Strategic Factors and Options:  Fighting Legal Fire with Fire 

By Priye S. Torulagha

On the surface, it appears as if the Ijaw nation has been stricken by two major lightening

bolts, following the arrests of two prominent Ijaw citizens, Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha and Asari Dokubo.  For the politically and legally uninitiated player or amateur, such actions are enough to convince the person to give up the struggle.  Similarly, the two cases are sufficient enough to rock the foundation out of any ethnic group that is not equipped to handle two major legal and political battles at the same time.

There is no doubt that Nigeria desired to deliver a knock out blow, like Mike Tyson, in his heydays.   Hence, it plotted with the British Government to ensure the arrest of Governor Alamieyeseigha while simultaneously arresting Alhaji Asari Dokubo in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.   By such steps, Nigeria intended to inflict legal and political body blows to the Ijaw nation, hoping to defang and neutralize it for good in an effort to ensure uninhibited flow of oil from the Niger Delta.  In the past, Nigeria had

intentionally inflicted military blows by devastating many towns and village, including Odi and Odiama.

Instead of being shaken, the Ijaws should take the two cases as a blessing in disguise.  In fact, they should even welcome more since such actions are needed to wake them up and enable them to realize that they are a in a drawn-out politico-legal guerrilla warfare in which Nigeria is determined to win at all costs.   Only such bodily blows will enable Ijaw public officials, public figures and the elites to stop misbehaving and realize that they must mobilize politically and legally to take the necessary actions to untangle the ethnic nation.

Nigeria used the two cases to send clear messages, one to corrupt public officials that the era of blatant corruption is drawing to a close and the other to warn armed elements that any threat to the territorial integrity of the country would be seriously dealt with.  Of the two cases, the one in London seems to be a little more complicated due to the money laundering charges.  At the present time in the world, anyone who is arrested for allegedly committing embezzlement or misappropriation of public funds or illegal transfer of funds is not very likely to receive a warm reception from the generality of the public since such acts tend to penalize the general public more than the elites.  It is not a secret that the Niger Delta has been devastated by massive corruption emanating from local and national public officials.  On the other hand, in Dokubo’s case, although treason is alleged, nonetheless, it seems to provide the best opportunity for the Ijaw people to legally liberate themselves, if they

really want to be free in making decisions about the control of natural resources on their lands. 

The Dokubo’s case has a universal implication, not only for the Niger Delta and Nigeria since almost all the contemporary African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Caribbean, and Latin American countries were created through foreign military aggression.  If the Ijaws legally fight this case to the highest level possible, they would help to set political and legal precedents concerning the legality of states created through foreign military aggression in Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Latin America. In other words, the Ijaws should help to raise the question of the legality of a state created by forced incorporation.    Is it

legally proper or legitimate for such a state to gain sovereign status when the citizens were forced at gunpoint to accept  the arrangement?  Since the implication of the Dokubo case is far more reaching, the Ijaws need to mobilize all their resources to fight it.  A forced incorporation is an illegal act, therefore, can an illegality become legal under international law? 

In fighting the treason case, the Ijaws need to do the following:

1.  Assist in recruiting a very competent legal team.  Of course, Festus Keyamo is

a legal warrior and cannot be easily intimidated.  He needs all the financial and

material support from the people of the Niger Delta and well-wishing Nigerians.

2.  The defense team must insist, as Keyamo has already intimated, the right to

cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses.  Part of the cross-examination must

include examining the circumstances under which the witnesses became the eyes and  hears of the government.  This is necessary in order to find out whether they were fifth columnists or paid hands of the federal government.

3.  Part of the strategy must be to challenge the treason charge by arguing that it is

impossible for an Ijaw to commit such act against Nigeria since the Ijaws did not

sign any document which transferred their sovereignty to the British Government or Nigeria.  If the Ijaws did not sign any agreement which transferred their sovereignty, technically, it means that the Ijaws are still sovereign.  Since Asari Dokubo is an Ijaw,

he enjoys the sovereignty of the Ijaw ethnic nation.  To argue this point successfully,

 it is crucial to produce all the colonial documents and treaties which the Ijaws signed

with the British.   Keyamo has already made reference to this possibility.  Mr.

Orubebe too had made a statement that the Ijaws never signed any paper to be

part of Nigeria. These documents must be produced as evidence.

