SALUTE TO IBANIERUBO!

A unique species I must say. But why were they here? All hurdled under one canopy with the inscription: AMAOPUERE! Nineteen of the twenty-one listed. Resplendent in that unique, pristine form of attire that bespeaks that dignity that stood the Ibani nation out in the comity of ethnic nationalities, they radiate the arena with feminine fragrance.
Some huge and heavy, others slim and lissome, but yet exuding the dignity characteristic of Ibaniere. A mixture of age and youth assuming a common ground as they converge under that canopy. The elders patting the shoulders of the younger and the younger exhibiting deference for the elders. But why, in a masculine-oriented society would these constitute a significant aspect of the coronation anniversary of the foremost of Niger Delta monarchs?
The fifty-first week of 2007 (17th through 24th December) was set aside for the tenth coronation anniversary of King Edward Asiminikarama William Dappa-Pepple III, Perekule XI, CON, JP, Amanyanabo of Grand Bonny Kingdom, and Chairman, Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers. It was marked by pomp and pageantry. But most importantly, it marked the bringing to reality of the long overdue yearnings of the Bonny people, viz, the precarious need for social amenities in diverse parts of Bonny local government area. It became imperative, with the increase in the presence and business transaction of oil and gas multinationals in the area, that the kingdom witnessed the translation of their corporate social responsibilities into physical developmental realities.
Given this, the anniversary celebration became a threshold of actualizing most, if not all of the MOU projects agreed on between the community and the Joint Industry Companies (JIC). These included the construction of roads and bridges, electric power supply through gas turbine system, water supply, upgrade of medical and educational facilities, provision of micro-credit scheme for small-scale indigenous business people and scholarship for students in tertiary institutions and the maritime academy, Oron, employment generation, development of recreational facilities, nature park, et al.
One sad aspect of the epochal event was the laying to rest of the demised Prime Minister of the kingdom, Chief Donald Manilla-Pepple. With tremendous equanimity, the last respects were accorded the late chief by the King, Chiefs and people. And then the celebration began with its high point being the investiture of the Ibani National Awards on worthy citizens of the kingdom.
This particular Thursday was blessed by the bliss of sunshine. Guests began pouring into the arena – the legendary Ikuba Square – as early as 7.00AM. Soon two great monarchs were to grace the occasion with their majestic presence – the Obi of Onitsha and the Amanyanabo of Opobo, King Dandeson Douglas Jaja, JP, Jeki V. Even the two Yoruba men saddled with the security of the LGA – Temi Omojola, CSP, of the Nigeria Police and his colleague of the SSS were on hand with their men to ensure a hitch-free ceremony. There were captains of industry, representatives of foreign governments, religious bodies, socio-cultural groups, the media, etc.
The roll call of citizens to be honoured under the current edition of the Ibani National Awards included 52 Amaopuseniapu (7 posthumously) and 38 Amaseniapu (1 posthumously). These were honourable gentlemen who have supposedly made their mark in their chosen endeavours – intellectually, professionally, business-wise, even in military service. They were to be conferred with the honour they deserve, but more than that they were to be saddled with the task of being co-trustees, co-sureties with the King and his chiefs of the welfare of the kingdom. They were to become co-custodians of the values, lores, norms, traditions, culture, and greatness of the ancient kingdom of Grand Bonny.
And so we converge at the agelong arena – Ikuba Square – that has come to represent for the Ibani nation what the Areopagus or Mars Hill symbolized for the Athenians. We come from all walks of life. We come from all over the world. We come with our friends, colleagues, neighbors, all.
We presently observe these particular set of individuals. They’re women and they’re here for real. They are listed to be honoured. Some then ask, why women? Risking the prospect of being tagged with gender bias or worse still a feminist; I attempt some explanation to their question.
