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What the South South agenda should be
by
Gov Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa State
at the 2nd National Convention of the South-South Peoples Assembly Saturday, February 5, 2005
FROM the very
beginning, we all as well as the mass of our people in the villages, towns,
cities and in the diaspora are lucky survivors of the over two hundred years of
political and economic Tsunami that have been repeatedly visited on us for no
other reason than our perceived powerlessness and the so-called “minority”
emblem we bear. We realise only too well that there is a lot to be done, and we are doing the lot we can. I came back and received appropriate briefing. I said then that erecting a structure in the name of the South-South through the agency of the South- South peoples assembly will take more than mere wishes and grandstanding.
It will take sincerity of purpose, commitment to a long-term progressive agenda and, above all, a sense of co-ownership and participation for majority of citizens in the zone, with the sympathy and understanding of Nigerians. A South-South edifice built on the narrow ambition of a few will not help the genuine aspirations of the mass of our people. I stand by that caution.
The other day we were in Calabar. Today we are assembled in Yenagoa. It goes without saying that the gospel of South-South liberation within a united Nigeria must be preached from state to state, and spread from city to city. Let us understand ourselves so that we can be better understood by the larger polity.
No part of the zone should be excluded from the urgent task of building unity and cohesion if our immediate aspiration is to pluck the ripe bunches of political office. No nation should be left out in the process of decision making. No entity, no matter how small or large, should take precedence over the other.
As we gather to
deliberate upon our common plight in our various Communities - from Ogoni
through Andoni, from Oron to Edo, from Ijaw to Urhobo, and from Ibibio to
Itsekiri - our primary preoccupation must be to let the message of unity, equity
and justice become the dominant theme song that will fire us to the attainment
of our corporate goals. Let no one be denied participation in the affairs of the zone. Let those who wilfully excluded themselves be beckoned upon and embraced, while those who were maliciously excluded be brought back into the fold of our collective struggle.
The job before us demands more hands and more prayers. The power to liberate ourselves from real and perceived oppression, to break the yoke of persecution, lies with us.
I stand before you to testify to the uniqueness and indispensability of the South-South in the present and future political framework of our country. I dare say that the vessel of greatness which we are helping to construct for Nigeria cannot leave the shores of stagnation, nor sail into good fortune without the paddles from the south-south people to propel it.
No one listening
to us now will dispute the claim by our people that the Almighty God has been
very kind to us. If Nigeria were to be compared to any nation or place, whether
past or present - including biblical times - the South-South would no doubt have Been likened to
Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. Our region is the California of Nigeria, the keeper of the well-being of our dear country. There is no doubt that we have kept this nation together at great cost to our people, our environment and our livelihood.
It is true that we are determined to build a Nigeria where, as the old National anthem had it, we will “be proud to serve our sovereign mother land.”
This noble assembly affirms yet again that no sacrifice is too much and no contribution is too little as we undertake the task of positioning our people and our region to receive our long-awaited blessings from Nigeria.
On December 22, 2004 the steering committee of the South-South assembly led by the renowned nationalist, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, paid us a courtesy visit at the executive council chambers of Government House, Yenagoa.
He was supported by very eminent citizens from the South-South geopolitical zone including gen. S. 0. Ogbemudia, HRM Alfred Diete-Spiff, Ambassador M. T. Mbu, Justice A. G. Karibi-Whyte (rtd), Senator F. .J. Ellah; Maj. Gem. P. U. Omu (rtd) Chief John Odigie-Oyegun; Obong (Engr) Offiong Akpabio, Chief Dr. Raymond Dokpesi and mother figure in the South-South Struggle, Hon. Lady M. G. Alagoa (JP), as well as a host of other great sons and daughters of the region.
I had cause to
charge the thirty-two member delegation to promptly put in place the following: (a) The best institutional framework for the governance of this great assembly, especially against the background of advertised political interests.
(b) A democratic framework that will move the assembly from steering committee status to an elected body.
(c) An acceptable constitution that will pursue the aspirations of the zone for resource control, self-determination, true federalism, environmental justice, energy and livelihood security as well as sustainable development.
(d) Liaise with our brothers and sisters from other zones on developing a national framework that will make Nigeria do justice to one and all, and keep her on the path of righteousness.
(e) Examine the
emerging trends and tendencies in the debate for national conference or
dialogue, as the case may be, and make. Appropriate recommendations to the governors of the South-South geo-political zone.
I am glad that this day has come to pass, and it is just as well that this February gathering on the fertile soil of Yenagoa will focus on dealing with some of take obvious expectations, especially with regard to a workable constitution for the SSPA.
A constitution is only important or effective when the code and spirit enshrined therein have a grip on those whom it is meant to serve. I urge you, my brothers and sisters, to find common grounds of interest as you nurture this document for the good of the South-South people and the greater glory of Nigeria. Our Calabar outing of November 9, 2004 and the historic declaration.
Therefrom was not
only a clear warning to those whose stock-in-trade is to perfect unholy deals in
the name of the South-South. As far as I know, that declaration was the first step taken by the people of the zone in recent times to correct region-wide oppression and return dignity and esteem to our long suffering people. The resolutions as
proclaimed on the Efik soil of Calabar are in line with our noble history of
defying injustice to the last ounce of our being. Never in the history of our
people have embraced oppression. Four hundred years of documented history confirms that whenever and wherever the survival of our people comes under threat, we rise to the occasion.
