Letter to Ken Saro-Wiwa
By Joi Nunieh
MY dearest Teh Kenule,Odoodowa? What about my other Ogoni compatriots? I am sure you are all doing well. I know that being in heaven is definitely better than this hell we are experiencing here on earth.
You have not heard from me for over four (4) years now because I was honestly hoping that things would get better in Nigeria. I am sure you must have concluded that out of sight is out of mind? For where! Uncle Ken, like all other Ogonis, the people of the Niger Delta and of course the ethnic minorities of Nigeria whom you all lived and died for, can never, never forget you. Everyday we go through life seeing the evidence of our oppression and deprivation.
Have you seen Isaac Adaka Boro recently? Am sure you are all weeping for us. Your death revealed your eminence and I take consolation in the fact that they killed the messenger but could not and can never kill the message. I know your death did not take you by surprise. You were always prepared to leave, as you said in one of your last interviews that if given the opportunity, you would like the epitaph on your grave to read "Here lies the body of a man who Nigeria loved to hate, even in death they deprived him of the usual 6ft 7 inches." I am still dazed that it came to pass. I went to the Oputa Panel to tell the world our story and when I remembered man's inhumanity to man, how acid was poured on your remains I broke down whilst being led in evidence by Anthony Idigbe (SAN).
Remember in my last letter, I told you how our "message" got to the Commonwealth and because of our "small" Ogoni "pure-pure" Nation, made up of seven kingdoms, Nigeria was thrown out of the Commonwealth. When we were said to have become a "Democratic Nation", they brought us back on board. When I travel overseas I usually meet those who know about life and the environment, and as soon as I say I am an Ogoni from Nigeria, they always ask if I knew Ken Saro-Wiwa? I (very proudly) say I didn't just know you, I tell them you were my great Uncle, the bridge between the young and the old. I immediately get all the honour and reception you would have received. I know you would love to hear this as I remember how you rebuked me and Rita Togi (now Mrs. Poroma, yes she married Joe) for smiling after the Ambassador said, he was surprised that Ogoni had such beautiful girls. I remember how you got so angry with us that day.
Nigeria needs leaders who truly love Nigeria. Please help tell God that we need leaders who will motivate, and not mislead and exploit us like those you left behind. Some of the ones we have today antagonise and influence at the same time. They dislike or disparage dissenting opinions in some cases even go as far as killing their perceived enemies. The hardship in Nigeria is just too much. We have not seen nor reaped the dividend of democracy (Dem-all-crazy). I wish Fela was alive today, he should have released at least ten new albums. As for you, you would have written volumes by now.
The 2003 general elections were rigged beyond your imagination. You did not see anything like this before you left. Now, the people's mandate does not matter. I saw a ballot paper for the first time in Abuja when we were preparing election petitions. People who did not win elections were sworn into offices, those who won and were men of little faith sold their mandates. Many decamped to the ruling party out of their lust for wealth; and are yet to receive promises made to them. I was shocked to see the President of the NLC at a press conference after the elections, telling Nigerians to accept the results of the fraudulent elections as we are a third world and not expected to be perfect at electioneering. Few days after his speech, he was all over the country cutting victory cakes.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) threatens to go on strike from time to time and so far has had only one successful one. I say successful not because of the influence of the NLC, but because the people decided to express their frustrations and decided that if we allow men to use us for our own purpose, they will use us for themselves. It's amazing to see the rainbow face of labour. I am sure new entrants have told you that Nigeria is hard. In the midst of life, we are dead. Do you believe that majority of Nigerians buy water to bathe, drink, wash, cook etc.? Even the so called "Leaders" drink water from their boreholes in their various government houses. The price of fuel is rising every day, this same oil which you died for.
I heard the clarion call and decided that "wise men (or women) who refuse to do anything suffer the rule of idiots". Being an activist and environmentalist (laugh - you remember we Nigerians like to have unnecessary titles) I thought I could stand up for the masses (yes those whom you lived and died for). I went into politics and declared for the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), I was most disappointed, I became confused. At a point I asked myself if you and the others were right to have put your lives on the line for these people.
I remembered how the lackeys of our oppressors in the Niger Delta rejoiced over your death. They were used to tell the world that you only talked about the Ogonis and not other endangered people in the Niger Delta. I remember when you started Ethnic Minority Rights of Africa (EMIROAF) at Tejuosho Street, Lagos. I attended some of the meetings. I saw how some of our so called elites in the Niger Delta were used to kill such a brilliant idea. They also dissociated from you and even said that you never had the mandate of their ethnic groups. They paid for adverts in our national dailies, yes, Nigerians read them. I remember how painful it was for you, but am glad you were Ogoni. You immediately got our people together and became a spokesman for us. First, the Ogoni Bill of Rights and then the 1st Ogoni Day (January 4 1993).
