions for local development. Ake (1988:48) forcefully suggests that: development, for sure, was never on the agenda. To the extent that it internalized the regional problem (dunford, 1988), early Nigerian federalism was, in awolowo’s words, an abominable disruptive heritage (awolowo, 1968:69). Under the colonial regime, the problems associated with this heritage informed the appointment of the Henry willink commission in 1957 to inquire, in particular, into the rears of the ethnic minorities. The willink intervention and thereafter. When alan lennox-boyd, the then secretary of state for the colonies appointed the willink commission in September 1957, its terms of reference included: to ascertain the facts about the fears of minorities in any part of niogeria and to propose means of allayin those fears whether well or ill founded and to advise what safeguards should be included for this purpose in the constitution of Nigeria, (Nigeria, 1958). this was part of the many efforts, some constitutional, some administrative, designed to reconcile the polylot elevemens which made up Nigeria. By this time, it had become obvious that Nigeria was a federation of an unusual composition, among other things because in each of the three regions it was possible to distinguish between a majority group of about tow thirds of the population and minority groups amounti8ng to about one third, (Nigeria, 1958:1) at his posed political difficulties which informed incessant claims by the minority groups for separate states at the various constitutional conferences in the 1950s. Given the structure of Nigerian federation at the time, the fears of the minorities were expressed mainly in relation to regional governments which were practically dominatve by the major ethnic groups in each region. According to the willink report, the fears of the mino9rities arose from two circumstances first the division of the whole territory into three powerful regions, in each of which one groups is numerically preponderant, and secondly the approach of independence and the removal of the restraints which have operative so far (Nigeria, 1958:2-3). In the western region, fears were expressed in the areas of Yoruba domination of, especially, the mid-west minorities; victimization in the process of maintenance of law and order by officially sponsored things, hooligans and strong arm p[arties, discrimination in the economic field and in the provision of services; gerrymandering and its effects on the distribution of parliamentary seats; conflict between ethnic and partisan loyalties in the intergovernmental context; and potential for the partiality of legislation. There were also trite fears by religious minorities among the Yoruba. Similar fears were expressed in the northern region. In the particular, the minorities were worried about the role of traditional rulers (emirs) who appointed district heads to rule over non-Muslims. There were also social fears and grievances concerning the use of contemptuous expression and discriminatory social practices; fears of political influence regarding the impartiality of the native authority police and the alkali (the legal aspect of Muslim law) religious intolerance; and fears that the political regime in the north was tending towards a foreign policy sympathetic with nations of the middle east based on their common allegiance to Islam. In the eastern region, there was the general fear amongst the minority ethnic groups that they might be ove run, commercially and po0litically, by the demographically dominant and socially mobile ibo. In particular, there were fears of autocratic government predicated on the perceived dictatorial conduct of the reigning (in the eastern region) ibo dominated national council of Nigerian citizens (NCNC); fear of public posts and services which included the deliberate object of the ibo majority… to fill every post with ibos; fears of local government and chiefs relating to insufficient devolution of powers which left ethnic minorities with limited powers to debate issues and little power to initiate action. There were also fears regarding public order and changes in the legal system similar to those expressed in the western and northern regions. In particular, the ethnic groups that made up the then rivers province of which ogni division was part, nursed long-standing grievances to the effect that the geography of their deltaic landscape and its associated difficulties for development were not understood at and inland headquarters. They were, therefore, united by fear of neglect at the hands of a government who in any case put the needs of the interior first. (Nigeria, 1958;50). The willink commission acknowledged the existence of a body of genuine fears amongst minority groups althou7gh these might have been exaggerated in a few instances. However, the commission fell short of recommending any form of self-determination, including the creation of states, on the reasoning that to set up a separate state would accentuate and underline to obliterate, (Nigeria, 1958, 33, 87). Rather, the commissions recommended panacea included (i) a vague constitutional provision of some fulcrum or fixed pointer outside and above politics from which absolute impartiality can be exercised; (ii) the establishment of a council in each minority area charged with fostering the well-being, cultural advancement and economic and social development of the area (iii) the development of special areas