National Institute For Cultural Orientation

From Boroism to Ethnic Nationalism and Militancy in the Niger Delta: Towards a Cultural Agenda for the Izons in the Next Generation

By

Barclays Foubiri Ayakoroma, PhD
Executive Secretary/CEO
National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO)
Abuja, Nigeria
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: http://www.nico.gov.ng

Being a Paper Presented at the
Late Isaac Boro Commemoration Day,
United Kingdom, Europe, at the
Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill,
Brixton London, SW 2 1JF 
On Saturday, August 21, 2010

(c) 2010

The topic of our discourse today is the advent of “Boroism,” the rise of protest movements in the garb of ethnic nationalities, and the spate of militancy which has beleaguered the Niger Delta in the last few years. It will be argued that the degeneration of protest movements to criminality is not in tandem with the cultural identity of the Izon man. The Izon man stands for truth at every point in time. And the Izon man does not share innocent blood, most especially that of his kinsman. However, like a mustard seed, Isaac Boro planted in the minds of Izon people, the spirit of selfless agitation that would improve the quality of life of the Ijaws, the people who produce the wealth of the nation.

Let me start by briefly reminding us of the background of Major Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro, who was born on September 10, 1938, at Kaiama, in present day Kolokuma/Opokuma LGA, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Though he died as far back as May 16, 1968, his legacy lives on. There is no doubt that this explains our gathering here today. Adaka Boro was a celebrated Niger Delta nationalist and Nigerian civil war hero. There is also no gainsaying the fact that he was one of the pioneers of minority rights activism in Nigeria.
 
Isaac Boro was a man of many parts; he meant different things to different people – a university students’ leader, a teacher, a policeman, and an army officer. An undergraduate student of Chemistry and Student Union Government (SUG) President at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he left school to lead an armed protest against the exploitation of oil and gas resources in the Niger Delta by foreign multinationals. Boro saw that since the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantity in Oloibiri (Ijawland) in 1956, oil companies such as Shell (Anglo/Dutch), Agip (Italian), Elf (French) and Chevron (American), through their oil exploration activities, had perpetrated a war of economic exploitation and environmental degradation. He had realised as at that time that the abundant oil revenue benefitted mainly the Federal Government of Nigeria and a remote Eastern Nigeria Regional Government. Curiously, this was to the detriment of those who were providing the wealth of the nation.

Boro believed that the people of the area deserved a fairer share of proceeds of the oil wealth. Thus, he started the struggle for what has come to be called “resource control” in Nigeria. Though a young man with an extraordinary vocation for revolution, he came into national prominence and a figure in history that dominates minorities’ lives more than any other person to shape the course and destiny of this nation. Yet, he remains a controversial figure, enigmatic and elusive: to some a hero, to others an arch villain, a radical to many, and a rebel to others. He was a radical young nationalist who led a revolt against the oppressors to change the environment of the Niger Delta so that the “Izon man can be true Izon man.”

It is on record that Boro formed the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF), an armed militia with members consisting mainly of fellow Ijaws and declared the “Niger Delta Republic” on February 23, 1966, with himself as the Head of State. He had Nottingham Dick and Sam Owonaru as his deputies. He landed at Tontonbau in the Riverine areas of the former Eastern region with more than one hundred and fifty comrades to launch a guerrilla war against the Federal Military Government. He gallantly battled the Federal forces for twelve days but was finally routed by the far superior Federal firepower. His escapades Boro chronicled as the The Twelve-Day Revolution (Tebekaemi, 1975).

Boro, who was jailed by the Maj. Gen. Aguiyi-Ironsi government for treason on recommendation by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, was granted him amnesty by Yakubu Gowon's government on the eve of the Nigerian civil war in May 1967. He was later commissioned by the Nigerian Army as a major to help liberate southern territories under Biafran control. He recruited fellow Riversmen who volunteered to serve under him and gave them brief training at Escravos. He fought on the side of the Federal Government but was killed under very mysterious circumstances in active service in 1968 at Ogu (near Okrika) in Rivers State, after successfully liberating the Niger Delta from the then rebel Biafran Forces.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian Government, over the years, has not provided answers to the million naira question the Ijaws, and indeed Human Rights Activists, have been asking: Who Killed Adaka Boro? But then, if we recall that there have been many more unresolved incidents of killing of law abiding citizens like Dele Giwa, Pa Alfred Rewane, Chief Bola Ige, Chief Harry Marshall, etc., it is clear that we would wait for a long while yet to get a credible answer as to who wilfully, callously, and cold-bloodedly exterminated Major Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro.