These women have carved a niche for themselves in terrains, turfs monopolized by men. They have walked tall where even men with all their presence of mind have dreaded to tread. They have flown the flag of the Ibani nation in different arenas, even on the international stage. Check out the intimidating resumes they showcase: Okereke-Onyiuke was at the New York Stock Exchange as a director, presently, added to being the director-general of Nigerian Stock Exchange, she is Chairman of Transnational Corporation (Transcorp); Kurubo, wife of the first Nigerian indigenous Airforce general, was at the Rivers State Broadcasting Corporation as director-general, she later served as Nigeria’s ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago; Amal Pepple, an intellectual of repute who has served in various tertiary institutions in Nigeria is now a permanent secretary; Dames William-Jumbo and Willie-Pepple are successfully running their hotel businesses; Siene for years beautified our TV screens during her days at the Nigerian Television Authority. She is, presently, NLNG’s company-community anchor reducing, infact obliterating any form of friction between the company and her host/GTS communities. She even adds to that enormous responsibility the role of editor-in-chief of the NLNG media apparati; Ofili is in the Rivers State government as commissioner for women affairs and youth development making significant strides in upping the odds, bettering the lot and advancing the cause of Rivers women, her youth notwithstanding; Jamaica brought about the revolution that saved GGSS, Finima from moral decadence at a critical point of her existence when prostitution almost overtook the institution; she was there to help set up Community Secondary School, Bonny; Lucille Education Center is her brainchild and even the Bonny Historical Society has benefited immensely from her inexhaustible resourcefulness.
We can go on and on analyzing the credentials of these great women and discover the monumental strides they have made and how much they have contributed to the land of their nativity. They are all involved in the development and management of the human resource potentials Providence has placed within their spheres of influence and they are not doing badly. Added to their professional and business responsibilities, they successfully manage their homes.
These women represent womanhood in the Ibani nation and womanhood in general. They symbolize the struggles of Ibaniere to preserve moral values, intellectual excellence, business success, service to motherland and service to humanity as a whole. They represent the evolution of society from the backwaters of ignorance, underdevelopment, prejudice, and self-annihilation to the frontburners of modernity and all it represents.
Africa and Nigeria in particular maybe plagued by male-chauvinism. May be gender-based issues as it favours the feminine folk may be relegated to the background, even key political, religious and traditional positions, responsibilities and their accruing benefits maybe set aside for the masculine gender while the less relevant and inconsequential roles are outsourced to the women. But the African eye still takes cognizance of extra-ordinary achievements, especially such as emanates from the most unexpected of places.
That these women are spotted and included in the roll call of recipients of this year’s national awards speaks volumes not just of their achievement but also for the keen sightedness of the custodians of the awards – the King, his chiefs, the elders and people of Bonny kingdom. It is only an observant and conscientious parent who seeks out good deeds in his children to reward. And I must say that rewards don’t only say “Welldone!” they also say “Carry on!” “Keep it up!” It goes a long way to place the people of this ancient kingdom in the good stead as those who observe and reward service, excellence, nobility of character and all the other qualities that enhance the worth of a civilized society.
For these women to have, in their various ways, combined their strive for excellence with the agelong responsibilities of keeping family, raising kids, and other extraneous roles society has saddled them with and yet not complaining, but instead asking for more and more responsibilities stands them out as worthy ambassadors of this great kingdom.
Some are into politics, some into business, some teaching, some into other endeavours, but yet they are professional home makers and keepers, responsible wives, and a remarkable testament to the strength, courage and fortitude the spirit of the Bonny woman is imbued with. I can say for sure as for that which Shaggy refers to in his music as “The Strength of a Woman!” the Ibanierubo (Bonny woman) has so much of it. I know because I was raised by one of them. Yours sincerely joins the Ibani nation to applaud the pristine, courageous and resourceful femininity Ibanierubo symbolizes.