should be placed on the concurrent legislative list such that funds and staff should be contributed by the federal and regional governments into a board, with a federal chairman to be established for this purpose. Such a board was to initiate schemes to supplement the normal development of the special area’ (Nigeria, 1958:88,103-104). The commission reported on the imbalance in the three regions and also the situations creating the yearning for separate states by different groups, both points supporting the interest of minorities. However, the commission was guided from the get go against making recommendations for state creation and in its report, it stated that states creation would infact not be a solution to the fears of minorities, as additional states may not guarantee against the creation of another minority group in the new states. Also, the idea that the politics prevalent towards the nation's independence fostered ethnic animosity, but deep into self government, there could be a reasons or situations facilitating the abatement of hostilities, and the commission was against enshrining ethnic separatism into Nigerian politics. The practical and financial viability of any new state was weighed to ascertain the prospect of the new states. The commission recommended areas of distinguishable cultures and concerns to have their cultures and areas preserved with the creation of an advisory council, special areas for the Ijaws and designation of Edo and Calabar as minority areas. Also it recommended a unified police, a central prison system, and the promotion of minorities to position of power to balance any inequity in power. Demands for states The commission stated that about 9-15 demands for state creation were expressed, these included from the Western Region , a Yoruba Central state, Ondo Central and MidWest State, from the Eastern Region were demands for the creation of the Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers States and from the North the creation of a Middle Belt State. Politically, in the North, the powerful party, Northern Peoples Congress went against state creation while its counterpart in the East, the NCNC, called for the creation of 17 states. In the West, the Action Group supported the creation of the Calabar Ogoja and Rivers States and the Middle Belt State with further avenue for state creation included in the constitution. Criticism A few scholars who over the years have analysed the recommendations of the report view it as offering little practical support to the agitations expressed by the minority groups, also it is viewed as solidifying the administrative boundaries of the colonial government which were created with little attention given to centuries old ethnic boundaries. Post-Independent Nigeria In 1961, another major crisis occurred when the then eastern region of Nigeria allowed present-day Southwestern Cameroon to separate from Nigeria (from the region of what is now Akwa Ibom and Cross River states) through a plebiscite while the leadership of the then Northern Region took the necessary steps to keep Northwestern Cameroon in Nigeria, in present-day Adamawa and Taraba states. The aftermath of the 1961 plebiscite has led to a dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria over the small territory of Bakassi. A new phase of the struggle saw the declaration of an Independent Niger Delta Republic by Isaac Adaka Boro during Nigerian president Ironsi's administration, just before the Nigerian Civil War. Also just before the Nigerian civil war, Southeastern State of Nigeria was created (also known as Southeastern Nigeria or Coastal Southeastern Nigeria ), which had the colonial Calabar division, and colonial Ogoja division. Rivers State was also created. Southeastern state and River state became two states for the minorities of the old eastern region, and the majority Igbo of the old eastern region had a state called East Central state. Southeastern state was renamed Cross River state and was later split into Cross River state and Akwa Ibom state . Rivers state was later divided into Rivers state and Bayelsa state . Nigerian Civil War The people of the Niger Delta sustained heavy suffering and many deaths during the 1967-1970 Nigerian Civil War , also known as the Biafran War, in which the eastern region declared an independent state named Biafra in that was eventually defeated. The loss of lives began when Biafran soldiers invaded the Niger Delta at the start of the war; many Niger Delta community leaders were eliminated, as the region was mainly on the side of the Federal Government. The entire Niger Delta became a major war zone as the Nigerian Army fought and pushed Biafran soldiers out of the region and deep into Biafran territory, leading to the end of the war. Over one million Niger Deltans died during the war, with present-day Akwa Ibom State , Bayelsa State , and Delta State sustaining most of the casualties, and Rivers State and Cross River State also severely affected. Many children and adults died due to starvation and disease, and as casualties of war. PRE-COLONIAL RESISTANCE THE AKASSA RAID 1895

