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COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE
ALL-IJAW CONFERENCE HELD AT THE SHERATON NEWARK AIRPORT HOTEL,
NEWARK,
NEW JERSEY,
USA, ON THE 20TH OF MAY 2006 AT THE INSTANCE OF THE IJAW
NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF THE AMERICAS (INAA) DURING ITS 8TH ANNUAL BORO
DAY CELEBRATION
Under the aegis of the Ijaw National
Alliance of the Americas (INAA), Ijaws in the Diaspora and from
Nigeria, including Ijaw stakeholders, friends and well wishers of
the Ijaw, came together to commemorate the annual
Isaac Boro
and the Service & Devotional award ceremony on Saturday, May 20,
2006 at the Sheraton Airport Hotel in Newark, New Jersey, United
States of America. The tremendously successful event attracted
numerous Ijaws and non-Ijaws from all across the United States,
Canada, United Kingdom, Europe and Nigeria. Officials of the
Consulate General of Nigeria, New York, headed by the Consul –General,
Prince F. R. Aderele, represented the Nigerian government at the
event.
The
theme of this year’s “Boro Day” is “The Niger Delta
Question: The Imperative for Peace and Justice” and various
individuals representing a variety of organizations and interests
presented papers.
Recipient of
the distinguished 2006 INAA
Service & Devotionâl
Award was Chief (Hon) Melford Okilo
(former Governor of old Rivers State, and Senator of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria); for his pioneering selfless and sterling
contributions to the political development and progress of the Ijaw
Nation and Niger Delta. Chief Okilo political career spans more than
four decades, starting when he was the only Representative of the
Niger Delta Congress Party in the Nigerian Parliament.
The Keynote Address by His Excellency Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan, Governor of Bayelsa State, was delivered on his
behalf by His Excellency Peremobowei Ebebi, Deputy Governor of
Bayelsa State. The speech titled We Will Get There, enjoined
Bayelsans and people of the Niger Delta to unite, and that the
transnational
Isaac Boro
commemoration will compel the world to listen to our cry for justice
and survival as a people.
Before the main event on this day, an
ALL-IJAW CONFERENCE in the form of a Town Hall Meeting of
(exclusively) Ijaws, initiated by INAA and sponsored by twelve Ijaw
ethnic Organizations in the Diaspora, was convened. The
organizations that sponsored and/or had representative(s) at the
Town Hall Meeting are: the Ijaw Foundation; Ijaw National Alliance
of the Americas (INAA); Minnesota Ijaw Community Organization; Ijaw
International Alliance, Dallas, Texas; Kalabari National
Association, USA; Concerned Bayelsans, U.S.A.; Bayelsa Association,
Atlanta, GA; Ijaw United Fund, Houston, Texas; Wakirike, USA; Sons &
Daughters of Buguma USA Inc; Onin Ogbia Association, USA; Ijaw
Women Association of Texas; Ijaw Peoples’ Association of Great
Britain & Ireland (IPA); Ijaw Institute of Strategic Studies; and
some Niger Delta Non-Governmental Organizations.
Dignitaries from the Ijaw homeland that
participated in the Conference included Chief (Dr.) E. K. Clark
(former Nigerias federal minister of Information, and Ijaw National
leader) who was the chairman of the occasion, Prof. Kimse Okoko
(President, Ijaw National Congress), His Majesty King Alfred P.
Diete-Spiff (Amanyanabo of Twon-Brass and first military Governor of
old Rivers State), and Chief Melford Okilo (former Governor of old
Rivers State, and Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria). Also
in attendance were representatives from Ijaw organizations in Canada
and Germany, and Ijaws from almost every state in the United States.
In addition to the Deputy Governor of
Bayelsa State, other delegates from Bayelsa State that graced the
Isaac Boro
Commemoration but could not participate in the Town Hall Meeting
included Hon. Seibarugu Werinipre (Speaker of the Bayelsa State
House of Assembly); Amb. (Mrs) Nne Kurubo; Dr. Amba Ambaiowei
(Director, Isaac Boro Foundation); General Stanley Diriyai (Rtd.) (Boro
Foundation); and Prof. Nelson Brambaifa (Boro Foundation).
The annual Isaac Boro Day is also an
occasion for Ijaws to bond against the grain of injustice and a time
to wrestle the political, economic and socio-cultural subtleties of
the Ijaw struggle as well as a time to reflect upon our values which
are the essence of our (Ijaw) strength. Diverse issues, internal and
external, pertinent to Ijaw interest and welfare constituted the
Meeting’s agenda, among which were:
i. Subversion of the Ijaw
Struggle by Fellow Ijaws:
We are concerned about some of our fellow
Ijaws whose words and actions at best undermine the Ijaw struggle
and at worst, subvert the efforts of the faithful and dedicated.
ii. Ijaw Self Determination:
Self Determination seems a viable option for the Ijaw and we should
study and evaluate the document(s) proposing the model, strategies
and modalities for actualizing same.
iii. Economic and Social
Development in Ijaw land: With the abundant wealth and
resources in Ijawland, development of the Ijaw land mass as well as
the socio-economic growth of the Ijaw Nation is egregiously
negligent and this exemplifies criminal neglect by the Federal
Government and incompetence and lack of accountability by State and
Local Governments.
iv. Arrest and Detention of Ijaws
by the Federal Government of Nigeria:
The imperative for due process and
fair trial for all Ijaws detained through the instrument of the
Federal Government.