LETTER TO THE AMANYANABO OF GRAND BONNY

I deem it necessary to commend Your Majesty on the success of the just concluded 10th Anniversary celebrations commemorating a decade of your reign on the throne of your ancestors.
A decade on the throne of the kingdom of Grand Bonny, in my opinion, is not and seldom can be an easy or smooth run given the inevitable imperatives it places at the foot of the incumbent monarch. These imperatives include but are not limited to the onus of satisfying the fundamental aspirations of your subjects; preserving the sanctity, dignity and integrity of the office you occupy; preserving the sanctity of age-old customs, traditions, norms, lores, etc of the land; managing the diverse interests, pressures and elements pervading the kingdom; acting up to the demands of being the service brand of the kingdom; integrating into a common front the political, traditional, religious, social, cultural and economic dynamics and ideologies thriving in the kingdom for the common good; and creating a true home for the Ibaniawo both those at home and in the Diaspora.
These do not seem to be an easy task even for the brave-hearted, at least not in my purview. That you have been able not only to thrive but excel in many respects with regards to the afore-mentioned particulars sets you forth as a budding achiever and with youth on your side, the horizon holds tremendous promise and opportunities for the kingdom and her people.
To the politicians would have been directed the issues being conveyed through the vehicle of my pen to Your Majesty’s doorstep. But the interests they represent and must perpetually patronize gives them away as relatively unqualified to address these issues.
The fact remains that though Your Majesty is, by virtue of age, still in the arena of youth, your youth does not obliterate the fact of your fatherhood of this kingdom consequent upon your being, in the present and near future, the Amanyanabo (owner, ruler, and leader) of the kingdom. That office confers on you the responsibility of rulership of the indigent and the resident and even of the itinerant. Moreso, the integrity, dignity and sanctity associated with the throne you occupy elevates you above primordial interests and leanings, be they political, religious, social, personal or otherwise. Put in another way, you are to subscribe loyalty only to God and the land and people the almighty God, through tradition, heredity and providence, has ordained you to serve. You are to be nobody’s slave but everybody’s servant!
By reason of the leadership that office has vested on you, you are to be for the kingdom and her people a service brand, a trailblazer, pacesetter, frontrunner, role-model and point of convergence.
In the decade that has seen you on the throne; I reckon you now assume a consensus with me on the following:
• That sycophancy is a great distraction to leadership given that loyalty when driven to a blind extreme (as is true of sycophancy) can be disturbingly nauseating and worse still counterproductive.
• That self-deceit is the bane of progress, development and achievement consequent upon the fact that until we (on the individual and community levels) divorce ourselves from our illusions, we will continue to lose touch with reality. I state this in respect of putting the destiny of this kingdom in the hands of multinationals. It is trite to aver that the agents of neocolonialism will seldom be distracted from their murderous economic agenda by any form of pressure from ethnic nationalities, minority groups or local communities in the third world to fully discharge their corporate social responsibilities, not with the government at the center being their reluctant protégé. We can make the most of what we make them deliver but the earlier we look inwards, the better for us.
• That concern for the assuaging of the needs of Your Majesty’s subjects will naturally activate valuable ideas that would engender positive transformation of the land and her people.
Done with preambles, I ordain to advance through this medium certain salient issues critically relevant to the Ibani nation.
Paramount among these is the flooding debacle witnessed annually by the inhabitants of the island. The factors that give strength to this monster include the abject lack of a functional drainage system; blocking of natural evacuation channels from the intra-city swamps and the Burrow-pit along New Road; the shoddy and substandard road system built for us by the quislings of this nation upon being awarded road construction contracts; etc.
Ordinarily, those who know in the environmental management sector would maintain that we are encircled by many bodies of water suits us well to be free of flooding problems. All there is needed is for a sound drainage system to convey the various accumulations out into the rivers and creeks. The Burrow-pit at New Road has over the years become a critical eyesore. That body of water that could serve many ends (tourist, economic, agricultural, etc) has become a reluctant liability. It has become a reservoir of contaminated and toxic water; a convenience facility; a geographical anomaly, an environmental menace to inhabitants of its precincts; and a waste.