King Frederick William Koko, Mingi VIII of Nembe (1853–1898), was an African ruler of the Nembe Kingdom (also known as Amayanabo of Nembe-Brass) in the Niger Delta, now part of southern Nigeria. A Christian when chosen as king of Nembe in 1889, Koko's attack on a Royal Niger Company trading post in January 1895 led to reprisals by the British in which his capital was sacked. Following a report on the Nembe uprising by Sir John Kirk which was published in March 1896, Koko was offered a settlement of his grievances but found the terms unacceptable, so was deposed by the British. He died in exile in 1898. An Ijaw , Koko(prosecutor of the Akassa Raid) was a convert to Christianity who later returned to the local traditional religion. Before becoming king (amanyanabo), he had served as a Christian schoolteacher, and in 1889 this helped him in his rise to power. The leading chiefs of Nembe, including Spiff, Samuel Sambo, and Cameroon, were all Christians, and after having ordered the destruction of Juju houses a large part of their reason for choosing Koko as king in succession to King Ockiya was that he was a fellow-Christian. However, there was at the same time a coparcenary king, the elderly Ebifa, who ruled at Bassambiri and was Commander-in-Chief until his death in 1894. With the settlement of European traders on the coast, Nembe had engaged in trade with them, but it was poorer than its neighbours Bonny and Calabar. Since 1884, Nembe had found itself included in the area declared by the British as the Oil Rivers Protectorate , within which they claimed control of military defence and external affairs. Nembe was the centre of an important trade in palm oil , and it had refused to sign a treaty proposed by the British, opposing the Royal Niger Company's aim of bringing all trade along the kingdom's rivers into its own hands. Admiral Bedford , who routed Koko's forces in February 1895 HMS Thrush, one of Bedford's ships Sir Claude MacDonald , British consul-general at Brass By the 1890s, there was intense resentment of the Company's treatment of the people of the Niger delta and of its aggressive actions to exclude its competitors and to monopolize trade by imposing heavy tax and trade restrictions on certain commodities e.g. alcohol and other European manufactured goods. Denying the men of Nembe the access to markets which they had long enjoyed along the Orashi River, Brass Sea, Furcado and Sombraro up to Aboh Kingdom. A restriction and taxation which dealt heavy blow on the life and economy of the people of Nembe. Similar with present day realities in the Niger Delta oil politics. In a bid to survive, the people virtually resorted to smuggling of goods which the RNC has sanctioned with heavy tariff. As king, Koko aimed to resist these pressures and tried to strengthen his hand by forming alliances with the states of Bonny and Okpoma. He renounced Christianity and in January 1895, after the death of Ebifa, he threw caution to the winds and led more than a thousand men in a dawn raid on the Royal Niger Company's headquarters at Akassa. Arriving on 29 January with between forty and fifty war canoes, equipped with heavy guns, Koko captured the base with the loss of some forty lives, including twenty-four Company employees, destroyed warehouses and machinery, and took about sixty white men hostage, as well as carrying away a large quantity of booty, including money, trade goods, ammunition and a quick-firing gun. Koko then sought to negotiate with the Company for the release of the hostages, his price being a return to free trading conditions, and on 2 February he wrote to Sir Claude MacDonald, the British consul-general, that he had no quarrel with the Queen but only with the Royal Niger Company. MacDonald noted of what Koko said of the Company that it was "complaints he had written the Consular-General, duty to listen to for the last three and a half years without being able to gain for them any redress". Despite this, the British refused Koko's demands, and more than forty of the hostages were then ceremoniously eaten. On 20 February the Royal Navy counter-attacked. Koko's city of Nembe was razed and some three hundred of his people were killed. Many more of his people died from a severe outbreak of smallpox. Worthy of note is the fact that, Koko's prosecution for the dawn raid on Akassa set the tone for the review and eventual revocation of the charter establishing the Royal Niger Company(RNC). Thence marked the full takeover of administrative duty from Goldie's RNC in 1900. MODERN RESISTANCE The genesis of modern Niger Delta struggle started from Oloibori in the Niger Delta region, The first place where oil was struck in commercial quantities in 1956. The scientific survey published in 1997 by the Niger Delta Environmental Survey { NEDES} reported that: “ Poverty is prevalent in the Niger Delta and has been linked to degradation of agricultural lands and fishing waters. Affected people become impoverished. In many cases, they tend either to migrate to become part of the urban poor or to remain in their villages to grapple with the low yielding lands and poor sources of water”. It is not only sad, but also heartbreaking to note that despite the fact that the region provides almost 90% of the nation resources {oil} and revenue, 75% of the Niger Delta people living in rural areas are without pipe borne water, electricity, roads and health centres. The whole region is devastated by oil exploitation, our waters polluted by almost daily oil spillage and the air poisoned by eternal gas flares, this led to the temper of the people bound to be short resulting to militancy and form part of the root causes of what has today become known as the Niger Delta struggle. The above characterisation can be said to fit, if one take into consideration the