One of the highlights of the All-Ijaw
Conference was Dr. Ebipamone N. Nanakumo’s presentation of Ijaw
Foundation’s IJAW AGENDA FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT, titled: “SELF –GOVERNMENT
FOR THE IJAWS IS THE SOLUTION TO THE NIGER DELTA CONFLICT”;
summarized as follows:
·
The Ijaws are victims of ruthless oppression in Nigeria whereby the
Nigerian State robs the Ijaws of their God-given oil and natural gas
wealth by force of arms. Even the United Nations has condemned the
Petroleum Act of 1969 and the Land Use Decree of 1978 as
discriminatory, offensive, oppressive, inhumane and unacceptable
laws that must be repealed.
·
The continuous exploitation of crude oil and natural gas in Ijawland
has caused indescribable and irredeemable environmental destruction
and ecological devastation of Ijawland, caused the virtual
extinction of fish in our waters, rendered our farmlands barren as
well as made our waters poisonous, carcinogenic and undrinkable.
·
Our resources are plundered to develop and enrich others while we
are made to wallow in abject poverty.
·
The
pathological dependence of Nigeria on our free OIL WEALTH has
engendered endemic corruption that has brought perpetual
underdevelopment, poverty, destitution and misery to the Nigerian
masses.
·
The Right of the Ijaws to Freedom and Self-government is given
absolute support and legitimacy by The Conscience of Humanity and
International Law as expressed in Article 1 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ratified and accented to on
the16th of December 1966 by Resolution 2200A (XXI) of the
General Assembly of the United Nations and the Draft United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: All peoples have
the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely
determine their political status and freely pursue their economic,
social and cultural development.
After an exhaustive deliberation on the
issues, the Conference resolved as follows:
1.
Conference unanimously and strongly condemned the betrayal and
subversion of the noble IJAW STRUGGLE FOR SELF-DETERMINATION by Ijaw
sons and daughters for selfish political and material gain. Every
Ijaw was urged to support the decisions or course of actions
democratically reached by the recognized representative organs or
assemblies of the Ijaw Nation. Conference emphasized that subversion
of the Ijaw Struggle by our fellow Ijaws is abominable and
unacceptable, and warned every Ijaw citizen, particularly Ijaws
holding political offices, to desist from betraying or subverting
the collective will and aspirations of the Ijaws. In this regard,
Conference resolved to set up an IJAW SECURITY COUNCIL that will
establish and institute effective sanctions against Ijaws that
subvert the Ijaw Struggle.
2. Conference notes that the Ijaw Ethnic
Nationality is one of the four most populous ethnic groups in
Nigeria. In this regard, Conference asserts that since the Yorubas
have six (6) States and the Igbos have five (5) States, the Ijaws
deserve a
minimum of
three (3) States based on
population, territorial size and geographical peculiarities.
Currently, Bayelsa State is the only homogenous Ijaw State.
Accordingly, Conference demanded that the unconscionable and
unacceptable balkanization and marginalization of the Ijaw in six
different States must therefore be redressed by the immediate
creation of two (2) more States
for the Ijaws: Oil Rivers State (for the Ijaws in Rivers State and
Akwa Ibom State) and Toru-Ibe State (for the Ijaws of Delta, Edo and
Ondo States). This is imperative to correct the grossly unfair and
inequitable distribution of political power, revenues and
development in the country, and thereby guarantee peace and harmony.
3. Conference adopted the IJAW AGENDA FOR
SELF-GOVERNMENT and resolved to implement it as soon as possible.
4. Conference expressed the Ijaw
Nationâl's utter disgust at the abuse of human rights perpetrated by
the Nigerian government against Ijaws detained for reasons that
utterly contradict society's sense of civility, morality and
justice. Conference condemned, in the strongest terms, the malicious
invocation of the powers of the State by the Nigerian government to
harass, arrest, and imprison Ijaw Rights Activists in egregious
violation of the Rule of Law and due process. Conference noted that
even the United States government, in its State Department's 2005
Human Rights Report, described Asari Dokubo as a political prisoner
and condemned his arrest and continued detention as flagrant
violation of human rights. Conference states that Asari Dokubo's
continued incarceration is another example of the Nigerian
Government's various tactics to stifle and intimidate Ijaws
courageous enough to publicly denounce the injustices against the
Ijaw, and calls on the Nigerian government to release him from
detention immediately and unconditionally.
5. To facilitate social and human
development in Ijawland and the Niger Delta, Conference urged the
Bayelsa State government to provide free education for all Bayelsa
children from primary level to the tertiary level. This is to be a
template for all other Niger Delta States to ensure that the
enormous revenues from the Niger Delta Oil Wealth are used for the
benefit and development of Niger Delta masses.
SIGNED (On Behalf of the All-Ijaw
Conference):
__________________
Ebipamone N. Nanakumo, MD (Chairman, Ijaw
Foundation Board of Directors)
__________________________
Tonye Victor Erekosima, PhD (Sons and
Daughters of Buguma USA, Inc.)
__________________________
Matthew Oruowei Sikpi, PhD (General
Secretary, Ijaw National Alliance of the Americas)
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