It is believed that Boro’s revolt against the Federal Government is one of the major factors that led to the creation of the 12 States in 1967. The tree of political and economic freedom of the oil producing people has been planted by Boro and it needs from time to time the blood of the oppressors and the oppressed to make it grow. It is its natural manure. He had devoted his whole life and strength to the most beautiful thing in the world, the struggle for the liberation of mankind.

However, one redeeming thing about the life and times of Boro is that he planted the seed for a struggle that has reverberated throughout the Niger Delta. Later Niger Delta activists like the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, who substituted Boro's gun for a pen, and Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, who heads an Ijaw armed insurgency, among others, often referred to him as a major inspiration. This is the spirit of “Boroism,” which has permeated the agitations in the Niger Delta for many years now.

Unfortunately, Major Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro lived at a time when the Ijaw ethnic nationality did not quite understand and appreciate his vision and resolve to give the people of the Niger Delta a pride of place in the scheme of things in the Nigerian state. As Tony Tebekaemi rightly posits, not all Nigerians believe that Isaac Boro was a hero. There is no doubt that we have now come to realize that what Major Isaac Boro died, fighting for, is what the leaders of the Izon race, and indeed the Niger Delta people, are fighting for now. Isaac Boro was a visionary leader and his memory will continue to be fresh in our minds.

The Rise of Ethnic Nationalism and Militancy
We can state that the use of vigilante groups, which was purely for personal or group safety, was given ethnic colouration due to exigencies in the Nigerian political arena. For example, the Odua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) became a force to reckon with in the socio-political landscape of Western Nigeria. The Arewa People’s Congress and several Hisbah Groups have become dominant in the northern part of the country. The Onitsha Market Amalgamated Traders Association (OMATA), the Bakassi Boys, and the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), have since surfaced among the Igbo speaking states of Eastern Nigeria and have influenced the ideological inclination of the people to a large extent.

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), which was the brainchild of the late environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, appeared to have blazed the trail in the Niger Delta. The heartless execution of Saro-Wiwa on November 10, 1995, precipitated a chain of reactions that has reverberated to the present day. The Movement for the Survival of the Ijaw Ethnic Nationality of the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), and the Supreme Egbesu Assembly (SEA), popularly known as the Egbesu Boys, are some of the youth groups that have been formed to protect the communal interests of the Ijaws. It is pertinent to give the background of some of these groups for us to properly situate the concept of ethnic nationalism in this study.

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP):
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) is an organization representing the Ogoni people in Rivers State in the struggle for ethnic and environmental rights. Its primary antagonists are the Nigerian government and Shell Petroleum Development Company, which had ignored the developmental needs of the people in spite of the crude oil wealth exploited from the area. It was founded by some educated Ogoni elites and chiefs, including its first President, Garrick Barile Leton, E. N. Kobani, Meshack Karanwi, and the then President of the Ethnic Minority Rights Organization of Africa, Ken Saro-Wiwa.

MOSOP initiated its efforts with a bold declaration, the Ogoni Bill of Rights in 1990, which was addressed to the Federal Government. The Bill read like a model statement before a mediator, which listed the concerns of the Ogoni people, namely, oil-related suffering of the people, government neglect, lack of social amenities, and political marginalization. These concerns were placed in the context of a self-definition of the Ogoni as a separate and distinct ethnic nationality. It was on this basis that MOSOP sought autonomy, environmental protection, control of a fair share of the revenues from crude oil extracted from their land, and cultural rights, such as the use of their local languages (“Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People,” p.1).

Beginning from December 1992, the conflict escalated as the Nigerian military government saw the agitations as undermining its authority and overt violence was applied on a large scale by the ruling military dictatorship. At the same time, Ogoni populace, while embracing non-violence tactics, began to occasionally veer into acts of violence. The collision course between the two parties became inevitable when MOSOP issued an ultimatum to Shell, Chevron, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), demanding some $10 billion in accumulated royalties, damages and compensation, immediate stoppage of environmental degradation, and negotiations for mutual agreement on all future drilling. There was also a proviso that if the companies failed to comply, the Ogoni would embark on mass action to disrupt their operations. By this act, the Ogoni shifted the focus of their actions from an unresponsive Federal Government to oil companies actively engaged in their own region. The bases for this assignment of responsibility were the benefits that had accrued to the oil companies that were extracting the natural wealth of the Ogoni land.

