ABANDONED PROPERTIES, THE LAST OUNCE OF FLESH, ETC.
Dr. Lomo-David
Jesse Helms is not from South Carolina but North Carolina period
Let us try to forget now but remember always that a concerted effort was =
made during the civil war by the Igbos to forcibly displace all Rivers =
people from their homes to somewhere up Igboland. I don't know what =
would have become of these Rivers people away from their Mbamiri.
But, I tell you what, Cyril, I am glad that war turned out the way it =
did. I pray for no other civil war.
Ewuuk Lomo-David
----------
From: Cyril U. Orji[SMTP:co...@fiu.edu]
Sent: Friday, April 12, 1996 9:39 PM
To: stof...@psu.edu
Cc: NAIJ...@mitvma.mit.edu; igbo...@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu; =
RIV...@pixel.oac.siue.edu; stak...@sfu.ca; do...@CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: ABANDONED PROPERTIES, THE LAST OUNCE OF FLESH, ETC.
After reading Shuaibu's contribution on this thread, I felt he had
said it all and there was really nothing to say. In any event, I thought
I should provide a layman's input into Uche's thesis with the hope=20
that historians and political scientists in our midst may find the
time for a more detailed analysis of his presentation.
I will briefly touch on a few key points in his essay:
(1) Admission to Government College Umuahia:
--------------------------------------------
This was clearly the wrong (or right ?) example to set the stage=20
for his argument. I was surprised to see Government College Umuahia
used to illustrate Igbo oppression of their riverine neighbors.
When last I checked, I observed that nearly all the leading Rivers
indigenes starting from Adaka Boro, through Saro Wiwa and many others
were all ``brought up'' in Igbo land. If I'm not mistaken, both
attended the same Government College Umuahia that Uche wants us to=20
believe was out of reach of the Rivers people. Uche's experience
was far from being the norm. If he had argued that because power was
in Enugu and few if any ``good schools'' were in the riverine areas
in the early 50's and 60's, may be one would concede some of that.
(2) Igbo takeover of Port Harcourt:
-----------------------------------
> The Igbo claim of building up Port Harcourt, however, is not without
> foundation. =20
After this attempt at telling it as it is, Uche went off on a long
historial review which doesn't interest me since apparently no
point is made therein to justify his thesis. His thesis, which
he does not state clearly, is a justification of the seizure of the
property of the Igbos in Nigeria.=20
In the long unconvincing review,
I was unable to see the case made of ill-gotten wealth against=20
the Igbos. Instead, Uche appeared to blame the Igbos for
migrating to PH in large numbers --more than other ethnic groups.
One would like to know if Uche is unaware that Igbos moved to PH
to become ``Obioma'' -- those tailors that carried their singer
sewing machine on their head going from house to house all the way=20
from Mile 3 Diobu through Aggrey Road in ``downtown'' area up to=20
Gborokiri. Does Uche fault these hard working people for working hard,=20
playing by the rule and getting a piece of the ``Pitakwa dream''?
Does Uche not know that most of the carpenters, the bricklayers,
the drivers, the conductors, the traders, the wharf boys, the dry=20
cleaners, you name it -- all hard working blue collar workers were=20
primarily Igbos sometimes putting upto 20 hours a day on their work.
Did the Igbos prevent anyone from becoming a carpenter, a driver,=20
or what?
How could Uche publish a paper justifying the seizure of property=20
gotten ``true sweat''? I thought we had actually gone beyond=20
justifying the unjustifiable. I thought the mood was now that we=20
had all wronged one another and so we should forget the past and=20
move on. I didnt know one has to write a thesis to justify=20
seizing one's property in one's country without cause.
So when Uche asks ``.. How did Igbos ... practically come to own
Port Harcourt?'', I hope he now knows the answer -- hard work. Period.
(3) Resolving the abandoned property question:
----------------------------------------------
Next Uche goes on to discuss attempts to resolve the issue. Starting
from General Murtala Mohammed, through Obasanjo, Shagari, Buhari etc.
Uche traces what he believes have been genuine attempts to ``pacify''
the Igbos.
> ... In yet another well-intended
> solution, the Rivers State government under Chief Melford Okilo =
entered an
> agreement with the Federal Government, whereby the latter kept NN26 =
million
> from the Rivers State statutory allocation as compensation to the =
Igbos on
> the acquired properties. The Igbos would not be pacified.
It is careless statements such as the above that oftentimes tend to make
me lose my cool with people. But I will not do that here. I can only
suggest to Uche to forget pacifying the Igbos. We have moved on. He
is holding on to houses he did not build. Good for him. But in his
dissertation, he may wish to ask why Nigerians cannot own property=20
anywhere in Nigeria. He may also wish to explore why someone should=20
have the right to seize another's property and tell him or her how=20
much s/he will be paid for it whether the owner intends to sell it=20
or not. These are fundamental issues to explore. They are more important =
than pacifying the Igbos.
(4) The Case against Nigeria:
-----------------------------
> For the ounce of flesh on the abandoned properties, I urge Rivers =
people and
> all progressive Igbos to reject Kalu's proposal,=20
I have no doubt Kalu Ndukwe can hold on to his own. It just becomes
nearly offensive when anyone thinks he can emerge from anywhere in
Nigeria today to define ``progressive Igbos''. It just sounds to me
like having Jesse Helms from South Carolina define ``progressive =
blacks''.
It makes me sick to the stomach.
Cyril
Konju_Briggs
I think you are doing a great job on this so-called "Abandoned Property" issue.
