APPEAL FOR REALITY TO LEADERS AND ELDERS OF THE NIGER DELTA AND SOUTHERN NIGERIA. 

We of the Niger Delta Republic Movement are often disturbed that our leaders and other leaders in Southern Nigeria continue to pursue the dreams that Restructuring, True Federation, Resource Control and other Devices will solve Nigeria's never ending conflicts. 

These problems are deeply rooted in the conflicts of ethnic aspirations aggravated by religion for more than 200 different tribes that are forced under one administration for empire and colonial purposes that have terminated. Unless we understand our problems rooted in this way, we can never solve them. It is the nature of a country that its people share a common aspiration and values usually influenced by religious outlook or understanding and the desire to live together. Intimately our unfortunate Nigeria cannot have this as its nature. We very respectfully remind you that such matters as restructuring, resource control and true federation and others, have all been discussed and applied during the several years from 1947. They have not worked. And they can never work. We beg you to try and study the world in the context of our own Nigeria. You will realise that it has failed, not because we, its people are bad or senseless peoples, but because we were forced into abnormal arrangement which no community on earth could have made success of. 

Our Nigeria was created by the colonial system during the dark ages for itself. This of course is true of every country in Africa south of the Arabs. But Nigeria and two other countries are each quite abnormal in that each of them comprises abnormal number of different tribes. Each of these countries are as ungovernable as ours. And ours is worse than the other two because in addition to abnormal composition of tribes, we have warring religion to contend with. These are the peculiarities that make Nigeria ungovernable during more than forty years. Some writers have likened Nigeria to the legendary Tower of Babel whose peoples God confounded by afflicting them with 70 different languages. That Nigeria can never succeed as a country is accepted even by the British who created it during the dark ages.

 Unfortunately, it is us alone who are slow in understanding the defects in our unfortunate country.  Yet it now falls upon us the inheritors of these problems to end the miseries by separating conveniently and peacefully; instead of continuing to flog ourselves bloody red. It is understandable that the two divisions in Nigeria, North and South continue to be incompatible since their amalgamation. The two divisions and their subdivisions can never become a peaceful nation. The North, particularly the Arewa North fully realises that its one and only interest for belonging to Nigeria remains the advantages and benefits that it enjoys. These are - Revenue allocation, and the use of facilities of the South. If these two benefits are removed, then the North has no value for being in Nigeria. This is why they will never accept any arrangement that have the effect of reducing these advantages for them.. But they cannot stop the South from separating. And the world will understand and sympathise with the South for separating. 

t is easy to see that each of your elementary demands for restructuring, and resource control and true federation has the effect of reducing the advantages and the benefit which Nigeria gives to the Arewa North. We repeat that these benefits remain the purpose for which Nigeria is very pleasant to them, that is the Arewa North. They will not therefore voluntarily accept their reduction in anyway. Albeit, they will accept any arrangement that does not reduce their benefit, however such arrangement may be worthless to the South. Kindly let us remind you of some of the "Restructuring" devices that have been made since 1967 and which the Arewa North have accepted, simply because, they do not reduce their benefit in Nigeria. In 1967, Gowon created 12 states which was in itself a big restructuring. Then later Murtala Mohammed created more states. This was followed by Babangida who also created additional states. Finally, Abacha created some more states that brought the number to thirty six states. All these were restructuring. But they all (from Gowon to Babangida to Abacha) restructured Nigeria in the same way. That is in a way that did not affect or reduce the benefits enjoyed by the Arewa North. These benefits include Revenue Allocation and the use of facilities of the South. Do you have any sort of restructuring or resource control or true federation that will not reduce or dent the advantages of the North? If you don't have; we beg you to join us and demand separation. This the North cannot successfully refuse. We must go all the way for separation. While the Arewa North enjoys so much benefit from the enforced Nigeria, the South which provides these benefits suffer immense burden and agony. These agony and burden are so heavy that the South itself cannot progress at all.  

Our effort are terribly impeded by the burden of carrying the North while we get nothing from being together with them. We have a country which is really not a country; but only a gathering of tribes that do not have a common destiny and common values and a common aspiration like other normal countries. No one can stop us from separating. To the North, the mere attempt to prevent us from separating will bring disaster to the Arewa North. They will be wise enough not to attempt to cross the South in this respect. We repeat, THE NORTH CANNOT PREVENT US FROM SEPARATING. This they know very well. But they can reject the proposal for so called restructuring or resource control or true federation. These terms are now very banal. 

 Today, the whole word now know that Nigeria can never become one happy nation. This was something no one knew in 1967~not even Nigerians themselves knew that the country can never succeed. Having realised the situation very clearly, the world will sympathise with our demand and effort for separation. And they will wish that it is accomplished in the same way as Czechoslovia and not in the midst of war as in Yugoslavia. We should try and convince the world that we wish peaceful peaceful separation and that there is no desire to take an inch of territory that belongs to the North. Everyone knows that Nigeria was not created by God; It was also not created by our ancestors. It was created by a colonial power for its own purposes of empire during the dark ages which by the grace of God has ended forty one years ago. 

We must not let the ghost of Empire to rule us and place the heavy burden on us. Therefore, we must separate. In this respect, we the members of the Niger Delta Republic Movement appeal to all the people in Southern Nigeria and particularly, the Niger Delta people to pursue separation from Nigeria. 

 We congratulate you for your painstaking efforts to achieve what you consider would be a settlement. However, we very respectfully beg you to consider these appeal. Let's put all our efforts on separation as the only permanent solution. We pray God to bless our struggle for separation in peace so that all the different ethnic communities that were cobbled to become the colony of Nigeria (in order to build a great Empire during the dark ages) may each advance in peace into the modern world of great technology. 

Aliyi Ekineh - Patron >Niger Delta Republic Movement. 

Website: www.ndrm.org.uk AUGUST 2001 BULLETIN 

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