Reflective of military dictatorships, especially in Africa, soldiers and mobile policemen were drafted to most Ogoni villages by May 21, 1994.  Unfortunately, four Ogoni chiefs were brutally murdered on that day. These persons, who were derogatorily referred to as vultures in the heat of the Ogoni struggle, were seen as reactionaries and pro-government agents. Ken Saro-Wiwa, head of the opposing faction who had been denied entry into Ogoniland on the day of the murders, was detained in connection with the killings. Lt. Col. Dauda Musa Komo, then Rivers State Military Administrator, did not wait for a judicial investigation before associating the killings with MOSOP. By mid-June 1994, the occupying forces, led by Maj. Paul Okutimo of Rivers State Internal Security, had completely devastated about 30 villages, detained more than 600 people, and killed at least 40. These atrocities were committed under the guise that the security men were searching for those directly responsible for the killing of the four Ogoni. In the final analysis, an estimated 100,000 internal refugees and 2,000 civilian deaths were recorded. On November 10, 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight MOSOP activists, namely, Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinen, Baribo Bera, Saturday Dobee, Felix Nwate, Nordu Eawo, Paul Levura, and Daniel Gbokoo, were hanged by the Abacha Military junta (Nwako, 1995, p. 1-2). MOSOP has since been under the leadership of Leedum Mite who appears to have soft pedalled on the militant stance of the movement.

The Egbesu Boys Syndrome:
It is interesting to note that the Movement for the Survival of the Ijaw Ethnic Nationality of the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), led by T. K. Ogoriba, was at the fore-front of the mobilization of the Ijaws of the Niger Delta in the mid-1990s. Incidentally, in spite of providing a greater percentage of the nation’s wealth, many Ijaw youths are unemployed. Thus, violence became a gainful employment and a veritable survival strategy for them. Borrowing a leaf from the exploits of MOSOP, Ijaw youths gradually took the centre stage, leading the struggle for resource control.

It is not surprising therefore that they eventually organised themselves into various groups, namely, the Ijaw Youths Council with Felix Tuodolo as the pioneer leader, Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC), Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which had arrowheads like Henry Okah and Government Ekpomugbolo (alias Tom Polo), the Niger Delta People’s Volunteers Force (NDPVF) led by Asari Dokubo, which is more of a rebirth of the Boroist Movement, and the Egbesu Boys (or the Supreme Egbesu Assembly), led by Sgt. Winipre Digifa. It is pertinent to note that the Ijaw National Congress (INC), an umbrella body for all Ijaws, has also been involved in the struggle to achieve cultural re-orientation and emancipation of the Ijaws, in particular, from decades of environmental pollution, corporate violence, unjust socio-economic structure and political oppression.

At the height of the agitations, Ijaw youths met in Kaiama, headquarters of the present Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area, and hometown of late Major Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro, and issued what has come to be known as the Kaiama Declaration on December 11, 1998. In it, the Ijaw Youth Congress, which was formed to collectively fight the Ijaw cause, demanded the immediate withdrawal from Ijawland of all military forces of occupation and repression by the Federal Government; and that any oil company that employed the services of the armed forces to protect its operations would be viewed as an enemy of the Ijaw people.

We recall that a key aspect of the operations of all such youth protest groups was the dependence on supposedly protective charms, which they obtained from different shrines (egbesu). Some of our youths were known to have slept in grave yards for seven days to acquire such paths, all in the bid to acquire invincibility against guns and machetes. But then, due to their use of sophisticated weaponry, speedboats and satellite telecommunication gadgets, it is believed that the militant groups in the Niger Delta are well financed; and that highly influential persons were supporting them financially. In addition to armed confrontations with the state security forces and oil company personnel, the Egbesu Boys have also in regular dispute with other ethnic groups, especially the Itsekiri, the Urhobo, and the Ilaje area. All these are attempts to protect their territorial integrity. 

It is worrisome that successive governments in Nigeria have continued to militarise the Niger Delta area by sending anti-riot police, soldiers and navy personnel to the area. It was in response to such state highhandedness that armed youths kidnapped and eventually killed 12 police officers in Odi, Bayelsa State, in November of 1999. In November 11, 1999, the government responded decisively to the killing by invading Odi with armed military personnel that led to the killing of hundreds of people including women, children, old people, and security personnel. However, it could be argued that the Egbesu phenomenon in recent times could be traced to the Abacha regime, which tried to perpetrate itself in office. Tasie (2004) lends credence to this position when he states as follows:

…under the General Abacha self-succession strategies the youths from the south-south zone were enticed and transported to Abuja – most of them visiting Abuja for the first time – they saw at firsthand how the oil money which was derived directly from the devastations and the ruins of their own immediate environment by the exploitation and marketing of their God-given endowments had transformed an area which hitherto had not been noted for anything remarkable or spectacular into a most famous city, easily the finest African city as they heard Abuja proudly advertise it. Besides, as they journeyed on that ill-fated adventure, they also noticed the roads, and particularly experienced how from the terribly rough Niger Delta roads, they, at some boundary points between the north and the south, transited onto smooth roads soon after leaving the Niger Delta region. It is plausible that many of them, after that trip, must have made new vows never to relent in the struggle to take their future in their hands (Tasie, 2004, p. 8).

In Rivers State for example, government ran short of openly approving the operations of the Egbesu Boys. The seeming legitimisation of the activities of Egbesu Boys like Ateke Tom and Asari Dokubo, who were then ready instruments in the hands of the political class, made their profiles to rise. Both activists were to later fall out of favour with the government in power, and were either incarcerated (as in the case of Asari Dokubo), or on the run (Ateke Tom).

From Militancy to Criminality
We are witnesses to the fact that while militancy started on a positive note in the sense that it was a protest movement to draw attention to the deprivations that the people of the Niger Delta suffered in spite of producing the wealth of the nation, the spate of youth restiveness degenerated to violent and criminal activities. Pipeline vandalisation, piracy, hostage-taking, and kidnapping, among other violent crimes, became the order of the day.

Specifically, instead of defending lives and safeguarding property, the activities of the some splinter Egbesu Boys turned to extortion, oil bunkering, pipeline vandalisation, sea piracy, hostage-taking, kidnapping expatriate oil workers for ransoms, and attacking law enforcement agents. But then, it is believed that lately, wealthy individuals and top politicians in the Niger Delta region have also used the Egbesu Boys as “private armies” for personal gains. Unfortunately, they abandon these boys once they have achieved their objectives, leaving these boys to eventually take their destinies in their own hands. It is the general thinking that these boys use the arms given to them by their “principals” to make a living their own way.

However, it is believed that hostage-taking gained momentum because some governors and their collaborating government officials in the Niger Delta saw it as an avenue to get some ready cash from the government till. This comes by way of inflating the ransom demanded by the so-called “militants.” For example, if they assuage the anger of the youths and give them five million naira to release hostages, what will reflect in the books is that say, two hundred million naira was spent. Consequently, the youths decided to ask for substantial amounts instead of pittance. This was the scenario until late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua introduced the Amnesty Programme to stem the spate of militancy in the region.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the problem of kidnapping has taken a different dimension altogether. This is in the sense that our brothers from the South East geo-political zone have since seen kidnapping purely as a new line of business, and have gone into it fulltime. Durojaiye writes on this thus:

Fortune of perpetrators of kidnapping is believed to have dwindled with the return of peace to the Niger Delta, but not until the Igbo of the South East caught on with the euphoria. And like anything commercial, the Igbo embraced the venture with the same entrepreneurial skill they apply to their business. Since then, kidnapping appeared to have become a money-spinning venture (p.23).

The corollary for kidnapping is the ransom that is paid before the victim is released. But with the new dimension, people have been kidnapped only to regain their freedom after parting with some GSM recharge cards. This much was corroborated by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, when he said that kidnapping now cuts across all parts of the country with the highest frequency in the South Eastern states. According to him, about 837 cases of kidnapping were recorded in Nigeria between 2008 and 2010.  Of this figure, Anambra, Rivers, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Abia and Imo States recorded 129, 466, and 242 cases in 2008, 2009, and 2010 respectively.

Let us draw attention to the fact that from the analysis above, Bayelsa state has not been listed as a hot bed for kidnapping in the last three years. In the analysis of the IGP, kidnapping incidents were highest in Rivers state in 2008 with 62 cases, while Cross River, Delta, Abia, and Lagos trailed behind in that order. Edo state recorded the highest incidents in 2009, while Anambra, Rivers, Abia and Imo followed in that order. It is the considered opinion of the IGP that acts of kidnapping have been triggered by ostentatious living by those who do not have meaningful sources of income. This is in the face of massive unemployment, poverty, non-performance by elective political leaders, etc.

However, having looked at Boroism, the advent of ethnic nationalism and militancy in the Niger Delta, it is pertinent for us to set a cultural agenda for our youths in the next generation. Our children are growing up; they are seeing things; and they need to be guided properly to follow the right path. This is imperative because we are living in a jet age where information and communication technology are breaking various barriers that are supposed to protect the identity of individuals and even communities.

