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One Hundred Years Of Nigeria’s Amalgamation : U.S. Group Opposes Celebration!

Recently, the Federal Government of Nigeria celebrated one hundred years of the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates of the country by then British colonial master through their protégé, Governor-General Lord Lugard in 1914.

Recently, the Federal Government of Nigeria celebrated one hundred years of the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates of the country by then British colonial master through their protégé, Governor-General Lord Lugard in 1914.

The celebration coincided with the one hundred years anniversary of the great Benin King (Oba) Ovonramwen joining his ancestors while in Calabar, now Cross Rivers State of Nigeria. Oba Ovonramwen was banished after being deposed, following the unprovoked and well orchestrated invasion of his sovereign Nation, The Great Benin Kingdom in 1897 by the British government.

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Within the Nigerian community, mixed reactions trailed the amalgamation celebration.

A United States-based human emancipation action movement, Edo United for Homeland Empowerment, recently called out its members to an interactive weekend retreat in Boston, Massachusetts where issues bothering the homeland were extensively discussed. At the retreat, the disturbing and resentful news of the proposed Centennial Celebration of the amalgamation of Nigeria took center-stage.

At the end of the two-day retreat, the organization resolved as follows:

  • That, an open letter of protest be sent to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, expressing our displeasure over the idea of celebrating an event which obliterated Edo Nation from the map of the World.
  • That we perceive this new enterprise in the name of “celebration” as scornful, offensive, insensitive and above all a validation of the evil perpetuated against Edo people by the then British imperial powers.  
  • That the buzz about the centennial celebration of the amalgamation of Nigeria is a cruel joke, reminiscent of the humiliation of the Edo people and Nation during the British foray which preceded the amalgamation of Nigeria.
  • That, either by omission, commission or whitewashed intention, Edo people must never be compelled to relive or celebrate the trauma of 1897 pillage of Benin Empire which was sinisterly designed to pave the way for the amalgamation of Nigeria.
  • That we fully support, both in reason and substance, the objection to the centennial celebration by our Royal Highness, Prince Edun Akenzua, as published in the Vanguard newspaper of January 9 and 26, 2014.
  • That, as a people, whose forbearers were brutally denied their God-given rights by being dispossessed of their naturally acquired resources we feel angered, betrayed, aggrieved and inflamed by the Centennial celebration.
  • That, by this declaration we mean no opposition to the unity and continued corporate existence of Nigeria. We have always and will continue to support a united, peaceful and harmonious Nigeria where everyone enjoys freedom and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Instead, we are opposed to the celebration of a phenomenal historical event which resulted in the decimation of an established and highly revered Edo sovereign political power and Nationhood.
  • That, we recognize amalgamation as a milestone in Nigeria’s nationhood; not as a glorious one deserving of a celebration by all Nigerian Ethnicities, particularly Edo people for the above reasons.
  • That, whether one is for, or against the celebration, there is a need to revisit history to clarify some key elements germane to the continued interpretive contention generated by this subject. Edo, like other Ethnicities, has an impressive and voluminous history that cannot fit into the pages of one book. It might be necessary to take the reader from time to time through memory lane, to gain greater appreciation and further edify the un-informed and most of all magnify the glorious position of Edo Nation prior to amalgamation.
  • That amalgamation evidently was a British evil and criminal enterprise strongly resisted by few notable Southern Ethnic leaders and rulers for which they were gravely punished. From the beginning, amalgamation, as a coded word bore all the hallmarks of hostility, occupation, colonization and exploitation among many other inhumane reasons.
  • That, the slave trade remains an evil blemish in the book of history. Whether descendants of slaves like Oprah Winfrey or Magic Johnson are now wealthy; and whether the United States of America’s White House is now occupied by an African-American, Barack Obama, it does not change or erase the crime of the slave trade. Members of the black community continue to demand apology and restitution because a crime against humanity has no statute of limitation. The perpetrators of the Holocaust are still being prosecuted today just as reparations are being paid to the victims or their descendants.
