KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY DR. EFFIONG E. B. EDUNAM AT THE ORO DAY CELEBRATION ORGANIZED BY ORON UNION (UYO BRANCH) ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2014, HELD AT HERITAGE COLLEGE, NSIKAK EDUOK STREET, UYO ORO 2015 STRUGGLE: UNVEILING THE PHASE OF MILITANT CONFRONTATION If we must die, Let it not be like hogs, Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While around us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursed lot. If we must die, O let us nobly die, So that our precious blood may not be shed In vain; then even the monsters we defy Shall be constrained to honour us though dead! O, kinsmen! We must meet the common foe! Though far out-numbered let us show us brave, And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow! What though before us lies the open grave? Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! (“If We Must Die” by Claude Mackay) 1919 I have opened this discourse with the martial ballad of Claude Mackay because it is a fitting call to arms for Oro in the present circumstance that we find ourselves in. Oro has been pushed to the wall as African Americans had been in 1919 in the “Red Summer”. They had built America with their strength, money, blood, sweat and tears, yet their citizenship and their humanity were questioned and tried recklessly and thoughtlessly. While white soldiers who returned from the First World War were welcomed on city streets across America with fanfare and ticker tape parades, their Black counterparts were lynched, maimed and shamed in uniforms. Tired of waiting for Jesus of the twice-turned-cheek to do his wonders of changing the wicked heart of the white man, the Blacks looked inwards to their inner strength, their survival instinct, their self-worth, their racial identity and their innate manhood and fought back. They ripped aside the veneer of civilization which defined their misplaced sense of belonging and, man, did they fight back! The streets turned “red”. Claude Mackay’s poem sought to give reason and direction to the struggle of the “Red Summer”. Similarly, the poem of the African American of Madagascan origin, Andy Razaf, “Don’t Tread on Me”, also weighed in to strengthen the resolve of Blacks in the fight against racism, discrimination and every form of social injustice. This was the incendiary atmosphere in which Edet Ebito and Nnamdi Azikiwe studied in America in the 1920s and explained their sensitivity and radicalization towards social justice and colonialism. In Nyasaland, the territory of today’s Malawi, there lived a nationalist named John Chilembwe who came of age in the first two decades of the Twentieth Century. The anti-colonial exploits of this man is eloquently and extensively documented in George Simeon Mwase’s novel in the African Writer’s series titled, Strike a Blow and Die. His blow may not have freed his Nyasaland but the colonial world sat up and took notice. Persistent injustice brings tears rushing to the eyes. Injustice, when unrelenting, transforms weaklings into supermen. Injustice emboldens and inspires resolute action. Injustice subverts compromise and encourages radicalization and militancy. Injustice erodes peace and promotes conflict. Injustice harms both the oppressor and the oppressed; for he who presses a man down must stay down with him. This paper is therefore, a call to the masculinization of the Oro struggle to produce a Governor for Akwa Ibom State in 2015. It is an assertion of an option, the final option, to the effect that a suicidal retribution in defence of our blood brotherhood, our peoplehood, our ethnicity and our right to exist in dignity and pride is not only possible but probable. It is at once a call to restraint and rethink to our immediate neighbours and co-workers in the Akwa Ibom Project. It is a signal that thus far is enough for Oron people. It is a line in the sand beyond which caution becomes an expendable principle. We here sound a warning that “If we Must Die”, we know what to do! It is useful to recall that this final phase is the culmination of other stages of the struggle where moral suasion was the driving force. In the last four years, we, as individuals and representatives of the Oro Think Tank, Oron Union and Council of Oron Traditional Rulers, had held consultations and discussions on, at least, 22 occasions with His Excellency, Chief Godswill Akpabio, CON, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State. At four different instances, he gave us his word which we thought we could take to the bank. He pledged to hand over to Oro and even requested for three nominees from us. Now we know that he is one high official who promises