This moment must
not be different. We must arise to defend our collective patrimony in words and
deeds. We must not allow calumny and blackmail to corrupt our golden aspirations
for the collective good. Declarations and resistances are only worth their salt when they drive the momentum of history.
Our people are waiting. Our people have waited for too long. Our country is crying for salvation. As a region, we have called ourselves into ‘the dancing arena. The only option open to us is to dance well and be applauded, or be booed into shame and ignominy on account of our false steps. We are here today to further assess the style and form of our dance steps before we take the stage.
History has opened a new set of blank pages for us. May God Almighty give us the wisdom to write only that which will tell our true story of love for our motherland.
We are obliged to underscore the quality of that love because it sprang from the injuries inflicted on us for no other reason than that our environment is bounteously endowed.
We must write about our true contributions to the continuing existence of our country, because our experience is that those who never go to war tell better stories of events at the war front than the combatants themselves.
Times without number, we have insisted that the only safe-guard that will guarantee the existence of Nigeria beyond our time is for the leadership at all levels to work for the enthronement of justice; to control and contain the ever rising wave of poverty, hunger, illiteracy, disease and deprivation.
Before, during and after colonialism, the people of the South-South - more than any other people or region - articulated strategies and submitted themselves to commissions and conferences with a view to seeking redress for past and present wrongs.
We were in Lancaster as well as London for the pre-independence discourses. We made submissions to the Captain Henry Willink’s commission on the fear of the minorities in 1958. We were in Lagos for the 1978 constitutional conference as well as the Abacha conference of 1994.
When our people
observed that these conferences and commissions were not making meaning and that
the oppressors were getting bolder in their undisguised objective of total
extermination, our people began to assemble in their thousands under ethnic
nationality umbrellas. Those who don’t read history correctly, and those who willfully misread history, may be quick to condemn the rise of the oppressed people as a sudden glorification of ethnic biases over national imperatives. I personally don’t see it that way. In all honesty, I saw the rise of our people as revolutionary! It was a call to action.
As we gathered in Bori for the Ogoni bill of rights, in Kaiama for the Kaiama Declaration, in Oron for the Oron Bill of rights, Warri for the Warri Accord, Egi for the Aklaka Declaration, Urhobo for the Urhobo Economic Summit Resolution, Ikwerre for the Ikwerre Charter of Demands, among others, we were making desperate and repeated attempts at self-assertion in spite of a growing and suffocating cloud of domination.
The lessons from the bills, declarations, charters etc as proclaimed by the various movements that have been in the forefront of the advocacy for our rights, is that we must stand by what we believe and mean what we say. This composite body of the people of the South-South must advance the cause of our aspirations beyond what has been done by the nations of the south-south in their individual capacities. We have to do better.
Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, perhaps because my culture frowns at pretence, I don’t know how to pretend. I cannot afford to play politics or toy with an issue as grave as the survival of our people.
But if there are skilled drummers here, I urge you to hold your peace. If there are dexterous dancers presently assembled, I plead with you to tarry awhile. The drums that we should hear are the drums that call us all out to build and bind. Except we first build, we stand to get nothing from our present labour. Accordingly, on behalf of the government and people of Bayelsa State, I want to make a commitment towards evolving an enduring framework for this regional political forum known as the South-South peoples assembly.
For this assembly to work as efficiently as it should, we must build it into an institution that can be reckoned with. To this end, we will provide a national secretariat for the SSPA in Yenagoa, complete with furniture, modern communication equipment, and a take-off grant.
Your excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is true that the expectations of our people from the age of contact with Europe through colonialism and the formation of Nigeria have remained the dream for economic and political self-decades. In the past, we applied our energies towards evolving strategies that will propel us beyond proclaiming those sacred principles that have become the subject of campaigns over these many decades.
But sloganeering is not enough. We have no choice but to ensure that those golden principles of political conduct become realizable in our own time. There is a window of opportunity which the present civilian dispensation has presented.
I speak of the
evolving national political reform programme otherwise known as the national
dialogue. For the people of the South-South, the proposed national dialogue will
make no meaning unless and until it addresses the following thirteen-point
agenda: (a) true
federalism In the next few days, I will consult with my brother governors so as to ensure that these issues form the core of our presentation before Nigeria and Nigerians.
Our commitment to our compatriots from Bayelsa is to empower them so that they can stubbornly defend our position even as we remain at home to ensure the indivisibility, and champion the indissolubility, of Nigeria. You will agree with me that Nigeria is better and greater being together, than for its diverse people to remain apart.
It is our hope and prayer that the resolutions emanating from the political reform conference would be allowed to see the light of day. In the recent past, as you know, our experience in this regard were far less than salutary.
No nation or group of people, no political formation of any description, can afford to shy away from the leadership of a country where they have a stake. In Nigeria, the distribution of wealth and opportunities to the privileged majority has been supervised under the whims and caprices of those who wield power.
Today we have a rare and golden opportunity to correct the imbalance of political leadership in this country. We must do this for the sake of generations yet unborn. Even so, leadership should be given only to those who sincerely and honestly have our people’s interest at heart. Whoever we call upon to lead us must be a blue-blooded member of the South-South family.
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