Your facts are clear and crisp. Be faerless and keep your pen working. We are
all behind you.
Konju.
Meke_C....@hud.gov
I don't know much about abandoned properties obfuscation. I am
not even an Igbo expert. However I will attempt to give you a
quick lesson on a few things you said about Ndigbo which are
myths that have been perpetuated by other peoples of Nigeria who
are afraid to compete.
Igbo is not a cult as you made it out to be. If Nigeria is a
family of wolves Igbos are the coyotes who have learned over the
years how to hunt small preys by nickeling and dimming in small
businesses in order to survive. It is through this process of
unescorted blaze that Igbos have been able to discovered their
bliss. You know as well as I do that cult or pack mentality is
the greatest Igbo weak link.
Let me tell you something about Igbos and real estate. Real
estate to Igbos is like a combination of 401K, FICA, and
investment in stock market. It is a way of planting money that
could be harvested later and used for putting kids through
school; a source of income after retirement. It is also a way of
measuring wealth tangibly. Igbo properties in PH were acquired
through back breaking labor. The owners of the so called
abandoned properties were artisans, petty traders and craftsmen
who worked in coal mines, stevedored, sold stockfish, and walked
the streets sharpening knives and rendering other badly needed
street services. Yes, these hard working men and women stored
their labor in real estate. Declaring their properties abandoned
is cruel; for you to dismiss the pains and frustrations of these
men and women who lost their properties and thus their dreams in
PH as Igbo greed, cult mentality and conniving is low and brutal
and you know it.
Meke.
ABANDONED PROPERTIES, THE "LAST OUNCE OF FLESH," AND
POLITICAL RECONCILIATION: ANOTHER VIEWPOINT.
When I received notice of interview for admission into Government
College Umuahia (GCU) in 1967, my parents' joy knew no bounds.
GCU was one of five secondary grammar schools owned and
operated by the former government of the Eastern Region of
Nigeria. It was fully staffed and highly equipped with the
brightest teachers and materials, including a golf course! Its
school certificate results were among the best in the East, and
Godwin Nwadiashi
That was an excellent response to those who find it so easy to say to the Igbo
people "forgive and forget". Your reply was simple, candid and straight to the
point.
Nigeria will continue to have its problems until we learn to deal effectively
and honestly with these civil war related issues. I don't see how people can
justify to themselves and their God the taking of another man's property, by
force, just because the property owner is an Igbo man.
The federal government has a responsibility here that it has constantly failed
to meet as far as the Igbo people are concerned. It makes it harder to feel
that you are a valued part of the entity called Nigeria.
To: NAIJANET @ MITVMA.MIT.EDU (Multiple recipients of list NAIJANET) @ MNET
cc: (bcc: Godwin Nwadiashi)
From: Canice @ MSN.COM (Canice Onuoha) @ MNET
Date: 04/13/96 09:01:14 PM
Subject: Re: ABANDONED PROPERTIES, THE LAST OUNCE OF FLESH, ETC.
This is the view of a young kid pre-civil war and post civil war Nigeria. We
lived in the part of Rivers State called Diobu. My father worked at Michelin
tires at the time. We bought at fair market price a little house and
properties. In the same house lived other people from other parts of Nigeria.
When the war in Nigeria started, we moved to Eziama Obaire-Agu in the present
Imo state, leaving everything behind at P.H. During the war some of our
neighbors in this same house became refugees and moved to Eziama Obaire-Agu to
live with us. These people lived with us through the end of the war.
At the end of the war, my uncle was sent to Port Harcourt to check out the old
house. When he got to the house and knocked on the front door, One of our old
neighbours responded. This man came to the door and informed my uncle that the
house now belongs to him by the simple virtue of been a native son of Rivers
State. Everything in the house that was abandoned also belonged to him. This
is how we lost our properties acquired before the war. Couple this with the 20
pounds for every adult Biafran after the war, we had our world carved out for
us.
For those who read Uche's thesis and uttered "whoa!", please note that P.H.
was the only place in Nigeria where properties were forcefully seized from
Igbos unilaterally. Igbos may have forgiven, but we must never forget.
Canice
can...@msn.com
----------
From: Nigerian Information network on behalf of Uche H. Ikwut-Ukwa
Sent: Friday, April 12, 1996 1:36 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list NAIJANET
Subject: ABANDONED PROPERTIES, THE LAST OUNCE OF FLESH, ETC.
ABANDONED PROPERTIES, THE "LAST OUNCE OF FLESH," AND POLITICAL
RECONCILIATION: ANOTHER VIEWPOINT.
When I received notice of interview for admission into Government College
Umuahia (GCU) in 1967, my parents' joy knew no bounds. GCU was one of five
secondary grammar schools owned and operated by the former government of the
Eastern Region of Nigeria. It was fully staffed and highly equipped with
the brightest teachers and materials, including a golf course! Its school
certificate results were among the best in the East, and the graduates were
highly respected and known as high achievers. My father, now deceased, was
the Headmaster of a local elementary school in the Niger Delta region. He
was certain, based on my score and ranking, that I would not be denied
admission.
On the fateful day of the interview, I wore my best clothes (the previous
Christmas clothes)--an off-white short sleeve shirt with vertical red
stripes, and D34 solid gray khaki shorts complete with suspenders, tailored
with enough tolerance for my anticipated growth during the year. As I
walked into the interview room to face the panel, the first thing I heard
was, "Chineke!" in apparent surprise at my small stature. "Are you in
elementary six?" the gentleman inquired. "Do you speak Ibo?" another
panelist asked. My responses were yes and no to their questions,
respectively. The only female member of the panel then said that I could
not survive there, and that opinion was echoed by one of the gentlemen. In
less than five minutes my interview was over. As I stepped out and told my
father what questions they asked me, he attempted to enter the room to speak
to the panel, but was stopped at the door. "Only the candidates are allowed
entry," he was told. We knew then that the battle had been lost.