in haste and repents in leisure. Today, what Governor Akpabio wants is clear and is no longer hidden in a cascade of diplomatic phraseology and political smokescreen. In an act of grand political mischief, he has attempted to rewrite the rotational order of political zoning. Rather, he has targeted Udom Gabriel Emmanuel for an opportunity that belongs to Oro. With an air of icy imperturbability and reckless indifference, he has gone on to deploy the finances, the personnel and other resources of state power to sell, promote and celebrate an imposter to the detriment of ethnic harmony, political peace and stability. In his previous dealings with us, therefore, the Governor may not have lied, but, he certainly rearranged the truth. He toyed with the destiny of a people and rode rough-shod over the agreement of his forefathers. He mis-read the mood of the people and the intensity of purpose of the Oro demand. He will certainly pay the price he deserves in political oblivion after office and jeopardize the legacies of his otherwise, sterling political career. More importantly, Udom Emmanuel, the greenhorn politician who lacks political exposure and grooming will never be the next Governor of Akwa Ibom State. Governor Akpabio may drain the Treasury for it but it will not work! While working their diabolical tapestry of inequity, injustice and mischief, Governor Akpabio and Udom, in distasteful gestures of empty religiosity, are busy sipping the blood of Christ from silver chalices in multitudes of solemn assemblies frequently organized in Qua Iboe Church and elsewhere to mock at the God of Justice. Is Udom the No. 3 member in the PDP register of his ward? Was this Mr. Integrity, Mr. Right, Mr. Honesty a member of PDP when he was a sitting Director of Zenith Bank? Is this exemplary Christian a liar? Your guess is as good as mine. So my people, “If We Must Die”, it must not be to enthrone thieves who seek to reap where they did not sow and liars whose words are as inconstant as the shifting sand of time! The initial phase of Consultation did not end with Governor Akpabio. We reached out to the Annang of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District. We made clear Oro’s desire, as the third leg of the ethnic tripod of the State, to take our turn to govern in 2015. We were so well received; we were lured into a false sense of security and solidarity. Soon, we learnt the lesson that all morality is man-made and ephemeral. In the same palace of Itai Afe Annang, ring-fenced by the same people who had given us hope, Udom Emmanuel was reportedly adopted as the Sole Candidate in PDP for the Governorship Election in 2015. If those Oro had helped in the past are afflicted with such a profound and dangerous case of amnesia, then friends are, indeed, very few in human affairs. They will not catch us howling and cursing aloud to the saints in heaven and the demons in hell. Rather, we will certainly form alliances to ensure that when next power swings to their Senatorial District, the brand of justice they have invented will hand power over to Ikono/Ini axis. Because, in their own sense of justice, what is sauce to the goose must not be sauce to the gander! Next, we approached the people of Eket. Oro shares five clans in common with them. These include Idua, Ibighi, Atabong, Okpo, and Uda; a firm foundation upon which to build a dependable relationship devoid of meaningless competition and fruitless subversion. We offered them strategic cooperation and operationalized same to send Senator Helen Esuene to the National Assembly. In return, Senator Esuene pledged support for Oro 2015 aspiration at the Civic Centre, during the Oro National Summit in October, 2010. What Oro has received from Eket and those of their citizens who reached the deal with Oro is a serial pattern of treachery and betrayal. Senator Esuene and Obong Ndueso Essien highlight this reality. One jumped prematurely into the fray and the other organized a bogus endorsement for Udom Emmanuel. Sadly, our own Chief E. E. Eneyo, chose the platform of the sham endorsement at Eket Stadium to demonstrate the falsity of his Oro patriotic credentials. In all this, our Obolo brethren are the ones we cannot leave behind. In 1903, the idea of an Obolo National Union was first raised. The acute struggle for individual survival in the colonial era suppressed its take off till 1949 when it was realized in Oro. Our Obolo kins are found in Tombia in Bayelsa State, Andoni in Rivers State, Eastern Obolo, Oro and Ibeno in Akwa Ibom State as well as Ohafia in Abia State. In 2013, IDAA OBOLO celebrated their ancestry in Andoni on the sponsorship of the Bayelsa State Government. This year, Obolo