| Urhobo Historical Society |
Political Development of the Urhobo
Nation
(A Speech Given on the
Occasion of the 30th Year Anniversary
of UKOKO R�EMOTO, DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY, ABRAKA, NIGERIA,
on Saturday, 27th
March 2010)
By Senator (Dr) Fred A, Brume
Chairman, Urhoho Elders
& Leaders Council
All
Protocols Observed!
Urhobo
Waado!
When
I was first contacted by Dr Ben Omojimite to be the guest speaker at
today�s 30th
anniversary of the Ukoko R�Emoto and then followed up by a letter
stating the
rather unwieldy subject of the anniversary lecture, I was quite
intimidated. Hear this, I was being
requested to give a lecture on the following title: �the
political, social, cultural, local governance, language, etc,
development of the Urhobo nation�. I
am aware that the Ukoko R�Emoto is largely an intellectual group which
draws
its membership from erudite scholars, researchers, lecturers and
professors
largely from the academic environment of the Delta State University,
Abraka. I asked myself, will one book
alone be able to do justice to the subject as outlined above? And I wonder why these scholars in DELSU came
to a practical mere Chemical Engineer like me, who later became an �Odjogu�,
a blacksmith, when I turned to iron and steel making at the Delta Steel
Complex, how can these scholars come to me to speak on such a compex
and
unwieldy subject such as this? Where is
my friend, Prof. Peter Ekeh of the Urhobo Historical Society, or the
retired
Prof. Onigu Otite or their academic likes, in whose domain this kind of
subject
lies? So I turned again to the Chairman
of the planning committee, Dr Ben Omojimite and he looked at me in
sympathy,
and advised that I could narrow down the subject of our lecture to
whatever I
choose. So, I gladly accepted. That is how I came down to the subject of our
today�s lecture that I have titled �POLITICAL
DEVELOPMENT OF THE URHOBO NATION�.
So, let us go into the world of politics as it concerns the
Urhobo
nation.
What Is Politics? And How Does It Apply
to the Urhobo Nation?
Philosophers
and great writers and political thinkers have written volumes and
defined
politics from several dimensions. But to
me, to this simple-minded Chemical Engineer, turned steel-maker and
industrialist, politics is simply
struggle for power. Some have added
that it is a struggle for power to allocate resources.
That is merely a restrictive refinement. What
I
know, have seen and experienced is
that those who have achieved governmental power can use and do use the
power
for many more things other than merely allocating resources.
You
and I know the great range of uses for which people holding political
and
government power in Nigeria have deployed it.
So, politics remains the struggle for power by the democratic
process.
How
does this relate to the Urhobo nation that we should now assemble here
to
promote or meditate on political development of the Urhobo nation? Is it our desire, revealed or concealed, to
have the Urhobo nation become a powerful nation or group amongst the
comity of
the many ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria?
We could seek to pursue or examine the
processes by which some individuals emerge to have greater powers
within the
Urhobo nation itself or in Nigeria as a whole.
We could go to the dimension of even assessing the qualitative
use of
power by its holders, either within the nation � state or as
individuals in an
ethnic grouping. Do Urhobos need power
or not? Why would we need or crave for
power? Is it to oppress our
neighbours? Or is it to enable us resist
oppression by others? Or is it to enable
us provide more rapid development in the environment, promote justice
and
fairness, peace and love and other goodies for the greater public at
large?
When,
for example, the Urhobos struggled for the creation of a new state out
of the
former Mid-West or Bendel State partly in order to bring government
closer to
the people, and the state finally gets created such as we achieved in
Delta
State and someone up there uses his power to locate the capital of the
state
outside of the main population centres or homeland of the Urhobos, does
that
not result in a yearning for political power?
Indeed,
this is why a lecture such as this and to an audience such as you are,
has
become necessary to examine how the Urhobo nation and people have fared
over
the years within the entity called Nigeria and within the Niger Delta
as a zone
or region of Nigeria. We can briefly
examine this subject matter over the various periods of different
governments
in Nigeria, such as:
(1)
the
Colonial
period;
(2)
the
end games of
the colonial period;
(3)
during
the
first
republic (1963-1966);
(4)
the
second
republic (1978-1983);
(5)
the
third
republic (1991-1993);
(6)
the
forth
republic (1999 till date); and
(7)
the
periods of
military interregnum.
