The Adaka Boro Centre

In 1964, as if in answer to the cries of the minority elements of Nigeria, the country had degenerated into a political inferno. It was a time when everything that was right became wrong; a time when two wrongs made a right and two rights a wrong. The political poise of the country was in a riddle of uncertainties.

Barely two years after independence, it became conclusive that the political party system in Nigeria orbited around the three major tribes, Hausa, Yoruba and Ibo. All other minor parties were mere satellites of the three tribal parties.

The Northern Peoples Congress, representing the Hausa and Northern tribal groups had hanging around it the Niger Delta Congress, the Mid-West Democratic Front, the Nigeria National Democratic Party and later also the Dynamic Party.

The National Council of Nigerian Citizens, touting the Ibo interest, had as its satellites in the Northern Elements Progressive Union, and the Mobolaji Grand Alliance.

The Action Group had the United Middle Belt Congress.

Each of those tribal parties consequently had control in its region of tribal interests.

By 1965, it was a popular boast in some circles that these three tribes controlled Nigeria. They had a firm grip in their tribal zones.

One could tell what the results of an election would be in the East, West or North, even before the campaigns started. It was not important if a minister, a judge or a high government official belonged to an obnoxious cult or received a ten percent commission on contract awards, if he belonged to the right tribe.  A Nigerian political party could go any length to eliminate another party particularly by using hired assailants that become known as “thugs". The amount of influence of a politician was reckoned on the number of its thugs, who were armed with anything from cudgels to automatic firearms.

Election manifestos promised the high heavens and politics became an affair of people without conscience. For example, in the Federal House where the required representation was 312, no single tribal party was able to obtain a two thirds majority necessary for important bills. The greater party, the N.P.C., representing almost 80% of the 29 million North, was coaxed by the N.C.N.C. to form a coalition.

What happened after the elections was this. The topmost leaders both in Parliament and in the cabinet were pressurized to join a prominent club or an internal caucus with the pretext that they would become aware of the secret personalities guiding the country and so secure their safety against sabotage. These organisations were, however, bodies operating beyond social limits, and constituted the voice-behind-the-screen of the government. They were like England’s l8th century Hell-Fire Club.

Under these strange circumstances, democracy was ravishly raped and the foundation of the nation was rocked. Nigeria was built on shifting sand from the word go, torn as it was amongst the most monstrous social and political vices. There grew a class of persons riding from obscure poverty to aristocracy and fame; they were tribally bound and socially indebted to one clique or the other. The club, like a colossus, held the fortunes of the nation in its palm.

By the end of 1962, the state of affairs had brewed strong feelings of hopelessness amongst many prominent Nigerian youths; I was not an exception. In October, 1962, therefore I assembled seven students from the Niger Delta area to discuss the political future of our people. From thence we called ourselves the Internal Circus.

Representatives came from all areas ranging from Opobo in to Forcados. Among those prominent were Colbert Toby, Opobo; Samuel Adoki, Okrika; Stephen Fufeyin, Forcados. I was elected Secretary—General and although no far reaching decisions were taken, the spirit of oneness was inculcated. Our primary objective was to organise ourselves into a strong political force to struggle for our self determination, as soon as we graduated. However, it later became certain that most of us were too tied to the privileged lives nature had so kindly stored for us to bother about greater things.

In 1963, during the long vacation, I had started a political, sampling of our people and made new finds — Samuel Owonaru and one other Ijaw youth. We discovered that most of the youths were so frustrated with the general neglect that they were ready for any action led by an outstanding leader to gain liberty. However, there was a second category of people who belonged to the privileged class of big politicians and civil servants who did not want to have anything to do with a freedom movement or even have emancipation discussed in their presence. This, they felt, would jeopardise their position with either their parties or their civil service attainments. The third, belonged to the reticent, non-committal group who felt their lot was beyond redemption and did not care whether their birthrights were given to the dogs or not. The aim of an emancipation was neither for the privileged nor for the reticent but for the poor and oppressed, although all might on the long run enjoy the outcome.

We proceeded to visit some embassies for aid, particularly those who professed to be the advocates of freedom. One Embassy R. was truly interested, although it took me a good deal of time to explain the location of the Niger Delta area. But when our political views were ascertained on our next meeting, they did not take kindly to our pro—North inclinations and cancelled all our previous rapport. The embassy dropped earlier promises to satisfy our appeal for aid.

