THE QUINTESSENCE OF AN EXCELLENT LEADER AND GENTLEMAN
An outstanding Midas achiever, peaceful, calm and very courageous. We are inspired to celebrate his remarkable life and accomplishment in Service. He is a man of enormous and proven integrity, tenacity and character. His passion about a united Nigeria is a common thread that runs through his sterling career in public service, which has remained so, till now.
He maintains a height of moral, ethical, and other standards that people must strive to attain. Those within his sphere will always remember him with appreciation for his immense contributions and notable inputs to national development and the growth of true federation and democracy. He’s indeed fulfilled.
Talk of great achievers in the African continent Professor Benjamin O. Okaba is a man with a glowing passion for excellence, and a disciplinarian by all standards. He is one Nigeria, who by virtue of his absolute dedication to the service of God and Humanity; he has affected positively the lives of Nigerians and Federal University Otuoke.
He is a rue public service genius. What else can someone say of this exceptional man of extra ordinary capacity for humanitarian and public service. A philanthropist of no mean order. His contributions to humanity is unequalled. No wonder, his impeccable records in career pursuits speak for him.
The man has total life dedication to God, and has relied and still relying on God as the source of his strength. His shield and seal, that pivots him in all his endeavors. Professional work experience spanning over decades in various capacities of service, rendering to the Nigeria Nation like a glorious ambience of green vegetation responding to the alluring fascination of an early morning sun.
Professor Benjamin O. Okaba , in the course of his duty served equitable and has impacted lives in various ways across the country including Federal University Otuoke where he is presently serving as a lecturer, as well as a Dean of Postgraduate studies. And many more. In this interview, he listed some of the pressing issues faced by Ijaw Community , such as socio-economic development, environmental concerns and political presentation
Excerpt:
Can You Tell Us More About Your Profile And Personality?
My name is Prof. Benjamin Ogele Okaba. I am the president of IJAW National Congress worldwide and also the chairman of the conference of president generals of Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities. I am a lecturer, a professor of sociology and the current Dean of the school of postgraduate studies, Federal University Otuoke. I hail from Kpakiama in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State, Married and blessed with children, grand children . I am a dedicated Christian.
What Is The Current State Of Affairs In The Ijaw National Congress (Inc)?
When you say current state of affairs in IJAW National Congress, it is a question that is multidimensional but I will say that the Congress has been very stable and focused on the mandate for which we were elected about three years ago. All the structures of the Congress have been reinstated both locally and Internationally. chapters, groups and the rest are all well structured, now performing their individual responsibilities all geared towards actualizing the dreams and goals of self determination. Before we came on board in 2020, INC was unstable for about seven years, there was a big lacuna, and the voice of the IJAW people was loudly silent. Now, the INC has been resuscitated as the major voice of the IJAW people and also the key player in the struggle for survival, better environment, and livelihood of the people of the Niger Delta. The INC has champion the course for environmental and economic justice for equity, fairness and for oneness in the Niger Delta and a better Nigeria for all.
In What Ways Do You Plan To Address The Pressing Issues Faced By The Ijaw Community, Such As Socio-Economic Development, Environmental Concerns, And Political Representation?