people assembled at Nkpanak in Ibeno to deliberate on their common denominator of marginalization with understandable emphasis on the deliberate obstruction to the 2015 Governorship race in Akwa Ibom State. Obolo people world-wide are determined and anxious to install their citizen as the next Governor of Akwa Ibom State. In Nigeria, Akwa Ibom is blessed with the longest Atlantic coastline. It is significant to note that Obolo nation accounts for the entire stretch of 125 kilometers. It is also worthy of note that in terms of the oil revenue that accrues to Akwa Ibom State, Obolo territorial waters and shores contribute 99.9%. If anybody stands in our way, particularly those who have fraudulently arrogated the wealth of our people to themselves, they will be flirting with danger around a people stubbornly and mutinously disposed. Our passionate quest for power took us to the palace of the Ntisong Ibibio last year. It was at that occasion that Oro made the first public presentation of AKS Governorship 2015: Why Oro? The content of that publication has shaken the foundation of every vista of falsehood by which people have painted a caricature of Oro’s quest for power. It challenged every misconception and stereotype deployed to justify the superiority complex which has become the unfortunate affliction of those who count Oro for nothing. It is such an outstanding tool of public enlightenment to a degree that Governor Akpabio himself advised the Oro Think Tank (OTT) to spread its circulation beyond the shores of Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria for that matter. Nature had installed the Ibibio as the eldest brother in the Ibom family, the protector of the commonwealth and common heritage. However, in a lamentable dereliction of duty, they chose to fend only for themselves neglecting the smaller ones who must then attempt to wreck the homestead to obtain their due. The Ibibio have a greater burden to hold Akwa Ibom together. Their hegemonic proclivity has scattered the family and reduced their spread to only 14 LGAs in this State. Time to think long and hard. Examples abound in this country where deserving persons accessed power despite their minority status. Mr. President, Dr. Gooluck Ebele Jonathan would never have tasted power either in Bayelsa State or in Nigeria at large if being a minority were an inescapable or irredeemable curse. This was also true of Donald Duke in Cross River, Peter Odili in Rivers and Emmanuel Uduaghan in Delta State. Today, those States reap the benefit of this exercise in inclusiveness and belongingness which, God forbid, may conceivably elude Akwa Ibom State from 2015. Every part of the Akwa Ibom knows and understands our own cause. Many behold it with empathy. Some with sympathy. There are a few who in blind bigotry and the tyranny of theirs numbers believe that Oro must not taste power. They are mistaken in their notion that there are some people who are more Akwa Ibom than others. To them we warn that “If We Must Die”, it will bring them no joy and there will never be our oil money to service their greed and self-aggrandizement. The second phase of the struggle was for Consolidation. Our Aspirants fanned out around the State to build on the foundation the community had laid. At a stage, it was assumed that they numbered up to 17. Some were serious, many only showed up to be counted. Others sought either notice or notoriety. On a scale of the extent of work done, not more than six actually deserved to give the race a thought. Oro cannot go into the race with even four Aspirants. The elders must sum up the courage to do the needful-reduce the number to one that has the capacity to hold his own in the race. We cannot afford to split our delegates into various camps in such a critical race. The only constraint had been that we had to manage these steps very carefully so as to avoid dissent and bad blood. We needed them to understand that, like the PDP’s Big Umbrella, the scope of Governorship is so broad that it could accommodate everyone’s interest. It was in the Phase of Confirmation that we scheduled to prune down the number of aspirants. We did so by telling the world that Barr. Asuquo A. Okpo, Barr. Ekpeyong Ntekim, Barr. Effiong Abia and Engr. Larry Esin stood the greatest chances of making it happen for Oro. Our judgment is undergoing a test of verification with the buying of forms at the princely sum of N11 Million in PDP. Those who cannot afford the form have already ruled themselves out but remain invaluable stakeholders and contributors to the Oro quest. The coast seems clear for the survival of the fittest. The current Phase of Confrotation has been pushed on Oro. It