However, we did not flag in our belief that whenever a people are outrageously oppressed, even where aid is remote, it would be offered by Providence, provided the people are bent on setting themselves free.  Other embassies we visited yielded no profitable results.

At this juncture, it occurred to me that a tour of some West African countries to visit the embassies there might do us some good. While visiting embassies in Nigeria, we had learnt to our dismay, that some trade unionists had taken huge sums of money from them without even the mere development of revolutionary ideas in Nigerian youths. Double dealing had been the main accusation. So, the envoys felt reluctant to deal with any more Nigerian Youth leaders or their relations. With these deterrent factors, we concluded that a West African tour was the only solution.

So in August, .1964, with a slim purse I proceeded with Samuel Owonaru to Dahomey, Togo and Ghana. We had our West African travel certificates and the passage through Dahomey and Togo was free. We had a good time in the hotels, spending the franc. One Nigerian pound could give one as much as a bundle of seven hundred and fifty Dahomean or Togolese francs and to one restricted to spending a few pounds at a time, there was real pleasure in dishing raw cash like a millionaire. Initially, our main target was Ghana. In the year, there had been a bomb attack on President Nkrumah. Consequently the Ghana—Togo border had been closed.

The offence for breaking through the border was six months’ imprisonment and subsequent deportation, that is, after being cleared of sabotage, a charge against which one might find a difficult defence in the circumstances. However, as I indicated earlier, Ghana was our target and if we could not crash through a border, then we were not fit to spear-head freedom-fighting.

It took us about an hour to adapt ourselves to Togolese conditions and but, for the language deterrent, no one could guess we were Nigerians about to steal in. With my poor French vocabulary, we went wench—hunting in the commoner hotels after securing accommodation in the Hotel Lebene. We were also able to acquire information and hire a guide for the duties of the next day. A couple of bottles of French beer, making me remember my Man O’ War Bay days, and a few tall shots of Cinzano—Martini parallel mixtures tossed us sufficiently to have a good night’s rest.

Our guide woke us early in the morning and told us we were getting too late to be safe. In many countries, there are numerous border entries where well tended roads lead to neighbouring countries. Some of these borders are so close that a tall man, with legs astride, could comfortably manage affairs in both countries. The Togo-Ghana border is one of them. In fact, one could take a warm handshake with a friend in Ghana without becoming a prohibited immigrant. The only difference in that border at the time of its closure was that while shaking hands, your fingers could be disconnected by a bullet. At close distances of thirty yards, sentries stood guard facing the Togolese side of the border.

We did not take the main southern border gate. This would be suicidal. Our guide hired a cab and we drove northwards to an obscure border police station with a few Togolese commissioners. We easily tipped those off and, after a brief search, we were permitted to go to the gallows. Our guide went in advance of us and again tipped off the Ghana Police guards covering about fifty yards on both sides. The guide took us some distance through the grassland and suddenly he disappeared.

We were left alone to find our way. Before we proceeded a small distance, we heard yells from a nearby bush. We were thunderstruck by fright and, lying flat on the ground with frozen spines, we could not even hear the voice of somebody asking us not to move an inch for the sake of our dear lives until he had come very close with a gloomy rifle muzzle pointing at us straight. He was a huge black—sweatered policeman. His eyes sparked tire and we knew we were finished. Another short roughly dressed civilian appeared, smiling and pretending to plead for us. He whispered to the policeman and asked if we had three pounds Ghana currency. At Lome, we had cashed about ten Nigerian pounds to twenty Ghanaian. We quickly gave them three of these and the policeman receded to his post. This new guide took us to the Oho-Aflao road where we boarded a lorry to Aflao. There was no other incident on the way to Accra except that the frequent vehicle searches so oppressed our guilty conscience that it did not need a Sherlock Holmes to tell any vigilant detective or even a civilian that we were either escaping murderers or gold smugglers.

Since nobody bothered about us we started assuming an air portraying us as Nkrumah’s children. It did not take us a long time to make wenching acquaintances, booking appointments we could not fulfil. We were  tiresomely preoccupied with meetings with the Niger Delta communities in Tema, Accra, Achimota, Cape Coast. The desire for self-determination was at its height among the people and there was an Ijaw League there more united than any single organisation I have come across. All the clans of the Ijaws were represented and my heart bounced with happiness that these were our kith and kin who, though far from home, exhibited the pure and undefiled traits of the Ijaw man. I wish I could carry them enbloc to their homes to revive the fast dying enthusiasms of their people. We were catered for and everybody appreciated our movement.