Confirmation came weeks later. While the panelists might have had a point,
given the reality of the harsh life of a "toad" (high school freshman), my
parents saw and, perhaps, accepted the denial of admission as another
example of ethnic prejudice.
A few months later, nothing was to matter, as the East formally seceded from
the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 30, 1967, and became known as the
Republic of Biafra. The Federal Government declared war on Biafra on July
6, 1967, thus beginning the Nigerian civil war. My parents supported the
secession, at least, at the early stage. When Bonny fell to the Federal
forces and the booms of exploding shells became louder as Federal troops
advanced, there was no hesitation on the part of my parents; the family
packed up the few belongings we could take and moved to Aba. It was the
commencement of our status as refugees, a journey that took us from Aba
through Umuoba, Umuahia, Iberenta (Ikwuano), Ehume (Umuopara), Eziama
(Ntigha), and back to Aba at the end of the war in January 1970.
We returned home to find most of our valuables gone. We had already sold
the little we could carry to Biafra in exchange for food. The term
"abandoned properties" as commonly understood in Nigeria, refers to
buildings, vacant plots, plantations, and farmlands, left behind by owners
as they fled from the Nigerian civil war. At the end of the war, the
properties abandoned in other parts of the country by Igbos who fled to
Biafra were reclaimed by the owners. However, in the minority states of
southeast Nigeria, most of the Igbo properties were acquired through power
of eminent domain by the governments of the newly created states that
replaced the pre-war regional structure. The abandoned properties have been
a vexing issue for the Igbos, and nowhere in Nigeria are they more
poignantly reminded of this agony than in Port Harcourt, the capital city of
the Rivers State. Additionally, for lack of support for the Biafran
secession (another grudge against the Rivers minorities), the Igbo
resentment of the Rivers people is, perhaps, only second to their aversion
for the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the Yorubas. In Nigeria, as well as
here in the States, a new life seems to have been breathed into the
abandoned properties issue, and a new generation of Igbos are questioning
the settlement that supposedly disposed of the properties. To them, the
issue is framed and viewed entirely in terms of social justice and fairness,
and the verdict or just solution could only mean one thing--an ounce of
flesh--a return of the properties to the Igbo owners. The considerations
under which the Federal Government of Nigeria attempted to solve the problem
seem not to matter anymore; neither does the fact that some of these young
Igbos do not own any abandoned properties, nor can they claim to know anyone
personally that own a building in Port Harcourt.
The Igbo claim of building up Port Harcourt, however, is not without
foundation. In a review of the abandoned properties, Abolade Adeniji (1992
in Siyan Oyeweso (editor): Perspectives on the Nigerian Civil War) recorded
that Justice Ambrose E. Allagoa, a former Chief Judge of the Rivers State
who was a two-term Municipal Councilor, conceded that much. However, the
real questions are: How did the Igbos get the plots? How did they
practically come to own Port Harcourt? Why have Rivers people been less
accommodating of the Igbos, their next door neighbors, when in fact, there
is a grand scale pillaging of their resources by an even greater and
rapacious post-civil war group of neo-colonialists?
Port Harcourt originated as a new urban, commercial, and industrial center
with the survey in 1913. Today, the peoples of Diobu and Okrika, two Rivers
State communities, lay territorial claim to some parcels of the city by
virtue of legal representations and undertakings that they made with the
colonial administrators in that year. The people of Okrika occupied an
island across the river from Port Harcourt and only had fishing settlements
along the river banks. Therefore, they responded favorably to the
compensation that the British offered for their part of the land. On the
other hand, the people of Diobu lived on a portion of the acquired land.
Thus, they rejected the British offer for the larger parcel of their land
and also violently resisted the resettlement plans. The colonial office
ignored Diobu's objections, declared the land Crown land, and proceeded with
the construction plans. This confrontation was to cost the people of Diobu
more than their land.
The expansion of the Port Harcourt wharf and the construction of the
railway, first to the coal mine at Udi near Enugu, then the further
expansion into the North, created what was perhaps the greatest urban
migration in Nigeria. Some of the early immigrants came from other West
African countries. A few came from the West and the North. The largest
group of immigrants, naturally, came from the East, and the majority were
Igbos. In 1921, for example, Port Harcourt's population was estimated to be
about 7,233 residents. The Nigerian ethnic composition of the population
was as follows: Igbos 62.1 percent, Yorubas 10.3 percent, Hausas 4.3
percent, Ijaws 3.6 percent, Efiks 3.3 percent, Ibibios 2.9 percent, and
others 4.3 percent. Non-Nigerian Africans were 7.1 percent of the
population and the Europeans constituted a meager 2.2 percent of the
population. Typical of the era, the ultimate power for the governance of
the city was vested in the local colonial office, where an even fewer number
of arrogant white men, sworn to defend the British Crown, held sway over the
Africans.