4.  It is necessary to argue that the Ijaws were forcefully incorporated into Nigeria

by aggression, therefore, they did not have the freedom of determinining whether they

wanted to be in Nigeria or not.  Based on this logic, the Ijaws, being a colonial subject of Nigeria, have the right to seek self-determination based on the United Nations Declarations concerning Decolonization and Human Rights.   This being the case, the defense can add that Asari Dokubo acted in accordance with UN declarations and thus did not commit any treasonable offence against Nigeria.  In this case, it is necessary to tender UN treaties and declarations concerning self-determination for colonized people, as evidence.

5.  To demonstrate the fact that the Niger Delta has never been treated as part of Nigeria, refer to the Willink’s Commission report  which recommended that the region should be treated as a “Special Area.”

6.  Further, argue that the case should be thrown out due to its selective and discriminatory nature.    There are hundreds of people in Nigeria who have made comments similar to the one made by Dokubo but they are not arrested or charged for treason.  To support this argument, provide newspaper clippings made by others in the country.  Show that there is a pattern of discrimination against the citizens of the Niger Delta, thereby, demonstrating the fact that the region and its inhabitants are treated as

colonial subjects.  Further, show that by systemically discriminating

against the citizens of the Niger Delta, Nigeria has shown that it does not regard

the citizens of the region as Nigerians.  Otherwise, Nigeria would have treated all

Nigerians equally under the Constitution and laws of the land.

7.  An argument can also be made by maintaining that Dokubo could not be charged for treason since he is from the Niger Delta and Nigeria has treated the Niger Delta like a colonial enclave by discriminating against the region in infrastructural development

throughout its existence.  Further, add that if Nigeria truly believes that the Niger Delta is part of the country, it would not have neglected the region throughout its

existence, despite the recommendations of the Willink’s Commission in 1958.

8.  Concerning the charges that Dokubo is a member of an armed group, using the argument above, compile a list of such groups in the country.   After doing so, 

argue that if belonging to such groups constituted treasonable offence, then question the prosecutor on why Nigeria has not arrested and charged the leaders and followers of all such groups in the country.  Add that since Nigeria is not arresting and charging

leaders of such organizations in the country, it means that belonging to such organizations does not  constitute a crime, otherwise, such groups would have been banned and all members would have been arrested and charged for treason.

9.   Based on the logic above, argue that the arrest of Dokubo was politically motivated,

if not, every group of such nature would have been banned and the leaders arrested and

charged for treason.

10.  To demonstrate the fact that the arrest and charges were politically motivated, let

the court know that Nigeria is today a democratic nation.  Generally, in a democratic

nation, freedom of speech is allowed.  Show that in the US, Canada, Britain, and many other democratic countries, individuals have spoken about secession or the right to break

away without being charged for treason.  Cite Canada, in particular, where

politicians and citizens from the Quebec Province have freely spoken about breaking away from the country.  Inform the court that in Canada and other democratic countries, the ballot is used to deal with such political issues and not truncated political charges intended to intimidate citizens. 

11.  Also cite the fact that in the US and other democratic countries, armed interest

groups operate freely.   Thus, Asari Dokubo was exercising his democratic right to express frustration over the manner in which Nigeria had treated his people for more than four decades.  Cite instances where he said that he was going to fight for the freedom of his people by using democratic and legal means.  In fact, he was one of the first leaders in Rivers State to agree to negotiate the surrender of arms.   Since then, he has operated

openly like any other law-abiding individual.

12.  While this case is going on, either the Ijaw National Congress or the Ijaw

Youth Council or a legal body, so constituted, should sue the federal government, demanding reparations and interest from all the monies earned through oil

exploration in Ijaw territory.   The suit should be based upon the view that

Nigeria expropriated Ijaw lands without permission through intolerable and

abusive military decrees.   To support this assertion, demonstrate that the Niger

Delta has been militarily occupied to make way for forceful expropriation of the

region’s resources.

The issue of expropriation must be demonstrated by showing that the Ijaw people did not sign any paper surrendering their sovereignty to either Britain or Nigeria.  The

evidence tendered in the case above can also be used in the suit to justify

reparation and or compensation.

Another Ijaw group or a section of the INC or IYC should be responsible for publicity.

As the Dokubo case is going on, it is important to publish the documents signed by

the Ijaws in an effort to educate the Nigerian public and the entire world about

the fact that the Ijaws truly have a legal ground to demand compensation for expropriation of land and resources, environmental damage and economic loses on agriculture and fisheries emanating from oil exploration.