How Have the Urhobo Nation Fared over
the Years
During the colonial period
Imperial
Britain who were our colonial masters had a reasonably civilized policy
towards
its colonies at the time they colonized Nigeria and generally
maintained a
policy of justice and fairness, and respect for fundamental human
rights. The Urhobo nation enjoyed relative
peace
during this period and gradually developed in accordance with its level
of
usefulness to the colonial administration.
We can say that the Urhobo nation enjoyed fair treatment from
colonial
administrators when they came to know us more and more, which in fact
improved
towards the end of the colonial period during which time the role of
middlemen
or agents reduced and more direct contact prevailed.
The colonial masters in Western Niger Delta
began to have more direct contact with various people in Urhobo land
and our
fears as minority people within the Western Region or within Nigeria as
a whole
began to be noted towards the end of colonial rule.
The First Republic (1963-1966)
During
this period, the Urhobos were largely in alliance with some leading and
powerful political elements in the North, who belonged to the Northern
Peoples
Congress through Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh (Sam Festus Edah) who had
become a
Federal Minister, as well as with Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe�s NCNC in Eastern
Nigeria. This tripod alliance led to the
successful carving out of the Midwest Region from the original Western
Nigeria
as the Urhobos teamed up with the Edo people in the struggle for the
minorities
to free themselves from the grip and the oppression of their bigger
ethnic
neighbours in the Western Nigeria.
The Second Republic (1978-1983)
During
this period, the Urhobos also fared reasonably well, and also largely
aligned
themselves politically with the NPN which produced Alhaji Shehu Shagari
as the
President of the Federal Republic. It
was also during this period that some important federal
government-owned
industrial enterprises were established or implemented within the
homeland
areas of the Urhobos, e.g. the Delta Steel Complex, the Warri Refinery
and
Petrochemical Company, the Ogorode Power Station at Sapele, the Delta
Electric
Power generation Station at Ughelli, and the expansion of the Warri
Port, etc.
The Third Republic (1991-1993)
During
the third republic, majority Urhobos joined the SDP (Social Democratic
Party),
a nationwide party. An Urhobo son, in
the person of Chief Felix Ibru, became the first Executive Governor of
Delta
State. At the national scene the SDP
which presented Chief M.K.O. Abiola as Presidential Candidate and
Ambassador
Babagana Kingibe as his running mate were heading for electoral
victories when
the elections were stopped by the military and subsequently, a military
head of
state took over power. During the third
republic�s political activities, the Urhobos flowed more with the
nation�s
progressive school of thought as represented by the SDP rather than
with the
more conservative NRC (National Republican Convention).
The Fourth Republic (1999 till date)
The
Urhobos were largely aligned with the PDP from its formative stage and
under it
an Urhobo son, in the person of Chief James Onanefe Ibori, was again
elected
Governor of Delta State, where he served for two terms.
No
major significant breakthrough were realized in Urhobo land or even
nationally
under the PDP rule to date, other than the fact that we have had the
longest
period of democratically elected governance in power for over 10 years. This has been the longest time of democratic
governance since the nation became independent.
However, the quality of the democratic election has been greatly
faulted
and criticized worldwide. The word on
the lips of commentators and citizens generally is ELECTORAL REFORMS
and
internal democracy within the parties, to the intent that the true
choice of
the electorate gets to be realized through a reformed electoral process. The current moves by the National Assembly to
amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are
considered to be
signs of progress in this general direction.
The Urhobo nation has been as much a
victim of sham elections as is the case with several other parts of
Nigeria.
But perhaps
more poignantly, our Delta State has often come to be referred to as a
notable
breeding ground for sham elections.
Periods of Military Interregnum
In
view of the fact that since independence, more than half the period has
been
occupied by military rule, it is worth examining how the Urhobo nation
have
fared during this period even though often known and referred to as an
aberration from the norm of democratic rule.
It can be said that generally the Urhobo nation has fared quite
well
during the periods of military rule.
Many of our sons who have served in the military have often
received
juicy appointments either as military governors, federal ministers or
occupied
some strategic/important positions within the military high command. Furthermore, we have received a reasonable
share of capital project allocation during such periods. For instance,
Delta
Steel Complex, Warri Refining & Petrochemicals, Petroleum Training
Institute at Effurun, Ogorode Power Station, Sapele, etc. were all
started
during the periods of Military rule.
On
the whole, the Urhobo nation has fared reasonably well during the
periods of
military rule.
What does the
future hold for the Urhobo Nation in the Political Power Game?
