April  14, 2001
 

Dear Fellow Niger Deltans:

We, leaders of Niger Delta organizations in the Diaspora, come to you in this religious season of suffering and reflections for two purposes. First, we want to assure you that your brothers and sisters who are away overseas all over the world -- in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and other regions of Africa -- have not forgotten the dangers that now threaten our futures and the very survival of our ancestral heritage in the Niger Delta. We promise to fight along with you, side by side, for the survival of the Niger Delta and for the reversal of the dangerous policies and practices that besiege our lands, rivers, and populations. We promise to come to you directly in the next weeks, months, and years, until we are all assured that the evil forces that seek to ruin us for the sake of our resources turn away from their wrongful plans and policies.

We come to you for a more immediate second reason. This is a religious season which enshrines contemplation and reflections in the midst of suffering. We offer you four poems that reflect on our suffering and pain in the Niger Delta. They also make pronouncements about those who inflict pain on the Niger Delta and who seem to enjoy our suffering. We think it is proper that we reflect on the meanings of these poems. They have no bullets in them. But they bear wisdom. We ask that they be taught in our schools. Let our teachers and students study them. They will lay the moral foundation of the projects that we will embark upon and about which we will come to you in the next several months.

The first of these poems was written by one who labours to call attention to our damaged environment in the Niger Delta and who resides with you in the Niger Delta. The next two of these painful poems were composed by Niger Deltans in the Diaspora. The fourth was penned by a British who was in the colonial service in Nigeria. We believe these poems deliver direct messages to President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Bola Ige of the Federal Government of Nigeria. We have therefore copied this letter and these poems to these powerful men. We do so because we believe these men are supervising their Government's persecution and victimization of the Niger Delta. We want them to know that Niger Deltans are not fools and that we know those who seek to destroy us.

We also copy this letter to the Union of the Niger Delta and to all the Governors in our region. We want them and our legislators to stand firm on our common behalf in our present travails. We call on every Niger Deltan to help distribute this letter and these poems to our people at home by every available means.

The four poems are presented below. We salute you all in the good name of the Niger Delta. We wish you good reflections and deep contemplation in this season that exposes men's inhumanity to their fellow men and women.
 

Sincerely yours,
 

Interim Niger Delta Leadership Group in the Diaspora:
 
 

cc. Union of Niger Delta
      Governors of States in the Niger Delta
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Complaints from Niger Deltans about the dangers they experience from the Federal Government's exploitation of their lands and resources have often been met with scorn. In effect, the Federal Government of Nigeria blames Niger Deltans for the difficulties that they experience. The Almighty Federal Government of Nigeria has enjoined Niger Deltans to keep law and order over Its properties in their region, failing which they would be punished. The military invasion and devastation of the town of Odi in Baylesa State of the Niger Delta in late 1999 was a clear warning and signal to the people of the Niger Delta that the Federal Government of Nigeria would punish Deltans if they did not uphold Its interest in the region. That invasion, considered unjustified by independent observers, was at the instance of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Less than a year later, his Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, has issued another military threat against Niger Deltans, warning them of another military action if they failed to protect the oil pipes and other oil-carrying equipment in the region.

The following Psalm is a reply to Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Federal Government from a "Nigerian Publius." May his prayer be heeded.

Deliver us from our enemies O our God
Defend us from those who rise up against us
Deliver us from the workers of iniquity
And save us from bloodthirsty men.

For look, they lie in wait for our lives
The mighty gather against us
Not for our transgression nor for our sins, O Lord
But because we want control of the resources You gave us.

Forty years they have stolen from us
Yet they are not satisfied
Forty years they robbed the widows that they created
They have killed the young men so that none should rise up
They have polluted the land and the water
We can neither farm nor fish.

Now they have made an alliance with the powerful
To obtain weapons and training
Not to enthrone righteousness, nor to glorify Your name
Not to establish justice, but to intimidate and suppress
They run and prepare themselves through no fault of ours
They have said to themselves
Who can stop us?

Awake to help us and behold: You therefore
O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel
Awake to punish all the nations
Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors.

At evening they return
They growl like a dog
And go all around the nation
Indeed they belch with their mouth
Swords are in their lips
For they say, “Who hears?”

They poured concrete on the desert sand
And planted a seed, and said it will not grow.

But You, O Lord, shall laugh at them
You shall have all the oppressors in derision.

We will wait for You, O You our strength
For God is our defense
Our God of mercy shall come to meet us
God shall let us see our desire on our enemies.

Do not slay them, lest our people forget
Scatter them by Your power
And bring them down
O Lord our shield.
For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips
Let them be taken in their pride.
And for the cursing and lying which they speak
Consume them in wrath, consume them
That they may not be.

But we will sing of Your power
Yes, we will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning
For You have been our defense
And refuge in the day of our trouble
To You O our strength, we sing praises
For God is our defense
Our God of mercy
Forgive us our sins in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen.

------ Nigerian Publius

October 2000

"Take a reflection on this poem presented to a world audience at the European Peace University, Stadtschlaining, Austria, on the 30th of March, 2001: 'Towards a Culture of Peace in the Niger Delta.'"
 

SHATTERED TRUSTS

Nature so blesses me
God's chosen earth paradise, I was
Flowing with milk and honey
For a chosen people

My hospitality was unappreciated
Survivability becomes a debate
A path to my devastation
Now break this spiral of hatred

Like a dove in her nest
In unity with the flora and fauna
The sweet breeze becomes unfriendly
Cutting off my wings

My guardian became my foe
My guests smiled at my tears
But forget all this past
Daylight comes after nightfall
 

Yours in the struggle for change in the Niger Delta.

Akpobibibo Onduku
EPU-Austria.
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