The publicity group should also send copies of such documents to the

United Nations, the African Union, Economic Community of West African

States, the European Union, the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Japan,

and Germany.

The suggested legal options might sound outlandish and nonensical,

nevertheless, it should be noted that other groups have been deploying similar

tactics.  For instance, the Masai in Kenya are trying to reclaim all the lands

that were forcibly taken away from them during the colonial era.   Similarly,

the San people who have been tremendously discriminated against in South Africa ,

are working to reclaim their lands.  They are also working to get

compensation for the use of the resources on their lands. In fact, the Native Americans

in Ecuador successfully used such legal arguments to win cases against oil

companies which operated in their territories.

While the Dokubo case provides an excellent ground for the Ijaws to challenge the

notion of  the sovereignty of a state created through foreign military aggression, the Ijaws

should take a wait and see attitude on the Alamieyeseigha case.  That case

involves money laundering of misappropriated public funds.   The people of Bayelsa,

like other citizens of the Niger Delta, have suffered tremendously due to massive

corruption perpetrated by indigenous public officials.  For instance, according to

financial figures posted by brother Francis Udisi on Ijawnation website, Bayelsa

 received the following amount from January to June, 2005:

January 2005 ===9,683,195,968.85

February 2005===9,581,588.555.61

March 2005 ====9,294,384,550.67

April 2005 =====8,864,426,419.67

May 2005======8,912,480,940.60

June 2005======7,758,286,156.05

It is very doubtful whether Bayelsa State officials can give a correct account of what was done with all these monies.  In fact, there are still Bayelsan state workers who have

not received their salaries for months, despite the monthly federal allocations to the state. 

Therefore, it is in the best interest of the people of Bayelsa and the Ijaw people

generally that the case in London goes through the legal process so that all the facts

are uncovered.

The governor’s case provided an excellent opportunity for the Ijaw nation to play

high level diplomatic politics internationally.  However, the ethnic nation, through the INC and IYC leadership,  failed to do so.  Instead, the politics of reaction was manifested.  Reactive politics has a negative implication and does not seem to boost the image of the ethnic group.   For instance, sending someone to Aso Rock to plead with the president and other power-wielders was both strategic and tactical mistakes.   It portrayed the ethnic group as people who cannot stand on the principle of Izonism (truth).  The president and other power-wielders knew immediately that they had gotten the Ijaws, so,

they ignored the Ijaw entourage who trooped to Abuja.  Moreover, why did any Ijaw leader think that the president would make an exception on the case of the governor, taking into consideration the fact that the president did not make an exception in the case of Chief Tafa Balogun.  Chief Balogun is a Yoruba and a close associate of the president.  Similarly, threatening British interest was a diplomatic blunder internationally since it sent a wrong message to the world that the Ijaws could not be trusted to fight corruption.

Think about it for a moment; one major reason why the Niger Delta always seem to

take one step forward and two steps backward is the high degree of corruption among

indigenous and national public officials.  The region’s public officials have always

worked in tandem with the national public officials to exploit the region.  As a result, ordinary citizens of the region have never benefited from the oil windfall.  On the

other hand, the region’s public officials have tended to act with impunity, believing that they can always be above the law, as far as they work cooperatively with the national power-wielders.  If one carefully examines the political actions of Bayelsa and Rivers

States, in the last four years, a conclusion can be drawn that the political leaders of these two states spent massively to reward outside interests without doing so to the citizens of their states.  It is rare to hear of Bayelsa or Rivers State donating millions of naira to any village or community within their borders, yet, they have never hesitated to spend millions of nairas to outside interests, in an effort to woo national power-wielders. 

Indeed, the governor’s case is a blessing in disguise because public officials in the South/South and throughout Nigeria have since become very cautious.  In Bayelsa, some public officials are terrified of being arrested while some are in hiding.   Why are these officials taking cover or hiding if they have not engaged in criminal activity?

The governor’s case also provides opportunity for Ijaw communities to launch a silent

but peaceful revolution in the three zones.   As the federal government, through the

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), intensifies its effort to apprehend

embezzlers, Ijaw communities should file cases in the courts to claim public ownership of any property that was built or purchased with embezzled money.  For instance, if a local government chair or secretary had embezzled money allocated for the development of the community, as the people of Patani were able to demonstrate, the community should use

legal means to seize the properties.  If the properties involved houses, such facilities could be used for public libraries, community centers, health clinics, and schools.  If the

properties involved vehicles, the vehicles should become the properties of the local government.  If the properties involved business ventures, they should be converted to publicly owned community cooperative enterprises.