inter-ethnic clashes that have taken place among the people, which pitched notable nationalities like the Ijaw and Urhobo against their Itsekiri brothers and sisters. Now, The issue of Akwa-Ibom and Cross Rivers tussle over who owns the littoral waters and its rights is now rearing its ugly head. Not forgetting that of Soku disputed between Rivers and Bayelsa State. Today, Niger Delta is witnessing bloody clashes among the repressed and exploited with the benefactors of oil exploration in the country stoking the fires of ethnic hatred with the hope that these types of diversions would preoccupy the people while the naked exploitation continues. Indeed, the argument has been made that the basis of Nigeria ‘s unity is oil, this writer wonder what would have happened if the oil was not discovered , considering the fact in the early 50s before the discovery of oil in the Niger Delta, The three largest ethnic nationalities in the country provided the country’s major resources. The North dominated by the Hausa- Fulani produced groundnut, hides and skin, The west peopled by the Yoruba’s were famous for cocoa production and the East controlled by the Igbo’s had cola and palm oil. What then went wrong after the oil was discovered in the Niger–Delta region? It was argued that with oil becoming dominant, derivation was reduced from 50% to zero % which the Niger-Delta people seen as being grossly unfair and an insult to the sensibilities of the people of Niger Delta. In not too distant time ago, this injustice led to an uprising by the ijaws led by a former student leader , Isaac Adaka Boro. The revolt according to political analysts was stamp down in twelve days. It has also been argued that the Nigeria civil war that raged from 1967 to 1970 had the fight for the control of the Niger Delta oil wealth as part of its causes. Agitation after the war led to a 1%,then 3% derivation formula. Then a 13% derivation system was introduced by the military but the money was put in an oil minerals producing development commission{ OMPADEC} controlled entirely by the military from the centre. The struggle so far had claimed many lifes including Ken saro wiwa from the Ogoni land and some army officers from the government { JTF}. Today, it is sad to note hostage taking, employed by the militants since early 2006 to draw international attention to the Niger Deltians struggle , has turned into a lucrative , criminally driven enterprise, with local politicians and their relatives frequent victims.Then Nigerians including this writer are beginning to ask how long shall our people continue to be killed?. Instead of just the oil industry expatriates who were the original targets, the practise has now begun to spread beyond the core Niger Delta to Ondo state on the western fringe of the region and other parts of the country like Enugu and Abia to mention a few. President Yar’Adua's administration swiftly stepped in to address the situation in the Niger Delta twine in a 7 Point Agenda. President Yar’Adua identified the Niger Delta issue as one of the 7 point agenda of his administration. The president has not lose his opportunity to resolving the Delta crisis and has gone beyond rhetoric to establish a technical committee headed by retired General Orubebe, following a recommendation by Governor at the time Chief Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa state, who recommended amnesty for the militant leaders with a comprehensive demobilisation , disarmament and rehabilitation { DDR} program; an increased allocation of oil revenue to the Delta; urgent improvement of infrastructure and human welfare services; and new institutions for the regions long –term development . This committee has since submitted its report to the President with the first amnesty recommendation now being implemented by the government. While the report might not address all aspects of the crisis, its proposals however were sufficiently comprehensive enough to serve as the catalyst. While this writer believe in the sincerity of president Yar’Adua administration determination in solving the Niger-delta problems in an effective and peaceful manner. Contributions from, Benjamin Ogbebulu ,BA HONS, MBICs, London. An administrator, political Scientist/Analyst and campaigner for Good Governance. He lives and work in the UK, England. benjaminogbebulu@yahoo.co.uk oglobalservices@yahoo.co.uk Non-violent resistance Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People(MOSOP) The next phase of resistance in the Niger Delta saw the request for justice and the end of marginalization of the area by the Nigerian government with Ken Saro Wiwa as the lead figure for this phase of the struggle. The indigents cried for lack of developments even though the Nigerian oil money is from the area. They also complained about environmental pollution and destruction of their land and rivers by oil companies. Ken Saro Wiwa and other leaders were killed by the Nigerian Federal Government under Sani Abacha. Recent armed conflict Conflict in the Niger Delta