The British Local Authority (BLA), which governed the city, was assisted in
the task by a Township Advisory Board (TAB), which initially consisted
entirely of European officials and representatives of European mercantile
firms. As the name implies, the Township Advisory Board functioned only in
an advisory capacity. Demands for local autonomy by the African Community
League (ACL) led, in 1926, to the appointment of Africans to the Township
Advisory Board. By the middle of the century, black racial consciousness
had galvanized the hitherto fragmented African community into a united vocal
group demanding a transfer of local government power. Four elements,
according to Howard Wolpe (1974 in Urban Politics in Nigeria: A Study of
Port Harcourt), were central to the transfer of local power from European to
African hands. They were: (1) the increasing militancy and assertiveness
of the ACL, (2) the introduction of an electoral franchise system, (3) the
city's nationalist awakening, and (4) the emergence of the NCNC--an
Igbo-dominated political party.
Until this attempt to transfer local government power to the African
majority, a first in Nigeria, the composition of the Township Advisory Board
favored the non-Igbo minorities in the city, a situation that was deeply
resented by the majority Igbos. On the other hand, the fact that it was
possible for non-Igbos to rise to such prominence in the new city was a
testament to the cosmopolitan nature of Port Harcourt. However, whatever
unity and cooperation the African community had in opposing British Local
Authority quickly gave way to communal interests and, invariably, ethnic
domination.
The political ascendancy and assertiveness of the Igbos in Port Harcourt
were aided immensely by the introduction of the tax franchise as
qualification for municipal voting. Only "persons over twenty-one years of
age and who paid a minimum of BP8.00 (British Pounds) in annual taxes or
rents" were qualified to vote. Significantly, the people of Diobu were
excluded from the limited franchise, ostensibly because no one "with
sufficient education and goodwill" could be recommended. The franchise gave
the Igbos unparalleled advantage since they were already the majority in the
city. Besides, political shenanigans and chicanery were not uncommon. The
Port Harcourt Chapter of the Igbo Union, formed in 1933, was instrumental in
advancing Igbo interests in the city, a task that it steadfastly and
successfully performed by all means necessary. Among the many infamous
activities of the Union was the distribution of Igbo candidates to various
council wards, thus avoiding self-defeating electoral competition and
maximizing Igbo victories. As Wolpe noted, "the full import of the
community's redistribution of political resources was realized in the
virtual exclusion from public office of those non-Igbo minority members who
earlier had played a leading role in the African community."
In 1949 when the first election for African membership in the Town Council
took place, the population of Port Harcourt was estimated to be over 40,000.
According to Wolpe, of the fifteen African members of the Port Harcourt Town
Council for 1949-1952 (three-year terms for Councilors), one was Yoruba (the
wife of a prominent Yoruba magistrate), one was Ijaw, and thirteen were
Igbos. For the 1952-1954 term, one was Yoruba (appointed), two were Ijaw
(both appointed), and fourteen were Igbos (ten were elected and four were
appointed). It is evident from the foregoing that the Igbos dominated the
city council. That domination also translated into chairmanships and
control of key city council committees, for example, plot allocation and
market stall allocation. That the Igbos favored their kindred with the
allocations is incontrovertible. That they did so brazenly and arrogantly,
and that they were totally contemptuous of the minority indigenes is also
indisputable. Numerous complaints of wrongdoing led to the dissolution of
the 1952-1954 Council in June, 1954, by the Eastern Regional government, and
the appointment of a Caretaker Council.
By 1953 the Igbo population in the city had jumped to almost 80 percent out
of a total of about 73,300 municipal residents. In 1963, ten years later,
the municipal population was estimated to be nearly 180,000 with the Igbos
accounting for most of the newcomers. Adeniji recorded that the Igbo
percentage increase was estimated to be over 240 percent. This dramatic
increase in Igbo population was reflected in the composition of the
Councilors for the 1961-1964 term which was nearly 98 percent Igbo and only
2 percent Ijaw. This Town Council, as with previous councils, did very
little to assuage minority fears.
As I already noted, the era also coincided with the emergence and
consolidation of power by the NCNC party. The Igbos, now ensconced in the
ponderous politics of the NCNC, were relentless in using their
ever-increasing power against minority interests. In fact, they came to
view Port Harcourt not only as the most important city in the East, but also
to view the territory itself as belonging to them. By an overwhelming
quantitative and qualitative educational superiority, they controlled the
civil service as well as educational and banking institutions. They had
preference in admissions, employment, and business opportunities. Bank
loans for minority indigenes were routinely denied. The cumulative impact
of Igbo hegemony in the political, administrative, and commercial life of
the city, in the eyes of the minority indigenes, therefore, was not unlike
colonialism. As bad as the relationship between the Igbos and their Rivers
neighbors was in Port Harcourt where they coexist, nowhere was the effect of
Igbo domination felt more than in the rest of the Niger Delta region where
there was little physical Igbo presence nor development.
It is instructive to note, at this juncture, two significant events that
demonstrated the resolve of the Rivers people to break away from Igbo
domination. First, there was the unsuccessful demand for the creation of
Rivers State by the newly formed Rivers State Congress at the London
Constitutional Conference in 1954. This demand was again made by the Rivers
Chiefs and Peoples Conference in January 1958 before the Sir Henry Willinck
Commission of Inquiry into Minority Fears in Port Harcourt. Sadly, it
suffered the same fate as the 1954 demand, primarily because of strong
opposition by the Igbos. Several reasons have been advanced as motives for
Igbo opposition to the creation of an autonomous Rivers State. The
plausible reasons were: (1) the status of Port Harcourt which was proposed
as the new state capital, (2) the discovery of oil in the Niger Delta, and
(3) the high percentage of revenue allotted for derivation at the time.