Similarly, the communities of Tombia, Buguma, Okrika, Andonni, Abua etc, that were ransacked by armed elements should sue the political elites and the governments that supported the armed elements to cause various mayhem.   Of course, the people of Odi and Odiama must not fail to act legally for the massive abuse of their rights.

Due to the sudden change in the climate for embezzlement, those who have critical information about misappropriated public funds should report such incidents so that the authorities can investigate.  It is the only means to clean up Ijawland of  charlatans and plutocrats who parade themselves as patriots while exploiting and pauperizing the people.

These actions are necessary to let it be known that public funds belong to the people

and not the public officials entrusted with the responsibility of administering the funds. 

In Nigeria, elected officials behave as if they have an inalienable right to convert into

their personal use public funds intended for the management of public goods and services. In the process, citizens have been reduced to paupers while the public officials

and their families become super-rich.

As can be seen, it is politically obvious that the stake-holders on the Niger Delta question, including the indigenes, international oil consuming nations, the oil companies, and Nigeria’s powerwielders are increasingly concerned about the situation in the region.  Thus, concerned by the lack of development, despite billions of nairas being allocated to the oil-producing states monthly, President Olusegun Obasanjo and the British Government decided to act.  Instead of taking a diplomatic position which supports the anticorruption effort, the Ijaws threatened to stop the effort because their prominent son had fallen prey to the dragnet.  It will take a while for the Ijaws to repair the political damage caused by failing to support the anticorruption effort, regardless of the manner, in which the war is being prosecuted.  In the future, when the Ijaws demand a fair play, others would say, “ you people are not serious.  You scream about marginalization, deprivations, and oppression, yet, when your son is caught , you screamed and threatened for his release.”  It is a political suicide to take the position that fighting corruption is the right thing to do when people from other ethnic groups are caught but it is unacceptable when an Ijaw is caught, especially considering the fact that Ijaw public officials have

caused the greatest amount of damage to the Ijaw nation through selfishness, narrow-mindedness, and forming unholy alliances. 

In fact, it is arguable that the behavior of public officials in the oil-producing region

led to the failure to get more than 17% during the National Political Reform Conference.  It did not make any sense to ask for more than 13% when public officials in the South/South could not account for the increased federal allocation provided to their states.  Democratic politics involve give and take based on justifiable

logical arguments. 

Therefore, the governor’s case must be allowed to run through the legal process in

order to bring respectability to the Ijaw demands internationally.   The British acted

swiftly because they wanted to protect their investments via the Shell

Petroleum Development Company.  They reasoned that massive corruption was preventing the oil dividend to flow to the Niger Delta masses, thereby, fueling the militancy that was threatening the SPDC and other multinational companies.  They are convinced that if public officials in the region are prevented from misappropriating funds allocated for development in the region, then the masses would benefit from the oil dividend.  If the masses benefit directly through infrastructural development, the need for militancy among the youths would de-escalate.  President Obasanjo too feels that militancy among the youths can be reduced if the people in the oil-producing region are allowed to enjoy the fruits of increased federal allocations.

For the time being, the deputy governor should be congratulated for resisting outside

pressure to violate the constitution of Bayelsa State.   It is important for him to unite the people by not violating the constitutional process until the London situation clears up.  He can serve as an acting governor but not the governor until the case is decided.

This is necessary to have a smooth transition from one leader to another without Ijaw people fighting each other for the governorship position.  In fact, it is important for Ijaw

leaders to be wary of the PDP system.   It is a very negative and unprogressive political force in Nigeria.  Consequently, the Ijaws must try not to be entangled in its deadly politics.  The Bayelsa governor, it appears, was too close to the center of gravity of the PDP system, hence, his predicament.

This is time for serious political and legal gamesmanship.  Playing big time politics involves certain risks.  Consequently, those who fall prey to the risks must accept their fate as part of the rituals of playing in the big leagues.  The Ijaws must learn to play in the big leagues if they are serious about their political intentions.   If the federal government is willing to attack with all legal guns blazing,  the Ijaws must counter by using all legal means available.