  • That, the record of the historical origin of Nigeria is boundless of how an autonomous African territory of different Creeds, Regions, Ethnicities and existing sovereign Nations of different economic situations were forcibly cobbled, fused and arbitrarily given a new and false identity without regard to the value of cultural heritage, life and dignity of the inhabitants of their captured land as long as it served British selfish imperialist interests.
  • That, up till today, Nigeria’s fault line remains with its birth defect and to a larger extent, has accounted for the large scale dysfunctional operative standard and government incredulous lack of capacity to meet its responsibility to citizens.
  • That, most of the people supporting the amalgamation celebration are only interested because of expected collateral benefits from inflated celebration contracts at the expense of the Nigerian masses, majority of whom can still not afford shelters and three square meals a day.
  • That, nobody can deny or dispute the fact that amalgamation was an imperialist machination or an unholy adventure to perpetuate British interest to the detriment of African Tribal Natives. For the sake of emphasis, amalgamation of Nigeria was more than a scheme and can rightly be described as a hybridized slavery to cater for the then Britain’s domestic running cost and other economic ventures. Absolutely, there was nothing inevitable about amalgamation before 1914; neither did the communities and Nations fused together demand unification.
  • That we condemn the narrow-minded attitudes of the Nigerian political class of today as opposed to those who fought selflessly for our Independence.
  • That, the issue of celebrating cheat or wrongful acquisition of a territory would have long been tossed out of discussion were those sages, such as Chief Obafemi Awolowo,  Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and others who helped us to secure independence from the same Britain were to be alive.
  • That, for Late Chief Anthony Enahoro, whom Nigeria owes a great debt, and with whom, out of divine providence and patriotism, some of us were fortunate to share round table conference several times while under his tutelage during his exile in the US, such subject would have been so offensive and regurgitating. Nothing would have mattered to him at this time than having the British Government apologize and pay reparations to Nigeria for all the injustices associated with amalgamation of the country.
  • That, alternatively, he would have counseled the leadership of Nigeria to observe or commemorate the centennial anniversary with Lectures, National worship, re-enactment of significant events and Wreath placing on the graves of the likes of Oba Ovonramwen, Chief Asoro, King Jaja of Opobo, Nana of Itsekiri, King William Koko of the Nembe Kingdom in today’s Bayelsa State, King Kosoko and Dosumu of Lagos, to name a few of other Patriots and heroes who lost their lives while preventing or resisting the British occupation.
  • That, our position in this matter is simple and hopefully will not be misunderstood or misconstrued as a campaign for HISTORICAL BLACK OUT OR BLOT OUT because nothing erases the past. Conversely, no reasonable people celebrate historical tragedy just to keep history alive.
  • That, in spite of the critical appraisers given to the amalgamation of Nigeria, no one has yet been able to debunk historians’ findings of the amalgamation of Nigeria as a British voodoo. Issues like the institutional corruption and other vices betide and permeate the entire Nation today as a result of amalgamation.
  • That if Nigeria’s birth is worth celebrating, why the agitation and need for a National Conference scheduled for later this year? There is no doubt that if our dear nation were to be a human being still searching for himself/herself after one hundred years of existence, Doctors would have referred him for psychological and psychiatric evaluation because something must have gone wrong.
  • That the desire and urgency to have a national dialogue of this proportion is a testament to the birth defects of the nation. It is on this note that we have no opposition to the conveyance of the national conference. Rather this noble organization from onset and for the aforementioned reasons gave its support to the idea, bearing in mind that the nation is passing through one of its darkest moments since independence.            
  • That we blame no particular ethnic group that amalgamation of Nigeria made the once powerful Edo Nation a minority ethnic group, neither do we begrudge them for their population. However, we vehemently resent the cruel joke of celebrating the sin against us; and it is our expectation that other ethnicities would not approve or subscribe to the celebration of such an event. If anyone or even a nation is to celebrate amalgamation, it is the right of the British to do so, but they will not because of the attending negative effects as a sad reminder of a tainted colonial legacy.     