Second, there was the abortive proclamation of secession of the Niger Delta
region in February 1966 by the late Major Isaac Adaka Boro. It was not
until May 27, 1967, however, that the Federal Military Government under
General Yakubu Gowon created the Rivers State in the initial twelve-state
restructure of Nigeria. This move, widely acknowledged as a political coup,
was intended to appease Rivers people and other minorities in the East,
thereby forestalling their support for the Biafran secession.
Turning to the abandoned properties, the first serious attempt to find a
solution to the problem was made in 1975 with the setting up of the Colonel
S. F. Daramola Panel by the late General Murtala Mohammed, a former Head of
State and a soldier whose policies were widely acclaimed to have transcended
ethnic geo-politics. With the insight that his position and dedication
could provide, General Mohammed, in accepting the recommendations of the
Panel, gave this advice in a broadcast to the nation, "At this stage, any
just solution to the question of abandoned properties must involve the
spirit of give-and-take on all sides." He went on to announce a package of
NN14 million (Nigerian Naira) to enable the two states (Rivers and South
Eastern) to pay rent arrears on all the building property. Both state
governments were directed to "pay adequate compensations on all
acquisitions" to the owners. Specifically, Adeniji enumerated in his review
that the White Paper on the Panel's report directed that 75 percent of the
houses in Port Harcourt should be sold to indigenes of Rivers State while 10
percent should be sold to other Nigerians, excluding the Igbos. By
mathematical deduction, 15 percent of the buildings in Port Harcourt were to
be released to the Igbo owners. Those who have their buildings now belong
to this latter category.
The Federal Government also set up the Abandoned Properties Implementation
Committee (APIC) under Major General David B. Mark (then a Major) and
charged the Committee with the implementation of the recommendations. The
degree of success or failure of the APIC or the adequacy of the compensation
package must be seen in light of the multitude of problems in the country
and the strength of the naira at the time. In any case, such analysis is
beyond the scope of this article. Needless to say that the solution was
unsatisfactory to the Igbos and political pressures on the Federal
Government continued. General Olusegun Obasanjo succeeded General Mohammed
in February 1976, after the latter's assassination in a failed coup d'etat.
Although it has been claimed that he was sympathetic to the Igbo cause, he
nonetheless promulgated Decree 90 of 1979 which effectively rendered the
decisions of the APIC incontestable in the courts. The Igbos temporarily
contained their grudge.
Alhaji Shehu Shagari took over from General Obasanjo in October 1979, in the
country's second flirtation with democracy. He did not get any respite from
the Igbos on the abandoned properties. In yet another well-intended
solution, the Rivers State government under Chief Melford Okilo entered an
agreement with the Federal Government, whereby the latter kept NN26 million
from the Rivers State statutory allocation as compensation to the Igbos on
the acquired properties. The Igbos would not be pacified.
Then came General Mohammadu Buhari who toppled Alhaji Shagari's government
and became Head of State in January 1984. He was not spared the headache
that surely must be an affliction when one is besieged by such doggedness.
He appointed the Dickens Sanomi Commission of Inquiry to investigate yet a
new set of charges brought up by the Igbos. And General Ibrahim Babangida
who overthrew General Buhari's government in August 1985? It is unlikely
that he did not grapple with the issue. The jury is still out on General
Sani Abacha who shot himself to power in November 1993, and is struggling to
find his feet. Judging by the enormous support he now enjoys from the
Igbos, it would not be long before someone asks for some type of reciprocity.
That kind of persistence is myopic and borders on avarice--an ill wind that
blows nobody any good. Parallels abound in our past. It would, thus,
appear that the wages for committing "sin" against Igbo vital political and
economic interests, is death. It is a "religion" deep with the knowledge of
"god," and dutifully practiced by its apostles and laymen, all the way down
to the motor park attendant. In contrast to most religions, however, the
adherents of this religion do not believe in the fallibility of human
thinking nor the redemption of the human soul. Their god does not
understand forgiveness except in cases of intra-tribal sin, and so, they are
not bound to forgive anyone outside their tribe for any real or perceived
political and economic sin against the Igbos.
Despite his brilliant ideas and depth of political vision, Chief Obafemi
Awolowo's presidential bid was deliberately and vigorously thwarted at every
turn because of such sin. Some of his ideas are only recently being
selectively and haphazardly implemented by the Federal Government of
Nigeria, decades later. He only became "the best President that Nigeria
never had" in death. My fear is that a similar fate may be awaiting the
mythical "Mbammiri" people. This time, however, it will not be the death of
an individual, but, the slow and painful death of whole communities, whose
rivers and farmlands have been polluted by crude oil exploration without any
environmental remediation nor a fair share of the wealth produced by the
industry. The question must be asked: Can we all extract our "ounce of
flesh?"
In a recent posting to this newsgroup, Ndukwe Kalu made very interesting
observations and suggestions. Clearly, Kalu was arguing for a confederation
in "The Case Against Nigeria," while he avoided use of the term. Whether
the omission was deliberate or not, he could hardly disguise what appears,
even by casual reading, to be the real intent of his piece--to point out the
injustice against the Igbos and to demand for the "last ounce" of the
abandoned properties before any "meaningful reconciliation" between the
Igbos and the Rivers people can begin. Without necessarily impugning the
other observations on the state of affairs in Nigeria, Kalu's effort is
commendable only when juxtaposed with the extreme elliptical garrulity on
the Net. Like a wounded eagle, he attempted to soar with the "social
contract" idea, but just could not get off the ground. Seventeenth century
European political and philosophical thinking may have some relevance to our
present political predicament. But still, there is little wisdom in
inferring the impracticality of a union or an association put together by
foreign mercantile interests, or in advocating a new structure merely
because "everything else does not seem to be working."
