NIGERIA: A NATION @ 50; THE PAST, THE FUTURE.

Nigerian "Derivational Majorities" zealously called Southern Ethnic Minorities, that occupy the shell shocked South-South Zone comprising of Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Rivers, Bayelsa, Edo and Delta states, are the most patriotic in the entire country. They are their brothers keepers in every sense of the word – even in the face of marginalization and recolonialization. Oil pipes were allowed to be laid ravaging arable farmlands from the petroleum domes of Port Harcourt and Warri to the Kaduna refinery.

According to World Bank records Nigeria has earned over $300 Billion from crude oil revenues since political independence in 1960 from Britain. What do the oil producers have to show for this swinging billions of dollars or existence of oil wealth in their geographical shell shocked domain? Acid rain; Brown drinking water; plagued constantly by environmental catastrophe; lack of pliable and viable roads; Polluted rivers and farm lands, Dead fish at river banks, Dilapidated schools and hospitals; Serious health hazards emanating from exposure to hydro- carbons and cancer causing chemicals; Wanton neglect. In view of this grotesque morass, I find it inimical and disparaging, to hear descendents of the barren north; privileged peanut farmers that share the narcissistic philosophy of the megalomaniac- Usman dan Fodio; allowed to ascend and establish a  political oligarchy and military dichotomy in the lopsided rhetoric of nationalism now talk about marginalization after ruling for 36 years.

The deliberate but callous declaration of Sharia to enhance a North-South divide as propagated by the so-called ex-Nigerian self centered leaders: General’s Buhari, Babangida, and President Shagari is nauseating, hair splitting and very revolutionary. It is the beginning of the long journey to freedom and justice for Six Independent Republics. The foundation of the generals conviction is inherent in the following Latin ideologies: You cease to reign, if you don’t wish to adjudicate (Cessa Regnare, Si Visjudicare) He who acquires for himself---acquires for his heirs (Qui Acquirit Sibi, Acquirit Haeredibus)

Using the Machiavellian Principle, the Hausa / Fulani political hegemony succeeded in ruling the country for 36 years with impunity, totalitarianism and brutal passion. Today, there is no meaningful industry located in the region to stimulate employment - - - not even a fish canning industry to encourage deep sea farming.

The bowers of paradise enjoyed by the Hausa / Fulani hegemony was built from the crude oil wells of the Niger Delta. No region would dream of political secession (Hominem Deserere) from Nigeria without crude oil. Crude oil is both a stabilizing factor as well as a destabilizing influence in the continuity of Nigeria as a nation. The population of the micro - nations of the Niger Delta is greater than that of other oil rich sovereign nations like Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Oman, and Kuwait. No wonder the oil producing States of the Niger Delta opted for an independent federation in their memorandum of February 1994, towards the constitutional debate about the future of Nigeria.

Crude oil revenue is paramount in all national development plans. Outside the Niger Delta, it has enabled successive ethnic governments to develop the following cities : Lagos, in 1963; Kano, Sokoto , Ilorin, Maiduguri and Jos, in 1967; Minna, Makurdi, Abeokuta, Akure, Owerri, Enugu, Yola and Bauchi, in 1976; Katsina, in 1987; Lokoja, Damaturu, Dutse, Kebbi, Osogbo, Awka and Umuahia, in 1991.

BACKGROUND TO THE HAUSA - FULANI HEGEMONY

The Hausa / Fulani political hegemony got its root from the amalgamation of sovereign nationalities: Ijaws, Igbos, Kalabaris, Hausa, Fulanis, Tivs, Yorubas, Ibibios, Ishekiris, Anglophone Cameroonians, etc ) into a colony by British Governor -General Lugard in 1914. Constitutional formations were named after subsequent colonial Governor Generals as follows: the Clifford Constitution ( 1922 - 1945 ); the Richard Constitution ( 1946 - 1950 ); the MacPherson Constitution ( 1951 - 1954 ); the Lyttlelton Constitution ( 1954 - 1960 ). It was through the Dominion Constitution of 1960 that Nigeria got her Independence.

Political Party formations before and immediately after Independence included: AG - Action Group (West); NCNC- National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroon's, later National Council of Nigeria Citizens (East); NDC - Niger Delta Congress ( South ); and NPC - Northern Peoples Congress (North). Opportunistic and splinter groups that emanated from within included: NEPU- Northern Elements Progressive Union, later Nigerian Elements Progressive Union; NPR- Northern Progressive Front; UPGA - United Progressive Grand Alliance; NNA - Nigerian National Alliance; and DP-Dynamic Party.

As blind collaborators of the Islamic faith, the Hausa - Fulani threatened to secede from Nigeria following the Ibadan National Conference of 1950 by demanding for 50 percent of the Federal legislative Seats. This contention in essence was the beginning of political suspicion, dubious intelligence and sycophancy in the body politic of Nigeria. Very dismal support was given when Chief Anthony Enahoro motioned for self government in 1953, in the Federal House of Representatives.