Ijaw National Congress (INC) is not a political party nor a government. INC is an advocacy body, so as an advocacy body without a budget to make rules, to give employment to people, without even institutions to directly address the issues of food insecurity and other forms of injustice or deprivation. Ours is basically that of arousing consciousness amongst our people to be united and also attracting the attention of government to the plights of the people. Beyond that, we also proffer solutions, for instance, we have repeatedly advised Nigerian government that for us to have a stable government, prosperity for all and advance the dreams of the founding fathers in this country. We must go back to the 1960 and 1963 independent and republican constitution that talks about the control of resources, placing the major resources of this country in the hands of those areas where these resources are accessed. There should be maximum control and management of these resources with the provision, (talking about the derivation principle) for sharing or payment of taxes at the centre. That is the only way we can address the multifaceted crises in the economy. This is why our call for resource restructuring as the panacea to the challenges of development in this country. We have not seen any alternative to restructuring, in fact, government political elections year in year out or after a period is just a matter of recycling the problems of this country, and they are not addressing them at all. If you want to address them, let us return to derivation, let Edo State for instance explore all the mineral resources and other resources within Edo state and pay taxes, let Bayelsa state do the same thing. Just like we have in the days when Cocoa was the mainstream in the western region, groundnut in the north, palm oil in the eastern part, mid west producing rubber but now all these things are gone because we are depending on oil resources. Our farm lands are gone, fishing, rubber plantations, cocoa plantations. Our land is still fertile but nobody is encouraging people to farm because we are operating a feeding bottle system where at the end of the month, all the states will rush down to Abuja to get their own pinch from the commonwealth and misappropriate these things and at the end of 30 days, go back again and get fed without utilizing this to grow the local economy, without industrializing the areas. All they do is just get in there to get their cut, pay salaries, construct few roads and at the end of it, it is all over.
How Do You Envision Strengthening The Unity And Cohesion Within The Ijaw Community, Particularly In The Face Of Diverse Cultural And Regional Differences?
There is no regional differences, there are also no cultural differences among the Ijaws. We are one and also have a common identity. The only challenge we have is our language, it is not understood by majority of us and we don’t have a common language like the Igbos, Yoruba and Hausa where you see all of them speaking that language in spite of their linguistic differences. That is a challenge and we are working on it, currently, for the past ten years, there have been serious consciousness that our language is dying and the more the language dies, our identity is gone. So people are making efforts, the government of Bayelsa State is at the fore front of resuscitating the language. There are plans ongoing that in the next 2 years, the IJAW language which is already being taught in primary schools would be an examinable subject at the primary and junior WAEC level. Ijaw language is taught in many institutions in the Niger Delta. In the past, a particular day is dedicated to people, civil servants dressing in IJAW attire going to work and we pray for those things to return. We are also organizing festivals regularly, only about 2 weeks ago, we had the IJAW musical festival where people from different places came together and sang with IJAW, had competitions and won prices. The next one in Lagos is going to be a cultural fiesta for people in diaspora and one of the components would be drama, dance and wresting in IJAW, So those outside IJAW territory can know we have a culture. These are efforts that are ongoing. Very soon, there will be IJAW films, we are working with some partnership with actors to launch IJAW films in Africa magic. Some of which are already ongoing to see that we speak IJAW language, eat and walk IJAW so that we can get back ourselves.
What are Some Of The Notable Achievements Over The Years Since You Assumed This Office?
The first thing I will talk about is returning stability to the IJAW National Congress. For about three years going, we have not recorded any crises from our clans, zones and chapters. There’s a synergy that is ongoing and that has also promoted what is the common unity or purpose. At some point, IJAW people, before we came on board, we see a group of IJAW people speaking in one direction and at some other point, speaking in this other direction. But now, when the INC speaks, it speaks for the entire IJAW people, so we have been able to achieve a common voice and unity of purpose. Today, the entire IJAW nation has surrendered to the INC as the appropriate body that is in charge of promoting IJAW unity and fostering development. The INC is also loud on television, radios, and newspapers. When you Google us, you will see a lot about us. The INC is foremost in all of this in advancing the course of IJAW nation. Moving forward, we are addressing some very serious issues like that issue of bringing back IJAW culture and identity. As I speak, we have been able to consecutively organize about two programs of international standards showcasing the IJAW culture, we Intend to do same very soon. We have also been able to have an IJAW map, those days, you look for Ijaws, the Ijaws are in six states of the federation. We just discovered that Ijaws are along the coastal region of the country. So when people say Ijaws are in Biafra, we are not part of them, we have never been part of the Igbos and we will never be part of them. We have also been able to strategize on raising consciousness on issues of security because, recently we have written to all our traditional rulers to deploy what we refer to as self defence mechanism and when that is done, it will compliment the efforts of the conventional security offices. We discovered that the conventional security has compromised to a large extent, what we need is for us to return to our traditional ways of helping ourselves through either kinetic or non kinetic ways to ensure we are properly secured. This is what we can give to the public for now.