Unfortunately, the struggle got out of control, and the present phase has become militant. When long-held concerns about loss of control over resources to the oil companies were voiced by the Ijaw people in the Kaiama Declaration in 1998, the Nigerian government sent troops to occupy the Bayelsa and Delta states. Soldiers opened fire with rifles, machine guns, and tear gas, killing at least three protesters and arresting twenty-five more. Since then, local indigenous activity against commercial oil refineries and pipelines in the region have increased in frequency and militancy. Recently foreign employees of Shell , the primary corporation operating in the region, were taken hostage by outraged local people. Such activities have also resulted in greater governmental intervention in the area, and the mobilisation of the Nigerian army and State Security Service into the region, resulting in violence and human rights abuses. In April, 2006, a bomb exploded near an oil refinery in the Niger Delta region, a warning against Chinese expansion in the region. MEND stated: "We wish to warn the Chinese government and its oil companies to steer well clear of the Niger Delta. The Chinese government, by investing in stolen crude, places its citizens in our line of fire." Government and private initiatives to develop the Niger Delta region have been introduced recently. These include the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), a government initiative, and the Development Initiative (DEVIN), a community development non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta. Uz and Uz Transnational, a company with strong commitment to the Niger Delta, has introduced ways of developing the poor in the Niger Delta, especially in Rivers State. In September 2008, MEND released a statement proclaiming that their militants had launched an "oil war" throughout the Niger Delta against both, pipelines and oil-production facilities, and the Nigerian soldiers that protect them. Both MEND and the Nigerian Government claim to have inflicted heavy casualties on one another. In August 2009, the Nigerian government granted amnesty to the militants; many militants subsequently surrendered their weapons in exchange for a presidential pardon, rehabilitation programme, and education. Nigerian oil

Nigeria has become West Africa's biggest producer of petroleum. Some 2 million barrels (320,000 m 3 ) a day are extracted in the Niger Delta. It is estimated that 38 billion barrels of crude oil still reside under the delta as of early 2012. The first oil operations in the region began in the 1950s and were undertaken by multinational corporations, which provided Nigeria with necessary technological and financial resources to extract oil. Since 1975, the region has accounted for more than 75% of Nigeria's export earnings. Together oil and natural gas extraction comprise "97 per cent of Nigeria's foreign exchange revenues". Much of thenatural gas extracted in oil wells in the Delta is immediately burned, or flared, into the air at a rate of approximately 70 million m³per day. This is equivalent to 41% of African natural gas consumption, and forms the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. In 2003, about 99% of excess gas was flared in the Niger Delta, although this value has fallen to 11% in 2010. The biggest gas flaring company is the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd, a joint venture that is majority owned by the Nigerian government. In Nigeria, "...despite regulations introduced 20 years ago to outlaw the practice, most associated gas is flared, causing local pollution and contributing to climate change."The environmental devastation associated with the industry and the lack of distribution of oil wealth have been the source and/or key aggravating factors of numerous environmental movements and inter-ethnic conflicts in the region, including recent guerrilla activity by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). In September 2012 Eland Oil & Gas purchased a 45% interest in OML 40, with its partner Starcrest Energy Nigeria Limited, from the Shell Group. They intend to recommission the existing infrastructure and restart existing wells to re-commence production at an initial gross rate of 2,500 bopd with a target to grow gross production to 50,000 bopd within four years. Oil revenue derivation Oil revenue allocation has been the subject of much contention well before Nigeria gained its independence.Allocations have varied from as much as 50%, owing to the First Republic's high degree of regional autonomy, and as low as 10% during the military ictatorships. This is the table below. Oil revenue sharing formula Year/Federal/State*/Local/Special Projects 1958 40% 60% 0% 0% 1968 80% 20% 0% 0% 1977 75% 22% 3% 0% 1982 55% 32.5% 10% 2.5% 1989 50% 24% 15% 11% 1995 48.5% 24% 20% 7.5% 2001 48.5% 24% 20% 7.5% * State allocations are based on 5 criteria: equality (equal shares per state), population, social development, land mass, and revenue generation. *The derivation formula refers to the percentage of the revenue oil-producing states retain from taxes on oil and other natural resources produced in the state. World Bank Report Media The documentary film Sweet Crude , which premiered April 2009 at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, tells the story of Nigeria's Niger Delta. Environmental issues The effects of oil in the fragile Niger Delta communities and environment have been enormous. Local indigenous people have seen little if any improvement in their standard of living while suffering serious damage to their natural environment. According to Nigerian federal government figures, there were more than 7,000 oil spills between 1970 and 2000. It has been estimated that a clean-up of the region, including full restoration of swamps, creeks, fishing grounds and mangroves, could take 25 years.