For the ounce of flesh on the abandoned properties, I urge Rivers people and
all progressive Igbos to reject Kalu's proposal, more so, for the unction of
good reasons given earlier. In addition, the demand, as a pre-condition for
reconciliation and the way forward, has no chance whatsoever of succeeding
since it cannot guarantee that "psychological obstacles" will not just be
shifted and be placed in some other minds that are already burdened by so
much. The potential for the latter is immense, dangerous, and could cause
major upheavals in the sub-region. Also, this demand is hardly new, and
deserves no score for originality. It won a smart politician a
gubernatorial seat in the Second Republic. But the last time I checked
General Abacha's transition program, the election does not come up until
1998! The pertinent question is: Why start the campaign this early? Even
so, such a naked appeal to primitive forces is inexcusable and totally
unacceptable in any political dialogue or campaign, and therefore, must be
rejected by all thinking Nigerians.
While the merits and demerits of confederalism are beyond the scope of this
article, it must be remembered that any system of government still will be
practiced by ingenious Nigerians whose knack for transforming good into evil
remains unchallenged by any society on the globe. I believe Kalu squandered
the objectivity in his argument when he dabbled into the abandoned
properties, an issue that, twenty-six years after the civil war, is best
left in the repository of Nigeria's many injustices to her citizens. Such a
repository inevitably becomes our national hall of shame, and a historical
reminder which lesson, if good reason would prevail, should instruct us to
map and set a new course for Nigeria's stability. It is important to note
here that many Nigerians, and, not surprisingly, a great many Igbo men of
"timbre and calibre" have argued strenuously, some even vociferously, that
the "mandate" of the annulled June 12, 1993, Presidential Election should be
placed in a repository, perhaps in the national hall of retribution.
Whatever the merits of the arguments, it is transparently clear that justice
and fairness must not only be returned to the Nigerian polity, but that we
must act in concert, as custodians of these virtues, so that we can break
the cycle of mistrust and hate among us. The Igbos, of all groups, should
show greater understanding and sensitivity to the plight of their minority
neighbors. Nigeria may have to be restructured, and indeed should, quite
unlike Kalu's confederalism. But first, let us return to the rule of law,
and punish those who break our laws and violate our public trust, their
status in the society notwithstanding. Until Nigerians (soldiers,
politicians, police, civil servants, and indeed, average Nigerians) come to
the realization that there is a price to pay for embezzling public funds,
the best designed political structure will have no chance in our society.
I have had very frank discussions with my Igbo friends on this subject and
similarly controversial issues. I make no presumption, therefore, that all
Igbos or the majority of Igbos, for that matter, share Ndukwe Kalu's views.
Let me state also, without pretense of speaking for anyone but myself, that
I see no reason for the continued animosity between the Igbo and the
Mbammiri on the abandoned properties. The concept itself, a negation of the
right of citizenship in a united Nigeria, was a problem child as much as a
casualty of a national malaise that predated the civil war, and has
continued to haunt us. Over the twenty-six years since the war ended, the
Federal as well as the State Governments have walked a very delicate
political tightrope in finding a solution to the problem. It should and
must be allowed to stand, and never be resurrected again. Let us begin to
build new bridges of friendship and brotherhood across our land. Let us
bring justice and fairness back into our national polity so that we can
avoid this kind of pitfall in the future. Long live the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
Uche H. Ikwut-Ukwa
>Citizens:
>
>"The Way Forward" is a very noble and indeed refreshing cliche, and may
>the person who coined it live a thousand years. To the extent that every
>decent person should always seek as well as contribute to the "way
>forward," one must at the same time accept the notion that a house built
>on a solid foundation, will always last longer than one built on quick-
>sand. If as they say, that conflict breeds understanding and paradox
>generates new learning, then both are essentially good and Nigeria
>having had its own share of conflict, should look to "the way forward."
>But for certain befuddling reasons, our country has continued to defy
>this simple premise.
>
>Nonetheless, I share with others on the view that the current structural
>and political arrangement in our country should be completely "broken-
>down" and re-vamped, in a sort of a radical but incisive surgery aimed
>at getting to the root causes of our national malaise, once and for all.
>To the extent that any attempt (as is currently being done) to "band-
>aid" Nigeria's daunting problems by way of superficial remedies is bound
>to fail, the first place to begin is not with the much-vaunted farce
>called the constitutional conference, but rather a critical re-evaluation
>of the basis and justification for the 1914 Amalgamation decree that
>bound the country in the first place. To go back into history and
>reflect on where we began should not be construed as a prelude to
>disintegration, but it is a bold and honest attempt to defer to the
>virtues of wisdom and commonsense when everything else doesn't seem to
>be working. It is by re-tracing our previous steps that we can be able
>to properly adapt ourselves to what the future may hold for us.
>
>We should nonetheless remain more accommodative to the view which
>points to the fact that a more effective approach to our national
>discourse is to re-visit the "original basis" of our association (at
>least theoretically), and to initiate an honest dialogue premised on
>a form of "social contract"--as the first and indespensable principle
>of political right. While a social contract is meant to bind all the
>parties together as well as articulate the various aspects of their
>relationships to one another, it also gives each and every participant
>or group, the opportunity as well as the right to unilaterally move
>apart from each other when the basis for a mutually-rewarding
>contract is impossible to obtain. This is a fundamental right that all
>human societies have, and ours should not be an exception to the rule.