However, our aid-seeking mission was again a precarious adventure. A visit to only one embassy, the Cuban Embassy, was sufficient to send us tip—toeing out of the country. One morning, we proceeded to the Embassy which was the foremost in our minds ever before we left Nigeria. The inclination was obvious. In Cuba was the hero of modern revolution, Dr. Fidel Castro. In fact, he started like me with similar motives. Surely, if all that we heard about Cuba were true, it would be certain in the absence of aid, at least there would be a good gesture. However, when we arrived at the offices of the Embassy of this much vaunted country, we met a beautiful receptionist. His Excellency, the Cuban Ambassador, was not on seat. After a lot of persuasion, we were given the residential address.  All this time, we were parading the streets of Accra with our Togo stamped passports. A cab took us to His Excellency’s magnificently oak—lined, mahogany—brimmed residence. He was not in, but before long his first secretary, a tall stately lady, zoomed in with a portable sports car.

We introduced ourselves and during her diplomatic reception, a lot of diplomatic questions were thrown to us.

Overwhelmed with the hospitality, we over-humbled ourselves. One of the questions I remember well was if we knew Samuel Ikoku. I answered that, although we do not tow the same political ideology, we knew him as a Nigerian involved in the Treasonable—Felony case with Chief Awolowo. Besides we came from different tribal settings. I proceeded to enumerate the various political entrapments as well as the existingpotentialities of our place and also that we were endeared to the efforts of Fidel to free his people and that that was our main goal. Here was the next obstacle. The mere fact that we differed in political ideology with Samuel Ikoku squeezed a disinterested frown from our much admired lady. We were looked upon with suspicion and she became utterly restive. She moved in and out of the reception hall and if she talked at all, it was no more on our interests but only on the legend of the Cuban descent from Oyo in Western Nigeria, and their wish to open an embassy in Nigeria.

The first secretary was happily relieved, when His Excellency breezed in in an immaculate limousine. His first uncompromising glance made me guess something was afoot. After a brief private tete-a—tete with his secretary, he emerged from an upper closet. His Excellency asked us for our names and our mission in such a harsh undiplomatic tone that I wished I could do one of two things? to melt into a stream with Sammy into the Atlantic and flow back to Nigeria or disappear with him straight home and let our people bear their fate by themselves. There we were with straight ears listening to His Excellency’s pronouncement. It came. More shocking than the news of a heavy loss at a big gamble. We were to leave the Embassy premises within sixty seconds. I could hardly believe my ears. But it was true. The threat went further that five seconds had elapsed and it remained only fifty-five seconds left for him to call in the police. Dumbfounded, we stood gummed to our places for another twenty seconds not determined whether or not we should give the Excellency a bit of our bad breeding by telling him he was a hypocritical socialist. Of what use could that be?

There was a man diplomatically immuned, and here we were grossly prohibited immigrants. We hurried off the premises vowing that should we ever gain our freedom, a worthy reward would be given to all fake socialists. What really offended me was that he forgot or refused to remember that during the revolutionary days of Fidel, when he was chased wild by the Batista regime, he could not have succeeded if the Soviet Union had not sent aid to him. Yet here was an appointee of the same Fidel, diplomatically empty and wicked.

After that episode at the Cuban diplomatic residence, it was no longer necessary for us to remain in Ghana, for if I detest anything in my life, it is a chat with the police because it usually ends with a cry in jail. After confining ourselves to certain environments for three days, we left to try another
border encounter back to Nigeria.

The Nigerian Federal Elections were to take place in December of that year and the Ijaw League in Ghana had decided to send a campaign delegation to help the Northern Alliance. This was their idea, but it was  principally due to our inspiration during the various meetings. A delegation of eleven was chosen and we were to pilot them safely to Nigeria. I was already late for resumption in my final session at the University. However, only those who do not know what a revolution is, care about their careers.  A true revolutionary principally cares for the realisation of his plans. Any discussion which does not touch on emancipation becomes boring and he scarcely has a time of his own, it is always devoted to others.

Dangerous though this is, he cannot avoid it because it is born in him. Any attempt to divert him from
his desire to liberate his people disconcerts his entire set-up.

