A Decade & Two Funerals

When Reverend Father Matthew Kukah finally arrives Ogoniland with the olive branch in the days ahead, it is not unlikely that he would be met at the city-gate first by the ghosts of Isaac Adaka-Boro, Ken Saro-Wiwa and then that of Pa Jim Wiwa. The man of God was named last week by the Federal Government as envoy of peace to reconcile oil giant, Shell, and its estranged host, the Ogoni race.Indeed, in the last twelve years, the people have more or less fought Shell to a standstill on oil fields that dot the entire Ogoniland since 1958 when exploration started. Until the 1993 uprising, the oil farms had a production potential of 28,000 barrels per day, approximating a staggering three percent of the total output of Shell which, in turn, accounts for more than 50 percent of Nigeria’s oil export. What that simply means is that the cow can no longer be milked. Coming in the week that the final burial rites of Pa Wiwa commenced, Kukah’s appointment is certainly portentous. On the surface, it surely demonstrates official eagerness to have normalcy restored. Interestingly, a United Kingdom-based organization by name, International Centre for Reconciliation (ICR), is expected to join the peace mission to Ogoniland. Shell has British roots. Taken together, we can perhaps now also appreciate the anxiety of the international oil industrial complex to ensure that this critical oil fountain in Ogoniland resumes its flow. But beneath all these cold calculations, the trajectory of the Wiwa family perhaps best epitomises the helplessness of Nigeria’s ethnic minorities against the partnership of the state and the multinationals. By the way, Pa Wiwa had spent the last decade more or less in an open grave, in a long painful wait for death. In Africa, it remains a cultural aberration for a father to survive his offspring. That was the eternal pain the centenarian bore to his final hour.His beloved son, Kenule, arguably the icon of the Ogoni struggle, was hanged dramatically on November 10, 1995 after a trial that was, at best, a sham. Before the old man finally breathed his last weeks back, it is doubtful if it could be said that he lived to see the dream for which his son paid the supreme price. On the contrary, things only appear to have degenerated. Beyond the cosmetics of NDDC, the material condition of the Niger Delta remains desperate. Even the little that the authorities give, the impression is always created that the people are being done a favour. More frightening, today, the front-line of the Niger Delta advocacy is gradually being overtaken by bare-faced gunmen in place of the intellectual matadors of old. It is perhaps in this light that the recent prophecy of apocalypse by the United States on Nigeria should be seen. Indeed, oil as a commodity remains central to national strategies and global politics and power. Oil often fuels wars among nations. It was central to the course and outcome of World War II in both the Far East and Europe. Pearl Harbour was savaged by the Japanese to protect their flank in the savage hunt for the petroleum resources of the East Indies. Among Hitler’s most important strategic objectives in the invasion of the Soviet Union was to capture the oil fields in the Caucasus. In the next twenty years, it is estimated that the sub-Saharan Africa will account for close to 25 percent of America’s oil import... But before our very eyes, the Niger Delta advocacy has in the last two decades mutated from the intellectual brinkmanship of a Ken Saro-Wiwa to the open brandishing of AK-47 by an Asari Dokubo. To be sure, I would not agree that the Dokubo phenomenon of today truly represents the substance of the Niger Delta question. Indeed, there is no way inter-ethnic violence in Niger Delta can be explained as being consistent with what Isaac Adaka Boro stood and died for in 1967. Rather, the development ought to be defined properly as a dilution of the original philosophy. What invariably breeds this corruption is, let it be noted, the failure of the Nigerian state to do the right thing. When power fails to right wrong, it, in turn, makes it morally impossible to condemn clear acts of criminality perpetrated by elements who only need to claim to be “fighting for freedom.” Until the question is tackled once and for all, the situation will, I am afraid, only get worse. If history is enough guide, then it should be expected that the specter of Dokubo presently confronting the nation may transmogrify to something much more fearsome tomorrow. These elements, let it be known, are now so rich to pose a clear and present danger to the nation’s continued survival. It is certainly not a coincidence that Obasanjo had to “negotiate” with the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) last year even after its commanders confessed to sundry acts of treason whereas petty “boys scout” like MASSOB who engage in “lesser” felonies get hounded all over the place. The security agencies may be shy to admit. But that is the truth today. This, I think, partly informed the US forecast that Nigeria may have unwittingly lumbered onto the road to Somalia already. This is not the time to inflame passion while the peace-makers are now being awaited in Ogoniland. But it is nonetheless still worth while to caution that the mission should be willing to face and tell the truth if the exercise would bear any tangible truth. A story is, for instance, now commonplace in Rivers State with regards to a “trick” played by one of the oil majors on Obasanjo when he paid an official visit last November. Across Niger Delta (especially where oil search is more intense), one of the harsh realities people forever live with is the sepulchre of gas flare. Day and night, the flame – at times the size of an elephant - burns ominously. But at this particular oil farm near Omoku Gas Turbine where Obasanjo was scheduled to inspect, a miracle suddenly happened. On the morning of the presidential visit, residents woke to find that the burning tower, the taunting reminder of their impotence before the behemoth of state, had shrunken to the size of a candle-light! So, the “busy-body” state government officials who had huddled into the helicopter from Port Harcourt that morning with a patriotic longing to draw the president’s attention once the facility came into view mid-air became tongue-tied when the helicopter finally hovered over.From that small drama, the message was easy to decode: the oil major in question itself knew it was indefensible to allow the flame to burn so wildly. But what is integrity? A philosopher once defined it roughly as the spirit to do the right thing even when no one is watching. On that august day, the oil multinational in question was not ready to risk Obasanjo’s volatile temper. Of course, it is not bad if the gas flare returns to full throttle once the president or anyone whose frown carries some weight is out of sight. Also, it does not matter even if the impact on the eco-system is horrendous. The ordinary folks - indeed those nameless swamp-dwellers – will have to endure the daily poisoning of the air with carbon monoxide and the corrosive touch of acid rain.But back home, the oil majors dare not flare murderous gas so callously. Prudent official policies would have reined them in. For that gas is money in itself. Yet, Shell would still be telling us today that the 2008 official deadline for the termination of gas flaring is no longer realistic. Last week, it asked for another extension by one year, citing “technical handicap” as one of the reasons. But this is not the first time extension is being sought. The campaign against gas flaring has been on for more than forty years. Deadlines had been set in the past years and broken with impunity. Until the government musters the political will to draw the battle-line in this connection, this game of excuses, I am sure, will continue till Jesus Christ’s second coming.These are some of the issues that should be addressed before genuine reconciliation can be achieved and indeed sustained.