  • During the launching of a unity group, known as Edo Okpamakhin more than a decade ago at the Africa Centre, Boston University, Boston, the Late Adolo of Uromi, Chief (Pa) Anthony Enahoro of blessed memory, while addressing the large audience of people from all walks of life told a story of what he saw in a museum in Brazil during one of his visits as a Federal Minister of Information then. To confirm the knowledge of many Edos, that Edo Nation was one of the few Nations invited to witness the Independent celebration of Brazil, the sage went on to reveal more facts about his Brazilian museum experience. He narrated how he was shown a wall plaque of an Edo Diplomat, exchanging goodwill message and pleasantry with the first President of Brazil.
  • That no matter how one deconstructs this issue it will amount to insensitivity on the part of Nigerian government to embark on such celebration. Above all, it is distinctively wrong for any Edo elected politician to endorse the celebration of Nigeria amalgamation. Our history is unique and self-revealing. The humiliation of Oba Ovonramen, who was exiled and the pillage of Benin City, can never be whitewashed. British aggression towards Edo Nation and the people of Benin City was premeditated and calculated to uproot perceived obstruction to British imperialist power and rule of an African territory. More than four thousand pieces of Edo looted priceless treasures are still scattered all over the world as a result of the British mischievous design, code-named “punitive expedition.”        
  • That we are not asking for post-mortem sympathy from other ethnicities but all we seek in this matter is empathy and understanding. Nigerians must unite to confront the endless, unspeakable and reprehensible conducts of our political elites; their appalling spin and stand on issues like this is only in their own self-interests.
  • That with due respect, we sincerely urge Mr. President to take a critical look at Nigeria’s priority as we have no illusion that they need to be re-ordered because Nigeria’s greatest problem since independence are: corruption of an unimaginable proportion that has eaten deep into the fabric of the society; insecurity of lives and properties that has continued to make life worthless and meaningless; lack of adequate infrastructural facilities that has made the enhancement of the lives of the generality of our people impossible; joblessness that has driven a teaming population of our youths into all kinds of crimes, including kidnapping for  a ransom that has now become a cankerworm on our dear nation.
  • That we sincerely acknowledge and commend the efforts of Mr. President in fighting terrorism that has continued to unleashed mayhem on Nigerians and visitors to our homeland.
  • That we urge the president to call a summit of all leaders of thoughts, including traditional rulers, political and community leaders, civil and human rights organizations, and security agencies to find solutions to the lingering issue of terrorist activities and kidnapping in Nigeria.
  • That these issues, if unresolved will continue to cast a dark shadow on the psyche of the nation, with the precipitate effects of jeopardizing the much needed economic advancement of the nation.
  • That Nigerians in the Diaspora always feel on edge anytime the thought of visiting the homeland pops up due to insecurity, and that it is a shame to Nigeria as a sovereign nation and an embarrassment to all Nigerians who relish their rights, dignity, freedom and credibility that the western nations, including The United States and United Kingdom have continuously been compelled to issue travel warnings to citizens visiting Nigeria with the apprehension that they may not return alive or without being molested or terrorized. This is so sad and a tearful experience.

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In summary, we make bold to say with all sincerity of purpose, that your success as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can only be achieved if you would take drastic and painstaking measures for the remaining of your tenure to deal decisively with the nagging problems of corruption and other vices that seem to characterize the entire political landscape and threaten the future of the country and your legacy.

Partner with the men and women of goodwill to fight the evils of our society and discard and prosecute those who dwell in iniquity, irrespective of political affinity.

We want to believe that you would like to be remembered as one of Nigeria’s best presidents.

 

Long Live, Mr. President

Long Live The Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

Signed on behalf of members of Edo United for Homeland Empowerment, Inc

 

      Frank Ekhator, HRA

President

 

Emmanuel Okunmwendia,

Director of Publicity

 

Yvonne Omolayo Omoruyi

Secretary-General

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