Just as Nigerian newspapers released the list of states recommended by the current Nigerian national conference in Abuja. People within and outside Nigeria that are constant with events in the country were shocked, speechless, and dismay and remained so that Bori State was callously removed from the list of states recommended by the conference in Abuja. Some remains disbelieve and are making calls among themselves wanting to know the rationale behind the removal of Bori State. After all, removal of Bori State was a hateful act, but who else is more responsible than the so called national conference!
Here is what we know regarding Bori State. Up until recently perhaps since the beginning of the current national conference, Bori State was at the forefront of states seriously considered. According to Nigeria constitution, for a state to be created there are certain requirements that state seekers must meet. Ogoni people despite their disadvantages when it comes for Nigerian politics had work very hard to meet all requirements for a Bori State. They had in several occasions submitted the requirements to appropriate places including to Nigerian National Assemblies that has the mandate to create state.
Bori State was reported to have in fact crossed the threshold of running to meet requirement and was considered potential state should state be created until this infamous national conference. Until this point no excuse has been given for trying to kill Bori State. Should Bori State be created it has a better chance of economic development that will be less depended on federal allocation as we are seeing with majority of the existing states and the ones now recommended by the infamous Abuja conference.
The 18 states now recommended are mostly being shared among the powerful groups that already with multiple states and their smaller cousins leaving behind minority nationalities like the Ogonis. But what these groups are failing to understand is simply dosing out states for themselves, because they have the power to do so is no guarantee for development none does it guarantee good and credible leadership that they lacks. Their actions only exposed the recklessness of Nigerian system. If Nigeria was the United States of America, state like Texas or other large states with massive population would have been splits more than 10 times into dozens of states. What these groups with multiple states actually need is good and credible leadership, not more states. Good leadership comes only when leaders are genuinely elected and can be fire by the people without Abuja imposition.
States creation at this point should go beyond major groups fighting to equalize number of states for themselves. New states should be about equity and fairness in the broader picture, it should be about bringing into the fold minorities like the Ogonis that had been disenfranchised from Nigeria’s success story. One of the major criterions for creating states that’s roundly favor by economists is viability; if it is not viable it is not worth creating.
Bori State will be one of the most viable and most qualified state and it removal from the current list is flagrant robbery. The term has come to once again draw attention to the fact that Nigeria is a violent place and violence is the only language that’s roundly respected. The so called national conference in Abuja is a continuation of the culture of suppression, oppression, and domination over groups like the Ogonis. The action of the majority ethnic nationalities had again reiterates their belief that Ogoni nationality doesn’t belong and is not welcome beyond the status of servitude.
Ogoni UNEP Report is still not being implemented as was recommended. We are talking about a report that was conducted by UN and the discoveries were shocking that it recommended urgent actions. For Nigeria not to act on the urgency of the report, given the severity of the discoveries only left us with the belief that the country is making real its policy of exterminating Ogoni ethnic nationality.
What is also true is that superpower nations and their corporations as well as international organizations like the UN are all entangled in the Ogoni crises. Therefore, to say that UN has solemn obligations to ensure that it environmental report is implemented with the urgency it calls for would be an understatement. Unfortunately UN has been suspiciously silent on Ogoni issues making it look as if Ogoniland is in a different planet from earth. The complete silence on UNEP Report and the denying of Bori State speaks for themselves the challenges faced by Ogoni people in Nigeria.
Livinus Inordee,
Linordee12@yahoo.com