November
12, 2008
Senator David Mark
President of the Senate of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria
National
Assembly Complex
P. M. B. 141, Abuja, Nigeria
Dear
Senate President,
Letter
of introduction
Ijaw
Foundation is a platform for collective action by all Ijaws and
Ijaw organizations in the Diaspora and the Ijaw homeland; established
to raise the much-needed funds for the dire humanitarian, developmental
and ecological needs of our fifteen (15) million Ijaw people, who are
amongst the world's most impoverished peoples despite their abundant
God-given wealth of crude oil, natural gas, aquatic resources and
forestry resources. Essentially, Ijaw Foundation seeks to mobilize the
vast human and material resources of the Ijaw Nation and all people of
goodwill in the world to ensure the survival, security, welfare and
progress of the Ijaws. The Foundation is all-inclusive, non-partisan,
open, democratic and transparent.
The
bearer of this letter, Abiotona Sokari, MD, PhD, is the Chairman of the
Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee, which has direct
responsibility for the Agenda for the Creation of more Ijaw States in
the Nigerian Federation. He is hereby sent by Ijaw Foundation as an
advocate and spokesperson for the creation of four more Ijaw States,
specifically, Abaji, Beni-Ebe, Kengema, and Toru-Ebe States. We
unanimously and strongly believe that the creation of these Ijaw States
will solve the current crisis in the Niger Delta.
We
are extremely grateful to you for giving Dr. Abiotona Sokari your
valued audience in this regard as well as for offering your
wholehearted support for the Agenda for the creation of the said four
Ijaw States.
God
bless you and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Sincerely,
Dr.
Ebipamone N. Nanakumo
President,
Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors
Mr.
Patterson Ogon
Vice
President, Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors
Mr.
Lincoln B. Snithers
Secretary,
Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors
Signed on behalf of the Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors:
Dr.
Ebipamone N. Nanakumo
President,
Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors
549 LEFFERTS AVENUE,
BROOKLYN, NY 11225, USA* Phone
& Fax: (718) 778-0536*
Website: www.ijawfoundation.org,
Email: board_of_directors@ijawfoundation.org
Ijaw Foundation is a charitable
nonprofit organization with Section 501 (c) (3) Tax Exempt Status
granted by the United States Internal Revenue Service.
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IJAW
SOLIDARITY, POWER, LIBERTY, PEACE AND PROGRESS
IZON EBE SERI
KENI WENIMO
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October 12, 2008
His Royal Majesty King J. I. Igbagara,
Ibenanaowei of
Ibeni-Oyiakiri
TO OUR
ROYAL FATHERS AT HOME
RE:
AGENDA FOR THE CREATION OF FOUR MORE IJAW STATES
Dear Royal Father:
Your citizens in the
Diaspora and the Ijaw homeland, under the auspices of Ijaw Foundation,
have been working on the creation of more Ijaw states in the Niger
Delta, specifically, Abaji, Beni-Ebe, Kengema, and Toru-Ebe states.
They agree to a person that the creation of these states in the Niger
Delta will solve the current crisis in Nigeria.
As a Royal father who
rules and reigns over this crisis ridden and near decadent area of our
beloved country, you must be aware of the anger of your citizens, and
certain that the demand that their God-given land which flows with the
abundant resources that now provide more than 90 percent of the
revenues of Nigeria, is not only protected against the vagaries of
exploitation, but preserved for eternity through responsible
exploration, environmental sanity, and judicial equity.
The prevailing pervasive Ijaw Youth Restiveness
and Insurgency are compelled and propelled by the imperative for survival and self-defense, in the Spirit of Isaac Adaka Boro,
against the political subjugation and
relentless ruthless oppression of the Ijaw people, unbridled plundering
of their oil and gas resources, wanton destruction of their habitat and
means of subsistence, their utter neglect and deprivation, atrocious
violation of their basic human rights and dignity, continual heinous
genocides perpetrated by an occupying military force of the Nigerian
State that kills Ijaws with impunity, and resultant abominable squalor,
hopelessness, despair and anarchy.