>There is no natural law that says Nigeria must remain one, and there
>is none that says it shouldn't, hence, the idea of a Nigeria against
>all odds should not be held sacronsanct. Simply put, the way our
>country is structured and currently manipulated by certain groups is
>flatly unacceptable.
>
>This premise was first broached sometime last year during the debate
>on National Reconstruction, hence, as regards the opinions that are
>truly mine, I do not apologize for them as being new, inasmuch as if
>we consider the reasons for them well, we can be assured that they
>will be found to be so simple and so comfortable to commonsense, as
>to appear less extraordinary than any other views which may be held
>on similar subjects or issues. Nonetheless, it will be enough for me
>to tell you what I think in the simplicity of my heart, consult your
>own while I speak. I believe I am right in assuming that you and I
>are all endowed with reason, and have the same interest in listening
>to it. If the account of what we are told is true, that conscience
>is the work of prejudice; but I know from my own experience, however,
>that conscience persists in following the order of nature despite
>all the laws of men. The truth is that we are not yet ready to own
>up to the reality as well as the ramifications of our co-existence
>as a nation, and some may naively just wish things to stay the way
>it is.
>
>When we look at all modern nations and read the histories of ancient
>ones long gone, among all those strange and harsh traditions, amidst
>their prodigious diversity of customs and behavior, you will find
>everywhere the same ideas of justice and integrity, the same
>principles of morality, and the same notions of good and evil. These
>are the social building-blocks that have been thrown out the window
>in our national experience. The glorious future of a generation has
>been squandered even in front of our very own eyes. While our
>universities have become breeding grounds for all sorts of
>degenerate vices and "merchants" of the night, our public agencies
>are now a cesspool of incompetency, callous greed, and reckless
>abandon.
>
>The fact is that early in its formative years, Nigeria never had the
>luxury of creating a perfectly natural compact in which all
>constituents were willing and emotionally-informed participants.
>Because the initial basis for this association was evidently driven
>by the external mercantilist motives of the British Empire, the
>ensuing social organization lost out on a key ingredient conducive
>for growth and socio-cultural integration. "What's in there for us?"
>became replaced with "What's in there for the master?" Since then,
>Nigeria has never recovered from this flawed begining. And this is
>why it is imperative that our current discourse deal honestly with
>this original premise. We must decide whether there is a basis for a
>truly equitable and honest association or whether there is not, and
>if so, under what basis and arrangements? It seems to me that this
>self-serving British arrangement may have out-lived its usefulness
>and the time has come for a re-evaluation of all values in the
>collective search for the manifest destiny of all involved in this
>enterprise.
>
>A "social contract" should provide a framework for looking into this
>fundamental issue. The primary objective is to devise a form of
>association which will defend and protect the person and possessions
>of each associate with all the collective strength, and in which
>though each may be united with all, yet obeys only himself and
>remains as free as before. Thus the common obligations imposed by
>this contract are everywhere the same, everywhere tacitly accepted
>and acknowledged, as long as the social pact is not violated. In
>such cases of violation, each person (or groups) regains his
>original rights and returns to his original freedom in the company
>of similar others who are so equally wronged, thus bringing to an
>end the contractual freedom which each and everyone was hitherto
>obligated to safeguard.
>
>While the social contract provides a basis for a willing association,
>it also provides a basis for a willing disassociation, and both must
>find expression as the ocassion demands. In this case, the act of
>association involves a reciprocal commitment toward other groups, as
>equal members of the government as well as society, both in the
>distribution of incentives and the allocation of national resources.
>To this effect, all well-meaning Nigerians must revolt at the
>arbitrary manner by which the national resources have for many years
>been distributed. We must all be concerned when the federal government
>either by military decree or bureaucratic fiat allocate key and
>"critical" national projects mostly in one region of the country,
>leaving the regions that generate much of our national revenue in a
>state of blissful barreness. All those national projects and
>infrastructures that are clustered in one region of the country are
>there for all to see, but the apologists, some of them currently
>masquerading as professional students and "plants" in the dark-
>dungeons of certain universities, do not want us to see the gross
>level of distributional inequities in our country so long as it is
>"the way forward." Perhaps to them, other regions of the country are
>just spectators, or simply wanderers. For those who wish Nigeria well,
>this is a grim fact that gives added poignancy to the search for an
>equitable resolution of the major issues of our national contention.
>
>This is a crucial period for all peoples to start building bridges
>between them, that is, on an even playing field; and to sort out areas
>of continued mistrust and indignation. Who says we cannot all work
>together afterall? It is true that a level of distributional injustice
>has been exerted on the Rivers people, but this crisis has seemed to
>mimic a tragic episode in the irony of fate. The process of meaningful
>reconciliation between the Rivers people and their neighbors can only
>begin after the last ounce of the so-called "abandoned property" is
>duely returned to their rightful owners without any reservation. To
>the extent that one should only reap where one has sown, only then
>can we be able to clear our minds of all psychological obstacles, and
>then, "the way forward" will make more sense.
>
>The most dangerous group of people are the "hired-hands" among us who
>as they bend and twist, want us to believe that everything is "smooth-
>sailing" in our country. I do not know how you can proffer a solution
>when you do not think a problem exists. It should be impressed on them
>that haughty philosophy always leads to irreligion, as blind devotion
>leads to fanaticism. They should avoid these extremes. Farewell.
>
>Ndukwe.
Ayo Ojo
You cannot take another person's property without due and just compensation.