The 1954 federal elections brought a bizarre twist by raising political consciousness regionally. At the Federal House, it was the NPC / NCNC vs AG. Taking an olive branch from the ethnic political style of the Hausa / Fulani, the Yorubas decided to mimic them. Although the NCNC won majority of the legislative seats in the Western House of Assembly, the party became seen as an Igbo political party. The leader of the NCNC - the legendary Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (popularly known as ZIK OF AFRICA) was denied his mandate as 24 Yoruba 'supposedly' NCNC legislators "carpet-crossed " to the AG- insidiously making the NCNC the minority party in the Western House of Assembly.

As ZIK retreated to his Eastern support base, the NCNC leader of the Party: Prof Eyo Ita (a Calabar man) was bulldozed in an atrocious manner by the Igbo majority - - - there by setting the stage for Igbo alienation by the so-called Southern Minorities of the Niger Delta.

POLITICS OF CRUDE OIL

Control of the revenue from crude oil , it's privileged trappings and associated power for sectional development - - -more than any other compelling reason catalyzed the first military coup of January 15, 1966; the counter coup of July 29, 1966; and all other subsequent coups; that caused the Civil War ( July 1967-January 1970 ); that led to government determination to exterminate local communities requesting royalties - - - that led to the murder of the four Ogoni Chiefs and the eventual judicial murder of Kenule Saro Wiwa; that is behind the purposeless military coup d'etats and the continued genocide and human carnage in Nigeria.

The background to the politics of crude oil started with the British when in 1937 an Anglo - Dutch consortium Shell D' Arcy ( later Shell Petroleum Development of Nigeria) was authorized to commence exploration of crude oil in the Niger Delta region of present day : Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Edo States; after failed attempts by a German controlled Nigerian Bitumen Corporation , from 1908 to 1914. Shell - BP was granted exclusive exploratory right in the whole country in 1947.

Commercial quantity of petroleum crude oil was discovered in Oloibiri and later Ogoni, in 1956 of present day Bayelsa and Rivers, States respectively. By 1958, Shell had completed laying conduit pipe lines to Bonny, increased drilling output and started exporting oil to European markets. With further exploitation, crude oil was struck in most of the villages along the Rivers: Sambreiro and San Bartholomew in the Kalabari Kingdom; the Rivers: Rio Real, Andoni, Kwa Ibo, Cross River, Rio dos Escravos, Rio Fermoso, Rio dos Forcados and Rio dos Ramos, all in the Niger Delta.

Immediately after Nigeria's independence in 1960, other multi-national oil companies like: Gulf., Agip, Mobil and Texaco came on board and started oil prospecting in the Niger Delta - - - in order to neutralize Shell's exclusive monopoly. As at the 1964 Federal elections, all the aforementioned new oil companies have discovered large deposits of crude oil in the villages that abound the said Rivers - - - and the politics of crude oil started in earnest. By October 1965, absolute control of the revenues from crude oil brought the dramatic power play within the Hausa / Fulanis; and between the Igbos and Yorubas, in exclusion of the inhabitants of the Niger Delta. It was this callous power struggle that forced Isaac Adaka Boro to demand and initiate a self independent region for the so-called southern minorities.

In order to maintain regional control, Shell went into partnership with the Federal government and started the construction of a 35,000 barrel of oil production per day petroleum refining plant in Port - Harcourt. At the Federal level in 1964, preparation for control of revenues from crude oil led to the following fractional Alliances: NPF=NEPU / UMBC; NNA = NPC / NNDP / DP / NDC; UPGA = AG / NCNC / NPF. The final political machination was NPC / NNDP Vs AG / NCNC. Since the electoral results at the Federa1 level gave no clear mandate, President Nnamdi Azikiwe declined to ask Prime Minister Balewa to form a  government . A compromise was reached on the backs of the oil producing inhabitants of the Niger Delta , and Balewa was allowed to form a government.

From the heat of the above political moment, if ZIK of Africa had dismissed Balewa as Prime Minister and declared himself the Executive President, as President Joseph Kasavubu did in the Congo in August 1960 , there could have been no Hausa / Fulani hegemony today in Nigeria - - - moreover, there could have been no sectional domination of the Army and Police proclaiming leadership in perpetuity. Instead, the political instability and quest for power and control continued unfettered.