is a phase which calls for the entire resources of the community because Oro cannot wait. If Udom succeeds, Oro will inevitably wait for 40 years to access another opportunity. Besides, in any other arrangement, there is no guarantee that the Ibibio who are behaving as though they must appropriate our turn to right their own wrongs will allow power rotate again. They very wrongly claim the State as their own as tough other groups are misdirected, misplaced immigrants. Oro fought alongside others for state creation from COR State Movement that had Barr. O. O. Ita as the National Treasurer to the birth of Akwa Ibom State. Oro belongs in Akwa Ibom State and our history says so. Our place names say so. Our personal names say so. The distribution of traditional deities shared in common say so. We live in a contiguous landmass which helps mutual intelligibility of our languages. The decline of that fact as you enter Oron can be explained by geography and history. Oro is at the cross-roads of cultural interaction between the Ekoi, the Ibibio, Usakedet, Ijaw, Andoni, and the Ilaje. Therefore, ‘If We Must Die”, it must not be on the altar of misguided and unfounded characterization of Oro as alien to this environment. Oro currently faces challenges akin to colonialism. Our resources are plundered without compensation. To complain is an offence the master groups must brutally suppress and punish. Divide and rule tactics are applied to set Oro people one against the other. Our children are enticed with peanuts to renounce their heritage and support the desecrators of that heritage. The proud Oro man must be humiliated to obtain access to a coterie of power brokers, who only yesterday had been nothing; who today wallow in unearned wealth, prodigal squandermania and mindless erosion of all positive values in our society. Our boys must beg and betray their kins in order to eat and survive. That is not who and what they are. They have waited in excruciating patience for this day to come and it will not pass them by without appropriate consequences being exacted. Let the message go out to every stakeholder in Akwa Ibom State that Oro will not wait. We want governorship and we want it now! We will take it peacefully if we can and violently if we must! To be sure, no community or ethnic group has been dragged through the Gethsemane that Oro has passed through in order to produce a Governor in Akwa Ibom State. It is said that a politician distinguishes between a friend and a foe. A statesman, on the other hand, does so between right and wrong. We expected Governor Akpabio to be a statesman. He has failed to rise to this higher pedestal in that he treats Oro as a foe. We expected Don Etiebet to be a statesman and speak truth harshly to power. He shied away by sitting on the fence on this issue. We joined the State to welcome Arc. (Obong) Victor Attah as our foremost statesman. He proved undeserving by the way he has gotten frozen in the promotion of Ibibio interest above that of the entire State at large. He initiated the momentum of zoning in the State on ethnic basis. How can he explain why Uyo must take another turn before Oron if not out of parochial vision? Perhaps, this goes to prove that clear-sightedness is no guarantee for a clear vision. He has, thus, declined his exalted status as a model of democratic propriety in our State. Governor Akpabio has made a mistake. To ask Oro to wait is to administer a pill that kills before it heals, an act of subversive generosity. He is said to reason that Oro is too aggressive. But the Annang threatened to kill their sons who opposed their aspiration in 2007. Oro cannot stand and watch like a beggar over a feast as he acts out his reprehensibly misbegotten succession agenda. We may cry today with a deep, unspeakable pain in our hearts; we may be guilty today of the unprecedented crime of being a minority, but let it be emphasized that Oro, the friend of convenience of yesterday, is today a foe of conviction! Our pain has turned to anger and our anger has turned to resolution. Akwa Ibom, beware. Nigeria, take note, for oil only flows where there is peace and social justice. And the Land of Promise must not be allowed to transform into the Land of Prejudice. Finally, I wish to conclude in the words of Barbara Johnson in her book, Mama, Get the Hammer! There’s a Fly on Papa’s Head (Dallas, 1994): We are hard pressed on every side, But not crushed; Perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not abandoned; Struck down, but not destroyed. Thank you. Dr. Efiong E. B. Edunam
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 21:37:29 +0000
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