This wastage could be redeemed, Your Majesty, through some simple initiatives, viz: an all-round feasibility study on its viability for economic and other ends; a censure of dumping of wastes and refuse into it; draining of the toxic water therein into the Bonny river through its flow-out channel which runs through the back of GGSS, Finima out to Park community where it connects the main river; canalization of that channel down to the sea; fencing it out; and outsourcing it to a tourist firm is all that is needed to transform it into an economically lucrative phenomenon.
On the other hand, it could be drained of water, sandfilled and sold out to inhabitants to develop into residential and commercial purposes. Other options still, include sandfilling it and utilizing it for the siting of an ultra-modern civic center, stadium or sports complex, etc.
Another issue that is of utmost importance to the average indigene is the proposed Ring Road that was supposed to connect the various villages and towns that constitute this kingdom and the Bonny-Bodo Roads and Bridges that was supposed to connect us to the outside world. It still baffles and conjures up questions in my mind whatever happened to these hugely beneficial projects. Those of us who have a predilection for the rural localities that shaped our childhood retain a mental disconnect with our villages and ordinarily would favour the opening up of the hinterland.
Roads, being the primary conveyor of development, would serve us well were this projects executed. The plusses for the kingdom are unquantifiable; from whatever perspective you consider it. Our villages would be accessible (just as it is presently with Akiama, Oguede and Abalamabie communities); development will spread speedily into the hinterland; there would be a decongesting of the mainland as indigenes relocate to their hometowns and villages attracting with them developmental projects; and also there would be an unravellng of the latent potentials and tourist sites yet undiscovered in the hinterland.
As for the Bonny-Bodo Road, we would be able to drive into town from Port Harcourt anytime without being afraid of whatever dangers the marine route is likely to hold. The myriad opportunities that road would afford us are tremendous.
The issue of a landing jetty is next on my list. It is unnecessary to suffer while one has the wherewithal to be happy. With the status of Bonny on the national, continental and international spheres, it is unbecoming that travelers would almost have to swim out of the boats that convey them down here from Port and wherever else they are coming from. A landing jetty that is of the very best standards needs urgently to be installed at the waterfront at Bonny and even at Port Harcourt so that travelers would be spared this unnecessary nightmare.
Given the integrity of the indigenes, the overwhelming presence of multinationals and the place of Bonny in the economic equation of this nation, it reeks of an irony why this kingdom would lag behind in development.
With all due respect, Your Majesty, by the standards of development best practices around the world, the Ibani nation is not at its best. Observe, Your Majesty, that even at this moment, the questions of adequate and conducive housing; clean and accessible drinking water; adequate and affordable health-care at the primary and secondary levels; functional and empowerment-oriented educational system; transportation system; security; and result-oriented governance are yet unanswered.
Even on the socio-cultural front: we lack a thriving local dialect that is universal to all natives both at home and in the Diaspora; we are yet to have the Holy Bible in the Ibani language despite being Christianity’s first port of call in Nigeria; the history of the Ibani nation is yet to assume a streamlined narrative that is commonly accepted and authenticated by all authorities concerned with it.
What more? On the local setting, the population of the island is on the rise with the dynamics of high population density (such as the subsuming of the indigenous language, rise in crime rate, congestion, air and noise pollution, etc) playing out before our very eyes.
I do not intend, Your Majesty, to raise these issues to the end of engendering a pessimistic mindset or outlook but to x-ray the current situation and thus instigate an urgent and positive response to them. The issues raised in this letter are not impossible cases or no-win situations. They are problems that are solvable. With the right attitude, will-power, intelligence gathering, intellectual research aimed at finding ways to address this issues, resource mobilization, networking and partnerships among stakeholders, some measure of patriotism and exemplary leadership these and other problems bedeviling this kingdom could become milestones to our development. The land of Bonny could be so transformed that it could become an investors’ haven, a tourists’ attraction and a true point of convergence to the Ibaniawo at home and in the Diaspora.
It is my opinion, Your Majesty, that my concerns have been addressed to the appropriate quarters with the understanding that the throne on which you sit has been endowed with wisdom to make the best decisions for the overall good of this kingdom.
May Your reign continue to be blissful and productive!