What steps will the INC take to engage with relevant stakeholders, both within and outside the Ijaw community, in order to advocate for the rights and interests of the Ijaw people?
We realized that most of the issues of self determination are common to people of Niger Delta. We also realized that we cannot work independent of the other, the Isoko’s, the itsekeri, the ekwere’s and the rest must come together to advance this course. Because when we stand alone, we are too little and will be swallowed. So that collaboration is ongoing and that is why we have the president of all Ethnic groups in Niger Delta, coming together addressing common issues that affects us as a people and I am the chairman of that group. We are also collaborating with people in the middle belt and other minorities with a common agenda of survival and sustainability. All these are ongoing. We also have discussions with people and organizations outside the country who are interested in championing the course of environmental justice.
Given The Challenges Of Resource Control And Revenue Allocation, What Is Your Plan To Ensure That The Ijaw Community Receives Its Fair Share Of Benefits From The Region’s Natural Resources?
What we have done is to first of all make our people know that they are cheated because sometimes when you go around and tell people that let us do this, they say no they are happy with what we have. So we have been able to tell our people that we are not where we are supposed to be. We own the oil, we should have done greatly by now, we have no business being poor because this is the genesis of what we survive on in this country so we should have the very best So that self consciousness is very important and the level of agitation is massive all over, the youngest IJAW man knows that he is being deprived. Pipelines carrying crude oil on daily basis, we go ahead protecting those pipelines but at the end of the day, what is our benefit. This is why we say if you don’t give us this thing legitimately, we will take it by force. We are not in support of vandalism. What we want is that they should use technology to allocate these things legally. It will be a win for everybody if we now start to legalize this, the environment will be safe, people will be employed, there won’t be destruction of pipelines, and the government will also get their shares.
How Do You Plan To Leverage The INC’s Platform And Influence To Address The Issue Of Militancy And Unrest That Has Affected The Niger Delta Region In Recent Years?
The issue of militancy is a matter that has to be carefully addressed. There is this frustration aggression theory that if someone is deprived and frustrated, he will express his frustration by the expression of anger. So if we want to deal with the issue of militancy, we must ask first why we have militants, we have them because there is injustice. If we all have what is given to us and our own share, there won’t be militancy. Let us do the right thing and what is the right thing, allow for resource control, allow people, allow Bayesians who have direct impact on the exploration of their fair share. We are also talking about double standards. What happens to the non oil resources in this country. When you go to zamfara which has mineral, people go to Dubai to export what we have here. So if you want to stop militancy you must address the issues that are the causes of militancy. We don’t have militants in Dubai because, in those countries, there is recognition of ownership; the derivation principles are well entrenched and respected.
From Your Wealth Of Experience In Living, What Guiding Life Guiding Principles Made You The Man You Are Today, What Would You Want The Younger Generation To Emulate And Cultivate Also?
Experience has also shown that nothing good comes easy and that even in moments of relative deprivation,. You should not give up. You might have lessons to learn from situations that are not palatable. Keep doing the right thing, don’t change your attitude because it has not paid off. NO, it will pay off one day, you might think people are not listening or looking. Somebody is there watching and one day it will be counted for and against you. I have lived a life for the people and I believe that when I live for the people, God almighty that creates everybody will take care of me. I don’t struggle too much in life. I just do what I consider is necessary and what is justifiable.
What Message Or Call To Action Would You Like To Convey To The Public?
For Nigeria public, we are where we are because as Nigerians, we fail to take full Responsibilities in terms of making the right political choices. Going forward, we should have a Rethink as a people and stand together to say no to evil and never to promote evil or whatever evil represent. At the end of the day it might have temporary reward, but going forward that would not take us anywhere.