> kasirim
In agreeing with you, I think the above statement should be reconstructed as:
If NOT based on any judicial determination guided by the law of the Land, no
one is allowed or be allowed to confiscate/"acquired" another person's
legal property. PRONTO.
The issue of "due and just compensation" cannot and does not even come up in
it at all. Right is right. And Wrong is wrong!
In this case, the owners are saying, our properties are not abandoned.
Therefore, anyone who may have occupied any of the properties illegally
up until now must be informed of his/her constitutional responsibility on
the matter. And, MUST be made to MOVE off in order to give way
to the legal owner who,according to the Law of the Land has a constitutional
guarantee as a citizen to acquire property anywhere in the country.
Since we are all Nigerians and we want to live in peace on our properties
the State and Federal government may create a welfare program to cater for
some of the needs of these illegal squatters in order to promote enduring
peace among neighbours. But first,the law must be followed to the letter
and justice must be given to the people whose properties were illegally
confiscated and subsequently acquired by native of the said land.
Biodun Ojo.
Godwin Nwadiashi
gorilla's head should place one hand on his own head while he enjoys his
gorilla pepper soup". Enough said.
To: NAIJANET @ MITVMA.MIT.EDU (Multiple recipients of list NAIJANET) @ MNET
cc: (bcc: Godwin Nwadiashi)
Date: 04/15/96 11:21:33 AM
Subject: Re: ABANDONED PROPERTIES, THE LAST OUNCE OF FLESH, ETC.
Rahmon Momoh
i am not an igbo but i was born and raised in port-harcourt... my family
(a yoruba) and some of my dad's friends (all yorubas) lost their
properties the same way your family lost its property.
i know my dad had a house on airport road in port-harcourt that was never
reclaimed after the war...
but we have learned to forgive and forget... life is too short to ponder
too long on such things.. we have to move on............
just my thoughts...
kasirim nwuke
Wouldn't it be more appropriate if you wrote: "I am behinf you" instead
of "we are all behind you." I am from Rivers State too (unless I have
been exiled from it) and I am not behind him. And I am not aware that
there has been a meeting of Nigerians of Rivers State extraction on
Uche's article at which a decision was reached, unanimously, to support
his position on "Abandoned Property".
However much we try ex post facto to justify it, "Abandoned Property" was
wrong, it was unfair. To the Igbos and to the peoples of Rivers State. You
cannot take another person's property without due and just compensation.
kasirim
>
Godwin Nwadiashi
To: NAIJANET @ MITVMA.MIT.EDU (Multiple recipients of list NAIJANET) @ MNET
cc: (bcc: Godwin Nwadiashi)
From: knwuke @ LYNX.DAC.NEU.EDU (kasirim nwuke) @ MNET
Date: 04/15/96 05:39:46 PM
Subject: Re: ABANDONED PROPERTIES, THE LAST OUNCE OF FLESH, ETC.
Rahmon Momoh
you are weird... first you sent the message to yourself (PROF. STOFFELS),
then you send it to naijanet under your pseudonym ("Uche H. Iwut-Ukwa")...
i hope this stops!
first and foremost, it is against the university rules to abuse their
property (i.e. internet)... i will file a protest against you w/ the
unviversity TODAY if this insanity continues.
even if there is an uche, you cannot share your unviersity property w/
that person... the name and the internet address are two different
entities...
take this as a friendly advice... thank you!
On Tue, 23 Apr 1996, stoffels wrote:
> >From: ENW...@Acd.Tusk.Edu
> >X-PH: V4.1@r02n07
> >Date: 23 Apr 1996 03:03:00 -0500 (CDT)
> >Subject: Re: ABANDONED PROPERTIES, THE LAST OUNCE OF FLESH, ETC.
> >To: stof...@psu.edu
> >Organization: Tuskegee University
> >X-VMS-To: IN%"stof...@psu.edu"
> >
> >Well done sir, however I will make two observation. NCNC did not start
> >as an igbo dominated party, it was Herbert Macaulys Party( A Yoruba man
> >from Lagos) Awolowo opted out because Zik was Macaulay's handpicked succesor
> >and formed the Action group ( ayoruba dominated party) the Ahmadu Bello
> >following his lead formed the NPC. When Awolowo launched the egbe Omo Oduduwa
> >all hell broke loose. All the ills of Nigeria are traceable to that ambitious
> >buffoon who wanted to be President at all cost, He is no Hero of mine he was
> >a scoundrel. Obasanjo after him was an even bigger buffoon he cried his way
in
> >to the presidency of Nigeria and continued the devlish work of vhis Mentor. I
> >am glad he made a lot of money with his book he should hide for shame, he
> >squandered the potential of the Mohammeds administration.
> > My second poit is that the respect of property rights is the basis of
> >a sound economic system. If we want to move forward that isue needs to be
> >addressed and disposed of. The igbo people cannot be compensated for their
> >stalwarts who died of broken Hearts after the war over theabandoned
> property issu
> >
> >issue we need a day of atonement in Nigeria and abandone property issue must
be
> >disposed of.
> >
> >
>
Uche H. Ikwut-Ukwa
Uche H. Ikwut-Ukwa
>X-PH: V4.1@r02n06
>Date: 23 Apr 1996 03:06:14 -0500 (CDT)
>Subject: Re: ABANDONED PROPERTIES, THE LAST OUNCE OF FLESH, ETC.
>To: stof...@psu.edu
>Organization: Tuskegee University
>X-VMS-To: IN%"stof...@psu.edu"
>
> How many of those property did youi own. Talk is cheap.
>
>