Few days ago, a video was circulated around the world where a young man was tapping his dead brother who was shot dead by marauding Hausa speaking soldiers and this young man was eventually shot twice by those who killed his brother and they both were captured lying side by side on the same video. The propaganda machinery of the occupying forces of Nigeria claimed that it was a joke by MEND to paint them bad and that nothing really happened as was captured live by a video camera live as it was unfolding. What then went wrong with the first guy that was lying dead? Who shot him and why was those Hausa speaking soldiers charging at the brother who was already shot by them but was still alive until they shot him again twice to snuff out the life out of him?
There are still those who still think that Nigeria is salvageable and that nothing is impossible or evil to keep it one even if it means wiping off a section of its society. I believe it is easy for those who are far removed from the geographic location of such crimes against humanity as has been unleashed upon the people of Gbaramatu and the rest of the present war zone in the Niger Delta, to make light of it concluding that it is all good and fair in the name of keeping Nigeria, the 'giant of Africa' standing on its fragile feet as a single entity. Lets not forget to call to mind the words of the late sage/teacher Julius Nyerere of Tanzania during the Biafran declaration and why he supports the establishment of a homeland for the people of Biafra in line with the setting up of a homeland for the Jews after suffering genocide in the hands of the Nazi of Germany stated as follows: "Tanzania has recognized the State of Israel and will continue to do so because of its belief that every people must have some place in the world where they are not liable to be rejected by their fellow citizens. But the Biafrans have now suffered the same kind of rejection within their state that the Jews of Germany experienced. Fortunately they already had a homeland. They have retreated to it for their own protection, and for the same reason - after all other efforts had failed - they have declared it to be an independent state. In the light of these circumstances, Tanzania feels obliged to recognize the setback to African unity which has occurred. We therefore recognize the State of Biafra as an independent sovereign entity, and as a member of the community of nations. Only by this act of recognition can we remain true to our conviction that the purpose of society, and of all political organization, is the service of Man."
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Many Nigerians have chosen to act ignorant of the events leading up to the civil war and what led Ojukwu to decide on moving on for Biafra in light of the massacre of more than fifty thousand people of the Eastern region residing in the northern part of Nigeria. Wombs of pregnant women were ripped open and people were dragged along the roads in the north just to teach the East a lesson on how not to be Nigerian.
What we are witnessing today in the Delta is a repeat of the events of the civil of 1966-1970 because the lessons of the first war was never learned by the actors most of whom are still living and ruling Nigeria. How can you send your national army to wipe out a whole communities and kill two brothers at the same spot and yet expect them to remain loyal citizens? Where in the world do anyone hear that people are coerced to be nationals of any country? Is it not an irony of circumstances that only those who benefit criminally in the 'contraption called Nigeria' that talk about her as if she actually exists. In reality, Nigeria is a joke and an open fraud that have remained a sore injury that never heals.
You hear expressions like 'police action or mop up activities' from such as Nigeria's lying foreign minister and his ilk in describing the destruction that is being visited upon innocent women and children as well as entire populations of the affected areas. This was also the case during the civil war that claimed no less than two million (2,000,000) Biafrans. Gowon and Obafemi Awolowo did say then that it was just a police action to restore a segment of Nigeria back to its fold. Awolowo even went far to say that it is in order to use blockade against the people of Biafra including hunger since it is not good for you to feed your enemies so that they don't have the power to wage any resistance. Such has been the case of Nigeria and how we got to where we are right now.
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We are now in in the final days of June 2009 and many people are not asking why we are experiencing genocide once again in the Eastern part of Nigeria especially in the creeks where Nigeria found support and willing accomplices during the fight to destroy Biafra. Ijaw and the rest of the people that populate/inhabit the oil producing areas, the very oil that is oiling the pockets of the rouge ruling class, the oil which remains the only thing that interest the ruling elites, is now at the front and centre of the ongoing conflict to decide the fate of Nigeria once and for all. Anything that stands on the way of the ruling class to exploit the oil will be crushed since it is in the 'national interest' of Nigeria. What is national interest and how does it affect the average person in the country? Nigeria's selected president sending the army and navy after the defenceless citizens of the Delta region is to protect the oil and gas that is derived from there and to keep using it to develop Lagos and Abuja, while the very people whose land yield those resources wallow in abject poverty.
It is due to the total neglect of the people that MEND must not fail to succeed since the effort they are fighting for, is one that is worth dying for. If MEND fails to do what they are doing right now, it is obvious that a more lethal force would step in to play the role they are playing right now to break the yoke that is placed upon the neck of the people of the region and indeed the entire old Eastern Region. A situation where innocent people are shot and killed by poorly trained soldiers, calls for a serious investigation of the entire fabric of the country to determine if those persecuted actually suppose to remain in such a place where their peace and security are daily challenged by the very forces that suppose to protect them. Quiet or peaceful revolution will never work in a place like Nigeria hence my total support to what MEND and affiliate forces are doing to cripple the oil export and seek a true workable federation or a separation from the present bondage that Nigeria as presently constituted represents.
There are examples around the world on how resources are managed and how the governments from local, state and federal levels collect their taxes from resources extracted from the land. First it is the local government that collects the lion share followed by the State and then the national government. Compare that to what is presently obtainable in Nigeria and you will figure out why MEND had to come to life. It is said that "those who make peaceful change impossible, makes violent change inevitable" emphasis mine. What gave birth to MEND is the fact that Nigeria's leaders over the years, have made a conscious decision to ruin the country by stealing all the proceeds of oil and other wealth accruing to the country while the ordinary people suffer. Whenever the people complain, few of their leaders gets 'settled' and then 'peace' gets restored. There is always an end to everything under the sun.
The beginning of Nigeria was fraught with danger from 1914 when the Lord Lugard, carried out the illegal and ill-fated amalgamation of South and North which the north actually resisted, since they did not believe in a Nigeria that they did not appear to compete favourably with the rest of the components that constituted the federation in human and infrastructural development. Today, it is the same people that first rejected the creation of Britain that is killing those they never really wanted to be in the same country with them in the first place. It is all coming full circle and the end result eventually will justify what we are currently witnessing in the creeks.
For a complete Emancipation to take place in the creeks of the Delta, MEND must take the current engagement outside the creeks to other parts of Nigeria and let those in such areas, taste a bit of what the people in the creeks are going through. MEND must also ignore the false amnesty that is being dangled to it since it is a ploy to weaken it and destroy it. Nigeria cannot continue the way it is going and no amount of bribe will keep it safe from that which must come to pass. Umaru Yaradua was not elected by the people hence he does not have the mandate to offer anyone any kind of amnesty. The history of this world indicates that at a certain time, kingdoms rise and sometime down the road such kingdoms do fall apart and other kingdoms take their place. Nigeria's time is up and in its place is appointed a set of objectives that must be achieved by generations that succeeded the likes of Isaac Adaka Boro and Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. The blood of all those killed from 1966-2009 are calling for justice and if this is not done, there will be no room or place for peace in Nigeria. Peace and justice go side by side and nothing else will work regardless of what those that stole their way to the seat of power may choose to tell us. It is not in their hands to issue amnesty and we know that they will kill more of us but then, even if it is just one of us that is left alive, they will never win. On our side, the mission is worth dying for what are they after if not to islamize us by every means possible?
Bravo MEND,
Emeka Eze
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