Your majesty, the time is now for you
and all your citizens to rally around this state creation movement for
the benefit of your people and a legacy for Ijaw children yet unborn. The
following reasons and rationalizations provide numerous benefits that
can accrue to the entire Niger Delta in general and Ijawland in
particular, if more Ijaw states are created:
1.
The
creation of more Ijaw states will result in the reduction of ethnic
tension in Akwa-Ibom, Delta, Edo, Lagos,
Ondo and Rivers
States;
and de-escalate the conflict since the challenges of development and
economic and financial results accruing from the new states will keep
us occupied for the rest of our lives. Importantly, by
virtue
of the measure of
Political Autonomy and Self-determination so
granted the Ijaws,
the
creation of the additional Ijaw States,
would
significantly ameliorate the grievous oppression and marginalization of
the Ijaws, and thereby assuage their just anger, with resultant
significant and progressive de-escalation of the prevailing
Ijaw Youth Restiveness and Insurgency,
leading ultimately to the peaceful resolution of the intractable and
escalating
Niger Delta Crisis,
which will pave the way for, and usher in, the much-desired but very
elusive
era of peace, progress and prosperity in Nigeria.
2.
The
creation of more Ijaw states will translate into more opportunities for
our Ijaw people to share the Ijaw oil wealth, the predominant source of
revenue in the Federation Account of Nigeria. Currently, we Ijaws have
only one share while the other major ethnic groups have numerous shares
due to the number of the states they have.
3.
The
creation of more Ijaw states will lead to the rapid development of four
more Ijaw towns, which as political capitals of the new states will
have all the trimmings befitting a state capital.
4.
The
creation of more Ijaw states will empower us to set up four state
governments, and thus create opportunities for education and training,
economic and financial development, health and social welfare, and
employment.
5.
The
creation of more Ijaw states will remove the existing marginalization
and political, economic, educational, and financial deprivation in
those states we are being made irrelevant.
6.
Indeed,
the creation of more Ijaw states will allow for not only simultaneous
but coordinated infrastructural development of Ijaw land across the
board.
7.
The
creation of more Ijaw states would enable the Ijaws to have more
representation at the National Assembly, thereby enabling the formation
of a formidable voting bloc to influence national decisions, especially
those that affect Ijaws and the Niger Delta.
8.
The
creation of more Ijaw states will result in the establishment of more
Ijaw local government authorities. More local government
authorities translate into more allocation from the oil wealth.
9.
The
creation of more Ijaw states will also increase the level of Ijaw
employment at the federal level as the Federal Government sets up
governmental branches in the new states.
10.
The
creation of more Ijaw states will not only lead to a balanced
development of all the ethnic nationalities in the South-South
geo-political zone, but in all of Nigeria. Currently,
the Yorubas have six (6) states; the Igbos have five (5); the
Hausa/Fulanis have nineteen (19) with a Federal Capital Territory to
boot, while the Ijaws (the fourth largest ethnic nationality) has only
ONE (1) state to show for its support of a one Nigeria.
11.
Finally,
the creation of more Ijaw states will, to a large extent, fulfill the
aspirations of the Willink Commission Report of 1958, which recommended
that the Ijaw Nation territory of the Niger Delta be declared a
“SPECIAL AREA” by the British Government. Fifty years after, it becomes
your duty as a royal father to request from the Nigerian government
what your forefathers were denied.
Our Royal father, you
see from the above that the benefits that will accrue from the creation
of more Ijaw states are as thought-provoking as they are endless. We as
a people should not forget that our ancestors were pioneers in the
demand for internal self government and the creation of states in Nigeria. Despite
the historical reality, we were the last to receive a state.
We urge you to tell it
to your people, your local government chairmen and council members;
spread it among your assemblymen, representatives and senators; let
your school children and market women sing about it; and the church
congregation and preachers cry about it from the pews and pulpits. Let
the message and the clarion call be: that the more states WE have, the
MORE DEVELOPMENT MONEY we will get from the Federation Account; and the
MORE states WE get, the more opportunities WE have to partake in the
wealth accruing from OUR God-given mineral resources.
