ASABA: THE CRY OF A NATIVE

''ANA EGBU ACHALLA, ACHALLA ANA ETO''

By Austin Biosah

Schools of thought are always diverse.From the period man appeared on the surface of the earth till date,no human achievement nay breakthrough has achieved total acceptance.For every positive man has put in place,consciously or unconsciously,there is always a negative perception towards it.For those of us who are Christians and thus believe in the theory of creation,God's gesture of Eve towards Adam,turned out to be a debatable gesture.Adam was droven out of the garden of Eden because of Eve's contact with the serpent!.All we know now is the very irony that all must come to pass,for the scriptures to be fulfilled.

Colonialism was another 'phenomenon' that thrived in Africa and elsewhere for over 300 years.For Africans,it was bad news.History has it that for over 300 years,millions of Africans were forcefully taken to the Americas in the form of slaves for forced labour.The painful aspect of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was that over 90% of those taken away from Africa were the work-force.Put differently,those taken away were between the ages of 12 and 45,the population that drove Africa's economic vehicle.Thus,Africa was stagnated for over 300 years!.

It may surprise you to learn that despite all the setbacks and drains Africa suffered in the hands of Europeans,some schools of thought are still of the opinnion that inherent in imperialism cum colonialism were advantages like Christianity,western education,industrialisation et al,all of which Africa enjoys today.

One of the most difficult exam questions I came across as an undergraduate came thus:'oil in Nigeria,blessing or curse'?.I leave you to ponder on this and think of what your answers would be if faced with same question,given the present state Nigeria finds herself.The point in emphasis is that never in the history of human existence has man not been divided on issues of interest.This brings us to the topic of discussion.

I am from Asaba,the capital city of 'oil rich' Delta state.My people have a saying that can be interpreted thus,'when a child talks,his age can simply be ascertained'.Ignorance is not always the issue.Tribal chauvinism is worse than ignorance and no matter your status in life,when caught up with both ignorance and ethnic chauvinism,you cannot but speak like a child.I read an article not quite long ago by one Ese Onajite in the Vanguard newspapers.Its so ironical that it was a masterpiece shrouded in ignorance!.

The writer,Ese Onajite,talked about Anioma's 2015 agenda as it concerns equity and zoning.To be fair with him,he made some very salient points and his write-up was beginning to make sense until he stated that the Anioma's have the state capital and cannot hide under the influence of zoning and equity to clinch the governoship come 2015.He also said that if that is the case,the capital should be moved to a more 'acceptable place' other than Asaba.At that point,Mr Onajite's article became laughable and I wished i could face him with the over a hundred questions I had for him.I wanted to ask Mr.Onajite,amongst other questions,if it is unconstitutional for someone who hails from the capital to aspire to the highest office in the state;I wanted to as him where the more acceptable place for the seat of capital in Delta state is.

It is no news that since that fateful day in August 27,1991 when our inlaw IBB announced Asaba the capital of Delta state,our 'brothers' from the south and central parts of the state have refused to accept Asaba as their state capital.Prior to the creation of Delta state from the defunct Bendel state,agitations for state creation were rife.A high-power Anioma delegation that included the late obi Onwuegbuzia were in all fronts canvassing for the creation of Anioma state,of course not overlooking the inputs of the likes of Ide-Ahaba towards the agitation.

At the same time,the urhobos,ijaws,itsekiris,isokos were clamouring for Delta state.But while the Anioma canvassers were looking for an Anioma state that will have Asaba as its capital,the south and central people who wanted Delta state were undecided on where the capital will be situated.We are just being made to believe that warri is generally acceptable to them all,but I make bold to say that it is not true.We all witnessed the wars between the Ijaws,Itsekiris and urhobos prior to Ibori's emergence in 1999.

It was obvious at the time that not more than one state could be carved out of the defunct Bendel state,thus the creation of Delta state with Asaba as it capital-a worthy buffer zone?.This development was met with mixed reactions.While we were busy dancing,our other Anioma brothers were semi-happy due to proxy(we never knew till recently),but the south and central peoples were devastated.It was not too long before their devastation came to the fore.They claimed that the nomenclature,Delta,belongs to them because of their terrain and oil and that it was impossible for them to be under Asaba,nay Anioma.Series of petitions started flying from all corners,but all fell on deaf ears.

So,it is not surprising that 23 years after,people are making statements to the effect that the governorship is theirs since Anioma has the capital.A whole lot have happened over the years.Since the advent of democracy in 1999 and the emergence of James Ibori as the governor of Delta state,Asaba people have been faced with the harsh realization that we are not one.

As an undergraduate in 1999,I enrolled for the shell undergraduate scholarship test with a bossom friend of the Urhobo stock.When we got to the exam centre,I was shocked when I was told I would not write the same papers with my friend.The examiners was quick to let me know that my friend was from an oil producing area and I was not.The rest was history!.

We all can see the state Asaba is in after 23 years of being a state capital.Towns that were announced capital cities the same time as Asaba have gone far. Infact,Abakaliki was made a state capital in 1996 but I bet you will be shocked if you visit Abakaliki. All these brought up the issue of zoning the governorship.Its all about trust and leadership.If we had leaders we could trust,why call for zoning?,what we have now is a situation whereby you gain political power so that you can enrich yourself and at the same time develop your place and empower your people.

The peculiarity of Asaba's case as the capital city of Delta state is that while our Delta south and central 'brothers' are against our development,our own Anioma brothers particularly our closest kinsmen,who the also enjoying the advantages of the capital territory are also fighting us.It is painful when persons from Ibusa and okpanam make statements to the effect that Asaba was nothing before August 27th,1991. Recently, a govt official whose town is better passed as a hamlet was bold enough to say that Asaba was a remote village before his pay master (Uduaghan)came into power. So if such comments are made by persons from Anioma,what do we expect from the ,Urhobos,Ijaws,Itsekiris et al.

Not too long ago,these our Oshimili brothers identified themselves as Asaba people in far places.Infact,I had a friend who was fond of telling people he is from Asaba.One day,I engaged him about his identity and he said...''actually''...I started laughing because once you hear 'actually',you know the person is Asaba by proxy.But they have started witnessing expansion and they now identify themselves by where they actually come from,therefore Asaba is on her own.

Just a couple of months back,some Okpanam youths cleaned the signpost of the state school of midwifery along Okpanam road that was reading,'P.M.B.Asaba,Delta state'

.They said the school is situated on Okpanam land and cannot bear 'Asaba' on its signpost.The same thing happened at Ibusa.Some youths went to the state command of the Immigration service situated along Asaba-Ibusa road and erazed the 'Asaba' written on their signpost and replaced it with Ibusa.Again,their reason being that the office is situated on Ibusa land and not Asaba.
They all forgot that Asaba and its environs cum adjoining properties form the capital territory and that its the understanding of governing that all those places are part of the capital.It therefore means that had it been that the government built the Asaba international airport at Issele-Azagba land,for example,by now the airport would have turned to Issele-Azagba international airport!...gross ignorance!.

But I have one little advice for persons seeing Asaba from a distance,Asaba is blessed by God in human and material resources.We do not need guns to agitate for our pride of place,we put God first and use the pen,just like we did in 1991!.So the more you try to pull us down,the more trouble you get yourself into

makana

''Ana egbu achalla, Achalla ana eto''

Odinma Ahaba di Chukwu na aka!.Daalu nu!!!