At a moment in African political history, it is worth to reminiscence that military regimes were alien to Africa.  The brutal military overthrow of President Olympio of Togo in 1963, opened the pandora box of un-relentless despotism in the entire continent. With General Aguiyi Ironsi as head of the Nigerian Army, ZIK could have had no problem in eliminating the office of Prime Minister Balewa - - - but the Eastern coup d' etat as it came to be popularly known, was about to be implemented

The manifestation of the Igbo Coup on January 15,1966 in essence was to exclude the Hausa / Fulanis and the Yorubas from the benefits of and control of crude oil revenue. As much as the above coup was about crude oil - - -so was the northern counter-coup of July 29, 1966. If Brigadier Ogundipe ( the second in command after Gen. Ironsi ), had the bravado to usurp the office of the Head of State after the murder of Gen. Ironsi instead of his junior 32 -Year old Lt. Col. Gowon (later General), the current discussion about Hausa / Fulani hegemony could have been a closet conversation. Very portentously, he resigned from the army and absconded to London - - - enabling General Gowon to make his maiden national broadcast on August 1, 1966. With the unique opportunity of Gen. Gowon, he consolidated power from July 29, 1966 to July 28, 1975; empowered the Hausa / Fulanis to regroup and start endless domination of the Nigerian body politic - using the Machiavellian Principle.

LEADERSHIP PARADIGM OF THE HAUSA / FULANIS

Having observed leadership models world wide, successive leadership in Haiti seem an ideal mimic and a paradigm to the Hausa / Fulani hegemony in Nigeria. After the popular up rising in 1796, on January 1,1804 Haiti obtained her independence from France; the country was subjected to 22 straight military regimes. Today, Haitians can only be identified with 'floating in banana boats'. The major difference between Nigeria and Haiti is that, the later doesn't produce crude oil.

Over 36-years of using the Machiavellian Principle, the Hausa / Fulani hegemony has only revealed cataclysmic leadership. All national interest displayed so far is centered around vested control of the revenue from crude oil and it's associated power trappings. Ruling with impunity, the country is nearer disintegration more than ever before. Through the Hausa / Fulani hegemony, the cherished educational system has collapsed. Presently Nigerian university degrees are hardly accepted for higher studies in England - - - America might be next. The agricultural sector has equally failed; population is outgrowing food supply and many people are dying from starvation. Inflation has sky-rocketed beyond the means of the ordinary people. Basic social amenities are lacking; in this era of global competitive economy, there is no constant electricity - the bed rock of modern technology, no employment opportunities for over 75 percent of youth corpers with university degrees.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD ?

African Politics is built around revenge and dominance. The Ogoni and Odi crisis was the epicenter of internal political conflict between Oil rich indigenous groups and successive ethnic governments in Nigeria. It is the genesis in the politics of crude oil, of despotism, fascism, impunity and totalitarianism - - - and exposed the failure of the post - colonial African State to satisfy the basic needs and protection of it's people. It tendered a very profound meaning why Major Adaka Boro wanted the inhabitants of the Niger Delta to be independent from the lopsided rhetoric of Nigerian nationalism.
Just as the Congolese uranium mines at Shinkolobwe enabled the United States to produce the atomic bomb in 1943 of international fame - - - the oil producing states of the Niger Delta have brought international recognition to Nigeria as a world economy, but the inhabitants still live in object poverty.
AN ANALYSIS OF POWER DISTRIBUTION SINCE INDEPENDENCE

SOUTH EASTERN ZONE: 

ZIK - President, Oct. l, 1960 --- Jan. 15, 1966

IRONSI - Head of State , Jan. 15, 1966 ---July 29, 1966

WESTERN ZONE: 

OBANSAJO -Head of State , Feb. 13,1976 ---Sept. 30, 1979

President, May 29, 1999 --- PRESENT

SHONEKAN - President , Aug. 26, 1993 --- Nov. 17, 1993

NORTH EASTERN ZONE:

BALEWA - Prime Minister, Oct.1, 1960 --- Jan. 15, 1966

NORTH WESTERN ZONE:

MUHAMMED –Head of State, July 29, 1975 --- Feb.12, 1976

SHAGARI - President, Oct.1, 1979 --- Dec. 31, 1983

BUHARI - Head of State, Dec. 31, 1983 --- Aug. 27, 1985

ABACHA -Head of State, Nov.17, 1993 --- June 8, 1998

MIDDLE BELT ZONE:

GOWON - Head of State, July 29, 1966 --- July 28, 1975

BABANGIDA – Head of State, Aug.27,1985 – Aug.26,1993

ABUBAKAR - Head of State, June 9,1998 – May 29,1999

SOUTH-SOUTH ZONE:

( The Oil Producers ) --- NIL ---

The above power sharing profile defy common sense - - - it is bewildering and down right atrocious to acknowledge that all the non – Oil producing Regions have ruled the Country except the producers.

To perpetuate it’s self in government the Hausa / Fulani political hegemony used the Igbos as CORDON SANITAIRE in enhancing the annulment of the June 12, 1993 national election. This flabbergasting state of affairs forces one to ask the inevitable question: WHEN WILL NIGERIA HAVE A PRESIDENT FROM THE NIGER DELTA CRUDE OIL PRODUCING STATES ?

If Nigeria has to remain a unified country during or after President Obasanjo’s 4 - Year Term, it better be written on every wall that : OIL PRODUCERS HAVE A CLAIM TO 2003 PRESIDENCY!!