First,
the Urhobo nation must accept that the future is inclined more and more
to
democratic governance rather than to military rule.
Consequently, we should prepare to polish our
shoes, tie our long wrappers tightly and don our hats, to be hopping
from
one meeting to the other and one
campaign to the other, in order to do the basic work required for
democratic
elections and governance. We must be
prepared to raise younger followers and to identify younger talents so
as to
expose them early to the realities of democratic rule and elections.
We Must Be Prepared to Continue to
Examine Ourselves
We
must be prepared to do more of what the Ukoko R�Emoto of DELSU is doing
today. We must be prepared to re-examine
the past,
question the present and chart new ways forward. In
this
wise, I will pose the following ten
questions toward our self-examination and the charting of a way into
the
future.
(1) What is the true population of the Urhobo
nation?
(2) What is the true population also of our
immediate
neighbours?
(3) Are Urhobos still the 5th or 6th
largest ethnic group in Nigeria and the second in Niger Delta?
(4) Does the Urhobo nation account for
between 45% and
55% of the population of Delta State?
(5) Do the electoral constituencies allotted
to the
Urhobo nation reflect our population strength?
That is
to ask, do the number of LGAs, State
House of Assembly constituencies, or our Federal House of
Representatives
constituencies,
or even
Senatorial allocation boundaries fairly reflect our population strength
in the
State?
(6) If we have been allotted less than what
we
deserve, i.e. if we have been marginalized, how did things come to be
so?
(7) What shall we now do to correct this
situation in
the years ahead?
(8) Are we convinced that democratic rule,
through
democratic elections, remains the best form of governance?
(9) What have we been doing to consciously
and
actively promote democratic rules/elections as the majority ethnic
group in the
state?
(10) Do we consider that promoting a new
state (that
embraces all Urhobos), is a possible answer to our current challenges
that is
worth pursuing?
A Revisit to Democratic Politics and
Elections as the Best Form of the Struggle for Power
Before
rounding up this our excursion into the political development of the
Urhobo
Nation, I will want us to briefly recall again that politics is the
struggle
for power. We know from our readings of
the history of powerful nations or Kings or Empires and Dynasties that
have
reigned in the past, that struggles for power by non-democratic
political
routes have involved the most brutal and the most cruel acts in the
history of
man. Brothers have killed brothers and
sisters; sons have waged war against their fathers and publicly
disgraced them;
friends have become bitter enemies. The
struggle to achieve power and to rule over the rest of the family or of
the
town or of the tribe or of the state or of the nation, simply because
of the
desire to rule has produced gory tales.
When we carefully examine from the experiences of the ages, the
alternative forms of the struggle for power, one conclusion stands out. And
that conclusion remains that democratic politics and elections within
properly
established rules and guidelines remain the best form of the struggle,
for the
people to arrive at someone that should rule over them even for a given
period
of time.
Apart
from an outright decree by the Almighty God of someone that He has
himself
selected to take on the mantle of leadership and rulership over a
people, the
best way, the safest way, the most peaceful way is through democratic
politics
and transparent election of someone that is to be accorded the power to
rule.
So
my brothers and sisters, the Urhobo nation has not been one of the most
highly
acclaimed in coming out with its best through democratic politics and
elections. Consequently, we have not
been able to produce many stars from our Urhobo nation that have been
able to
fly very high indeed in the national arena.
How many of our sons can we readily point out as having been
star
Federal Ministers, star Senators or even star Governors?
When such potentials arise amongst us, do we
promote them or obstruct them or kill them.
Shall we not try to rally round and promote worthy promising
ones
amongst us, rather than to PHD (Pull Him/Her Down)?
Should we not try to suppress that attitude
of IBO (I Before Others) and instead try to serve and promote others
that we
may ourselves receive some day? Apart
from the questions I had earlier posed for our consideration, we need
also to
meditate over the fact that we find it so difficult to rally round and
promote
persons amongst us to become stars that shine brightly across the
nation. Smaller ethnic groups have
succeeded more
than ourselves in the past in this respect.
Let
us pray that the Almighty God, to whom all power belongs and from whom
all
blessings flow, would endow the Urhobo nation with the correct and
right spirit
that stars might rise up from amongst us, which will enable us to gain
our
rightful position as your sons and daughters while here on earth and in
your
kingdom forever. Amen
Senator (Dr) Fred A. Brume
Chairman,
Urhobo Elders & Leaders Council
DELSU, Abraka � Saturday, 27th
March 2010