Thank you for giving me the great opportunity to speak at that historic event. I was the youngest and the only female speaker that day. It was indeed an honour to speak after great men like you, my maternal uncle Dr. Garrick B. Leton, a great Ogoni scientist, who led the team which invented the Ogbunigwe bomb (the missile which the Biafrans and the Igbos now boast of), Chief Edward Kobani (the people's man). Infact Chief Kobani drove me in his car to Bori, (the traditional headquarters of Ogoni) on that faithful day. Yet some so called elites decided to misquote you when you talked about the Ogoni Nation. As illiterates, they did not understand that you meant of an Ogoni nation, a nation within a nation (just like the Ijaw Nation).
As I was saying, these same people whom you all gave your lives for were used to steal their own mandates. The children of the common men were initiated into different cults, armed, given drugs and were made to fill in ballot boxes, thumb print cards and ensured that elections did not hold. They did not understand that by receiving wrappers, worth only N2,000.00 with the pictures of their oppressors clearly printed on them meant that they had indeed sold their rights. Poverty has hardened the hearts of the masses. Can you imagine that Chief Gani Fawehinmi was a presidential candidate during the elections and this great lawyer, who has been beaten, imprisoned and injected with poisonous substances for his defence of the cause of the common men of this country, did not get the support expected from the masses? In fact one very poor man told me Gani was a joke.
These modern day Nigerian political leaders lack the quality of leadership stated in Psalm 13 of the Holy Bible, because they lack integrity, they participate in gossip and are petty and rely on information from their sycophants. These politicians antagonise and influence at the same time. They dislike and disparage dissenting opinions and in some cases go as far as killing perceived enemies just to hold or keep political offices. I am sure you are asking if there are any amusing deaths lately. Yes of-course. They killed Dr. Marshall Harry, Chief Aminasoari K. Dikibo, Chief Bola Ige etc. (God help me). They have succeeded in vulcanizing death. We the masses are in fact the living dead on holiday. They pretend to speak out against corruption but because of their greed, they close their eyes to the activities of their agents, family members and political associates. These leaders antagonise and influence at the same time.
Uncle, Nigeria needs leaders like you. Leaders who love Nigeria, Men and women who will motivate and not mislead or exploit Nigerians. I remember what you taught us about loving Nigeria and how you and our other forefathers fought and died for this country. The reprisals in the Niger Delta are still on. You see why I said they killed the messengers and not the message? Recently, a young Alhaji Asari Dokubo from the Kalabari Kingdom led a reprisal against the multinationals, State and Federal Governments operating in the Niger Delta. Guess what, as soon as it was flashed on the CNN, the Federal Government sent their plane to pick him to Abuja. He told the world about the sufferings of our people and exposed the lies and propaganda in the region.
As in years gone by, the Federal Government established what they call the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), something like the Niger Basin Authority and the OMPADEC. It is again, an avenue to deprive us of our God-given wealth. It was said to have been set up for the marginalised and endangered people of Niger Delta region who were previously derogatively referred to as "Mba-mmiri", which (means "people who live in the Delta"). A people whose intellect they claimed flowed with the rise and fall of the ebbing tide. Today those who referred to us a "Mba-mmiri" have successfully acquired the leadership of the commission. The NDDC has not done anything for the poverty stricken people of the Niger Delta. We just hear about huge sums of money being budgeted and doled out to the commission
These political leaders are so corrupt. I am a politician (but not the typical Nigerian one). Like most Nigerians, I was really expecting that since we like to struggle for leadership positions with other countries, that our country would be elevated to the first (1st) position in the Corruption Index. But very recently, Transparency International published that we have become number 3. Guess what, our politicians have been crying blue-murder claiming that it's a dent on our reputation. I am shocked at their reaction. They should be grateful because it was indeed a favour.
The situation is terrible and all we hear about is religious and inter-communal clashes, all induced by politicians and their agents. Please beg God to help us, I don't want to depend on just the Pastors as some of them have sold their conscience. They are beginning to say things God did not tell them. Some have become political sycophants; they are no longer interested in winning souls for Christ. They have become prosperity preachers, edifying themselves and boasting about miracles.
I am not trying to lobby to make heaven, in case this letter leaks from you. God knows my heart and my deeds will see me through. The political sycophants are everywhere, you find them in all our states, villages and even in our families. As for me I have tasted the bitter pill from them. I have been denied and publicly dissociated from by my in-laws for being in the ANPP, infact my dissenting views cost me my marriage. I was regarded as an outcast who had "dented their image". I decided to change my name back to my maiden name Nunieh.
Enough about Nigeria. Ah! Great relief eh? I will write you next year by God's Grace. You can be sure so much would have happened. Doowo