A difficult life it is.  We took a lorry hired by the League back to Aflao where a swift arrangement was made for the crossing of the border. This time we were to pass into the Togo side about five hundred yards north of the Ghana custom-police gates. The guides made a bargain of thirty—five pounds with us which was two pounds per head and the rest was for load conveyance and exigencies. The thirteen of us were divided into three sets. Leading the whole group, I was to cross with the last set. As the payment of each set was made, they were taken to the Togo side of the border, and whenever they were to pass the last huddle, the guides demanded more money. Two sets had been sent across when a striking thing happened.

The policeman who had stood guard at the point of exit had been arrested for corruption by other policemen and locked up in a guard room. lf this were the only mishap, there could have been no excitement. What brought the alarm was that a swift search was being made for us and our guides had raced through to my slumps to take us out to safety. The relentless policeman pursued and we were removed from one place to the other. This continued until night befell us and the chase was temporarily suspended. We slept on bare sand.

Early in the following morning, the guides arrived and took us to the same illegal exit point. Meanwhile, some of the men left with me had their load in Togo and themselves in Ghana. There was one particular case where one man who was taking his daughter to Nigeria for the first time had been separated from her during the escape. He had had a restless night thinking whether one of those younger men had taken her away for a good night’s rest or worse.

At this time we had arrived at the final huddle which was to escape from a house which was fenced against the border road. From it, we could see our expectant comrades who were safe on the Togo side of the border. Prominent among them was the daughter of my restive delegate in the safe hands of one of the young men. We were four left behind and two had to cross at a time when a signal was to be given by one of the guides. The first signal came and the first two crossed so that I was left behind with the unfortunate father of the girl. His head was pregnant with ideas. He became even offensive and swore several times. We were informed that a new set of police guards were changing duty and we could not cross until late in the morning. My dear gentleman threatened to cross and get. shot instead of leaving his daughter to a possible seducer. I calmed him. There was nothing else he could do other than brood over the disaster in silence.

There were no further incidents until we arrived in Lagos, except that one of the chartered estate Peugeot cars carrying me, Samuel and four others ominously killed a pigeon on the new Idi-Iroko road under  construction then. On arrival in Lagos, I collected the car of the parliamentary representative of Yenagoa Province in the Federal house and began conveying the delegates to his Ikoyi residence in batches.  As if fulfilling the omen, something happened. Although incidents were no longer novel in my life, this was extraordinary at the time. I had just made the first trip conveying the men when on my second round I had it.

Just after the road junction between Ribadu Road and Keffi Street, two buses were packed loading passengers bound for Ikoyi. A taxi-cab was packed next to one of the buses leaving a few feet in the narrow tar way. As if this was not enough, a tout jerked his back into the remaining side of the road with his head in the cab, having a friendly discussion with the driver of the cab. In a split—second as I cleared off the tar to avoid the jumble, it was too late for me to observe that I had carried along with me the tout for nearly fifteen yards. When I stopped the car, he was sprawling on the ground virtually dead. As usual with township mobs, a crowd had immediately formed shouting "He has been killed!!!"

Too many awkward incidents had occurred in my twenty six years of existence for me to get excited. I bent over my victim to find he was still breathing. With the help of one of the inmates in the car we put him in the back seat and took him to the Creek Hospital but he was refused treatment on the ground that the hospital does not entertain outpatients.

We proceeded to the General Hospital where luckily a doctor gave us prompt attention. I had expected his skull to be cracked, bones with compound fractures, but to my relief the doctor announced that his body was intact and that he was unconscious owing to some denerving alcohol and shock. He smelled profusely of alcohol. The patient was given some treatment for possible internal hemorrhage and later
admitted. I remained at his bedside for nearly two weeks.

When he had almost recovered. I then left some cash with him for exigencies and left for the university.
Meanwhile our delegates were settling down comfortably to face the task which they were assigned. I tried to give them as much warning as possible on the type of political campaigns they would find in Nigeria.  A few members of the group were already feeling they could fend for themselves and felt my presence repulsive. Notwithstanding, I still sympathised with them because they were our tribal devotees and the circumstances they would find themselves particularly with the N.C.N.C. thugs would shatter their enthusiasm to pieces.

So it was. The first shock they received before I returned to the university was the cold reception given them by the politicians of the Niger Delta Congress they had adored for years. These politicians instead of making use of the rare opportunity, shamelessly felt that the men were a burden on them even when they explained that they were wholly sponsored by the Ijaw League in Ghana and would not be dependent on them.