HIV/AIDS and the African female

WITH increasing and intense efforts at contemplating and executing interventions the world over with regards to checkmating the spread of HIV/AIDS and other pandemics such as tuberculosis, malaria, diabetes, and so on and so forth, it is becoming increasingly obvious that there exists a special group that could appropriately be referred to as an endangered species. This unique group is spread out across the African continent. You find them in all the countries that constitute the continent. They are the feminine gender represented here as the African female.

As the HIV/AIDS pandemic makes its ravaging voyage across continents disregarding racial, gender, social and religious barriers, it has succeeded in eliciting heightened interest and interventions in the areas of medical research, and scaled-up approaches by way of prevention, care and support and capacity building. Various agencies and governments are allocating huge funds to these areas.

A survey of the African continent gives one a gory depiction of the tragedy the African female is subjected to by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Liberia, Sierra Leone, Darfur region in Sudan, Somalia, Congo, South Africa, Kenya and other Southern African countries are flashpoints as per the harrowing effects of this pandemic. Statistics reveal the no-win situation in which the feminine gender finds itself. Sero-prevalence rates in various countries indicate that women are more affected by HIV/AIDS.

The African female by virtue of her socio-economic situation finds herself more prone to be infected than the male. She is bothered for sex at the point of seeking employment. There is workplace sexual harassment. As a student, sex is demanded of her in the school for her to get her scores. Even in a normal heterosexual relationship, she is required to give vent to her professed love by mutual self-giving, which almost always translates into physical sexual acts. Socio-cultural practices such as female circumcision, tattooing, early marriages, and so on and so forth, expose her to infection. The above and the fact of the female genitalia being more or else a receptacle, and thus vulnerable, increases her chances of infection, including HIV/AIDS.

Infected females are hardly able to access care and support facilities and opportunities due to stigmatisation and other hiccups placed by society. On the other hand, antiretrovirals are costly and hoarded even when they are provided and subsidised by governments, international development agencies, NGOs, and so on and so forth. Illiteracy, poverty, political insensitivity, and sundry other factors coalesce to give away the African female with regards to HIV/AIDS.

Were we as a people to demonstrate some conscientiousness towards the checkmating of this pandemic, especially as it affects the women of Africa, there would be an orchestrated response in terms of providing funds for interventions, awareness creation and sensitisation, accessible care and support programmes, strategic capacity building initiatives for organisations working in this area, de-stigmatisation campaigns, enlightenment of both government officials, care-givers, NGOs and the general public. Added to this would be specialised funding for research work on unravelling a cure for this voracious pandemic in order to ultimately halt its calamitous spread around the continent.

The urgency of these conscientious interventions cannot be overflogged, as the tragedy engendered by this pandemic is critically obvious. The continent is awash with the diverse ramifications of its horrendous effects and it would imply hypocritical denial and criminal neglect of facts not to admit its reality and need for an urgent response. The response needs not be sporadic or unilateral to the extent there could be a coalescing and coordination of resources for this. Corporate bodies, governments, development partners and private individuals all have a role to play to save the African female nay girl child from imminent annihilation courtesy of HIVAIDS.