Indeed, as the saying
“opportunity knocks but once” goes, our opportunity is knocking right
now. Through the grace of the Almighty and the great heritage of
our ancestors, we currently have a son at the center of national power.
This is our opportunity. If we fail to utilize the opportunity we have
now to get the number of Ijaw states we need to have, there may not be
a next time in our lifetime, and we and our forebears will continue to
wallow in an opportunity lost, a paradise so close but never to be
regained. Help avoid the mockery of our neighbours who seeing our
disunity or fanning our divisiveness, would say that “the Ijaws do not
know what they want or cannot make up their minds”. This is our moment
and our time; help us make use of this opportunity to have more states
created in Ijawland.
Royal Father, please
note that the wave for creation of more states is in a feverish pitch
as other ethnic groups are scrambling to create more states in their
ethnic areas although they already have more than we have. They have
tasted the spoils and are eager for more. Can we see now what they saw
years back; can we continue to accept the rights so callously denied us
as a people years back and even today; and gnash our teeth two, four,
or ten years from now and say to our children we did not know how to
seize the golden opportunity to uplift our oppressed and suffering
people and secure a bright and prosperous future for them?
Yes, for those who are
committed to the development of Ijawland, the demand for the creation
of more Ijaw states should be a paramount duty at this time and moment.
This is indeed our opportunity, our moment, our time.
God bless our Ijaw
Heritage.
Sincerely:
Dr. Ebipamone N.
Nanakumo: President, Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors
Mr. Patterson Ogon: Vice
President, Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors
Mr. Lincoln B. Snithers
Secretary, Ijaw
Foundation Board of Directors
Mr. Dawari
Longjohn: Treasurer, Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors/President, Ijaw
National Alliance of the Americas
Mr. Benaebi
Benatari: Member, Ijaw
Foundation Board of Directors
Mr. Amabo MacHarry: Member, Ijaw Foundation Board of Directors
Dr.
Abiotona Sokari: Chairman, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
Prof. Orikaye G.
Brown-West, Ph.D., P.E.
Member of
the Ijaw Foundation Media
and International Relations Committee and the State Creation
Subcommittee
Dr. Priye Torulagha:
Member, Ijaw Foundation Media and International Relations Committee, Ijaw Foundation Research
Committee and Ijaw Foundation Bylaws Committee; Secretary Concerned
Bayelsans USA
Prof. David Iyegha:
Member, Ijaw
Foundation Special Affairs Committee and member of the State Creation
& Research Subcommittees
Dr. Aaron Nmungwun:
Founding Vice President of Ijaw Foundation & member of the State Creation
Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
Prof. Joseph Ebiware:
Vice President of the Ijaw National Alliance of the Americas (INAA),
member of the
Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee & Chair of the
Anti-corruption Committee
Ms. Patience Douglas:
Member of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee
and Co-Chair of the
Legal Affairs Committee
Prof. Victor Kiri:
Member, Ijaw
Foundation Special Affairs Committee and member of the State Creation
Subcommittee
Prof. Geoffrey Ibim:
Chair, Ijaw Foundation Media and International Relations Committee and member of the State
Creation Subcommittee
Mr. Wilfred Inko-Tariah:
Member, Ijaw
Foundation Special Affairs Committee, Co-Chair of the Anti-corruption
Subcommittee and member of the Legal Affairs Subcommittee
Ms. Beena
Youdowei: Member of the State Creation Subcommittee of the Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs
Committee
Chief Mpaka Princewill: Chairman, Niger Delta World Congress
Amasenibo Stephen Benstowe: Member, Ijaw Foundation Special Affairs Committee and member of
the State Creation Subcommittee
Mr.
Lovedale Peterside: Member of the State Creation Subcommittee of the Ijaw
Foundation Special Affairs Committee
549 LEFFERTS AVENUE, BROOKLYN,
NY 11225, USA* Phone & Fax: (718) 778-0536*
Website: www.ijawfoundation.org, Email: board_of_directors@ijawfoundation.org
Ijaw
Foundation is a charitable nonprofit organization with Section 501 (c)
(3) Tax Exempt Status granted by the United States Internal Revenue
Service.
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