This reminds me of something minor but politically important. Before we passed through the Nigerian border at Idi—Iroko, a police constable had found in the portfolio of the secretary to the delegation, introductory letters to party leaders of the Nigeria National Alliance. These were seized.
The delegates were asked if they had the effrontery of supporting a northern party when they were southerners. He later allowed them to go but with a reprimand and asked them to go to the police headquarters if they wished to get back their documents. The Yenagoa provincial representative in the Federal Parliament, who was a parliamentary secretary but preferred being called a deputy minister, could do nothing to get the documents back.

During the electioneering campaigns, the delegates did more than any group to propagate the ideologies ofthe Niger Delta Congress. The National Council of Nigeria Citizens (N.C.N.C.) did not like that and their reaction was immediate and effective. The delegation had chartered a powered canoe for their own use in the period of the campaigns.  But one day, after the debilitating activities of the day’s crowded programme at Patani, they retired, pleased with their success, little knowing the plans of saboteurs, they had retired to the canoe where they slept on the decks. A Nigerian political party can go any length to achieve its ends.

At night, when all the delegates were asleep, some N.C.N.C. thugs went down to the canoe and set fire on the reserved drum of petrol and in a moment the whole canoe was ablaze. Thanks to God, they were true Ijaws and if there is any place where an Ijaw finds solace in time of difficulty, it is in water.
So, into the river they plunged and swam to safety.

That brought their campaigns to a sad end. Their enthusiasm got spent. So they returned to Ghana, with a
message of disillusionment and distrust in their brothers. But they were not beaten down finally, as the role they played in subsequent events. proved.

And what about us?

After the initial set backs in our revolutionary moves, we had to wait for an opportunity time would offer. I remember that there was a stalemate caused by the inability of certain parties to realise their ambitions. I sneaked out of the university. With. Samuel and some youths of our area, I organised a brief action front in preparation against a threat by the Eastern Government to boycott the Federal seteup and
find its own way. Later the matter was apparently resolved, and we abandoned the plan.

When I left the university, I was employed as a Technical Officer in the Faculty of Science in the University of Lagos.

The revolutionary spur in me knew no rest. In order to prepare the minds of the Ijaw youths for the ripe moment, I formed an organisation with the help of Samuel Owonaru, Selete, a former contestant to a Federal Parliamentary seat for Brass South, and Nothingham Dick, another believer in the right of self determination of the Ijaws. The organisation became known as Integral W X Y Z. These letters were not magical but represented a complexity of fields of operation. W stood for the Niger Delta Labour Advisory Council; X for the Niger Delta Forum for Political Education; Y for the Niger Delta Oil Council; and Z for the Reserved Operation Zero.

For the Niger Delta Labour Advisory Council, we set ourselves to list out the various possible avenues of obtaining labour in Nigeria as a whole. The registration fee was five shillings and any· registered member had the privilege to check daily with the Labour co—ordinator for opportunities.

ln the membership cards, each person indicated his employment interest, which was also transferred to a ledger. A board was kept outside to acquaint members of new opportunities discovered and from the ledgers, all those who had registered for those jobs were called upon on a particular day for selection by a lucky dip. Despite expected odds and, although we did not achieve much because of the brief interruption by certain circumstances, we were able to have the confidence of many people.

As regards the Niger Delta Forum for Political Education, the job of the co-ordinator was to write politically inspiring articles in the various Nigerian newspapers, preparation of leaflets and pamphlets pointing out the rights of ourpeople, the inefficiency of certain political stooges and the near ripeness of our self-determination. This Council was also to call the attention of the suffering youths to their bleak future.

The Niger Delta Oil Council was to intimate the oil companies of their continued atrocities to our people and their wicked reluctance to improve the lot of the people they were bound to be associated with for long. This Council was also to make out estimated bills for payment by the oil companies with respect to inadequate damages paid to natives for cash crops and economic trees destroyed during their operation for so many years in the Niger Delta. These bills were worked out and appointments were made but the same unforeseen circumstances interrupted the implementation.

Integral WXYZ had its offices at 67 Malu Road, Apapa, Lagos, and may have attained encouraging heights had it not been for the intervention of the Army Coup of January 15, 1966, when we found it imperative to move home and defend the existence of our people against an impending tribal holocaust.

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