Reappraising the Niger Delta Question

In recent times tension in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has escalated to unprecedented levels due to militancy exerted on the region by her youth. This tension has played out in various forms ranging from destruction to oil exploration facilities to hostage taking focused on foreigners. To a large extent, the socio-economic atmosphere in the region has been compromised with a climate of fear and uncertainty of life pervading precariously amongst inhabitants. The people’s means of livelihood has suddenly assumed a factor in inevitable vulnerability.
The environment has not been excused as it has been subjected to the horrendous consequences of damage done to oil facilities such as forest incineration, oil spills, etc. The human resource potentials of the region has been poohhooed what with the youths of the area engaged in the militancy that many identify as the Niger Delta struggle, whether real or imagined.
Socio-political institutions in the area have come under serious credibility scrutiny with a certain twang associated with the public trust and goodwill reposed in the leaders on the political, traditional and religious fronts. The national economy has not been left out as it has witnessed tremendous losses on a daily basis in foreign exchange earnings of an unevisaged scale. Investment prospects in the country and the delta region in particular, is in the present in a contemplative freeze. The international community is equally affected with oil prices constantly escalating due to increasing shortages in supply of badly needed crude around the world. These are not beautiful scenarios as would be wished for by all concerned in the Niger Delta question.
Given the place of the region in local and international oil politics, it becomes understandable the anxiety exhibited towards happenings in the region. It can be surmised that the concept of the goose that lays the golden eggs is no longer a viable prospect or a thriving scenario that should thrive without attendant adverse consequences. This is due to increased awareness in issues affecting peoples and communities the world over ranging from ethical, environmental, economic, and political issues to self-determination.
Pulling the wool over the eyes of peoples and communities (be they ethnic minorities, labour unions, youth groups, gender-based movements, or whatever else) is no longer in vogue. This is one basic lesson the Niger Delta debacle is posing distinctly at the world.
For the Niger Delta peoples and communities, it has been a long arduous journey that has seen huge losses and casualties in human and material terms. The quest to assert and make claim to the particulars of justice accruable to the region and her people has not been easy. Isaac Adaka Boro, Captain Amangala, Ken Saro Wiwa, Harold Dappa Biriye and a host of others have all been sucked into the fast flowing stream of the struggle. The goal of giving voice to the just rights and demands of the Niger Delta has met with brickwall resistance by the Nigerian state consequently precipitating a mindset of exclusion pervading the region. Obviously, when the most vocal leaders of the region are compromised, blackmailed, hounded, and even killed in their quest to actualize the justice accruable to their people, it leaves the victimized, marginalized and excluded with very few options.
While it would be immoral to countenance acts of brigandage, arson and wanton destruction of lives and properties, it could be observed that such has become the various acts that constitute the gory legend that has transformed the region into a theater of war.
What can be said of youths who are supposed to be in educational institutions giving direction and credibility to their future wielding weapons of mass destruction all over the creeks; graduates who should be contributing to national development out there lending their intellect and skills to the chagrin of the economy of the nation; servicemen, trained with the nation’s resources retiring, resigning or absconding to go join the struggle; and even those currently in active service providing insider information to sabotage government efforts at arresting the situation? So much for the Nigerian government’s hesitancy and unwillingness to be honest for once.
The dispatch, determination, daringness, sophistication and harmonious coordination of the campaign by militants operating in the region are to be candid subduing to keen observers. Supposedly untrained youths holding sway in militarized areas and taking captive foreigners under the conscious watch of soldiers is befuddling. It suggests certain things viz; the protagonists of this militancy have a locus or else why would they give their all to a cause they have a fluctuating belief in; the soldiers combating the militants are either afraid of them or have reservations about the plausibility of resisting them or do not believe in the Nigerian cause; and the politicians are dishonest about the issues relating to the Niger Delta.
Certain things give verve to this mindset. Where legal contraptions abound that shortchange the people, giving sweeping powers to the central government to usurp the wealth of the region; military troops with orders to stifle any form of protest by the cheated still pervade the region; the so-called derivation principle being more or less a mockery of the people’s preference for a negotiated settlement and dialogue in the face mounting injustice; remediation, compensation and mitigation of the region’s devastated environment not yet an issue in government circles; interventions focused on the area being more a hypocritical lip-service and puerile approaches borne out of insincerity; underdevelopment, poverty and disease still very much a reality; how can we say the Niger Delta question has been adequately answered.
Resolving the Niger Delta question would seem a Herculean and scary prospect or more an impossible task but the issue is that with a bit of sincerity here and there; some willpower to translate promises into tangible realities; repealing and obliterating of obnoxious laws; restoring the wealth of the region to its rightful owners; withdrawing of military personnel from the area (given that peace cannot be exerted nor exacted but negotiated); instituting of corporate social responsibility accounting system that is visible, dynamic, accessible and realistic and the eschewing of inordinate tendencies by both politicians and locals, nothing that is an intriguing issue in the region that cannot be resolved. Let the tranquility of the Niger Delta come home to roost!