Towards a Cultural Agenda for the Next Izon Generation
Let us note that as a stakeholder in the culture sector, I cannot but look at the cultural dimension in the existence of the next generation. Culture, we know, has been defined as the totality of the way of life of a people, which distinguishes them from another people. In other words, we are talking about a lifestyle in our children that would promote the totality of the way of life of the Izon man, both at home and in the Diaspora. For purposes of brevity, I will attempt to delineate some areas of emphasis as follows:

a). Use of Izon Language: As you all know, language is a powerful and versatile medium of communication. It is an indispensable mechanism of human life and therefore critical to interactions both at personal and interpersonal levels. Unfortunately, many of our country’s estimated 400 languages are moribund as they are no longer being learned by children and are in real danger of becoming extinct in the next few decades when they will have no speakers left.

The truth is that Izon, as the fourth major Nigerian Indigenous Language, is also facing extinction largely because it is hardly spoken in the family. We are not talking about our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora, but people who are even in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. The educational system has not helped matters as Vernacular, as a subject, is not given any serious attention in the school curricular. Izon is among the worst hit indigenous Nigerian languages in this direction because people are ashamed to speak it publicly. They do not take pride in language as a cultural component that gives one identity.

The National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), as the statutory body of Government conceived to re-orient Nigerians towards a culture-related life style is thus piloting and encouraging the learning of our indigenous languages as one of its major orientation programmes. A Long Vacation Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme has been conceptualised as one of the practical ways of encouraging the learning of our mother tongues in many families, even Nigerians in Diaspora. This event is our campaign for the effective use of indigenous Nigerian languages to promote a sense of the Nigerian identity in our homes and country for improved interactions, national integration, and development.

Put simply, the Nigerian Indigenous Language Programme is NICO’s direct response to the veiled, determined and uninterrupted assaults by foreign languages on the sanctity of Nigerian indigenous languages which are our instruments of heritage, identity, and nation building. The effects of these invasions are far reaching so much that most of our indigenous languages are threatened with linguistic destruction. The challenge before Nigerians is to ensure that this does not happen. We have to constantly speak our Izon language so that it can endure. This is a sure way to nurture our children, to reinforce their identities, and to perpetuate our culture.

b). Promoting Nigerian Dress Culture: I am happy to observe that some of us have appeared in resplendent national dresses. This is really how to appear, Proudly Nigerian. For the others who have decided to strangulate themselves with ties and so on, I pity you. Some questions we may have to answer here in this gathering from your dressing are: Who are you? Are you a Nigerian? Are you an African? Just who are you, the way you are dressed? Do you consider yourself a Briton because you carry a British Passport? Are you not living in exile?

Let us not console ourselves with the glib response that we are in a globalised world. Sure we are. But we still have our names to differentiate us from others. We have countries that are known for what they are. And so, we need to dress as a people to give us an identity. In essence, there is need to rekindle interest and pride in our indigenous dress patterns; to encourage unity among the different ethnic groups through integrated dress culture; to encourage socio-economic growth of our local textile industries to create jobs for Nigerian youths; and to promote patriotism in Nigerians.

There is no gainsaying the fact that indecent dressing is a vice that has permeated various age-groups in Nigeria, no thanks to the unwholesome effect of Westernization on our cultural values and norms. Of serious concern is the current trend of adoption of foreign dress patterns that is gradually taking over the fashion scene. Most worrisome is the prevailing trend among our youths who expose themselves, clad in dresses that reveal what we may call the “essentials.” It is not just a matter of “showing too much skin.” There are actually traditional dresses, worn in many parts of the country that could permit that, of course, depending on the occasion. Young Fulani girls wear the kind of dress that have slits at the sides, and expose the navel. People are used to it. What we are actually concerned about is everyday social dresses.

Specifically, young ladies, even married women at that, wear blouses that expose greater parts of their boobs or, as they say, “cleavages.” It is rather annoying when ladies brazenly do that, even when such boobs are flabby. Some wear bras as if they are hawking the boobs for the nearest buyer. Others wear dresses that expose their buttocks, backs, hips, and so on, all to attract attention. Our concern here is those parts of our bodies that are called “private” should be kept as such and not flaunted at passers-by. The question is: Who are they trying to seduce? It is also of serious concern that the common sights on our streets and university campuses, and even in church gatherings, are boys and girls wearing skirts or trousers that are almost falling from their buttocks. This they arrantly call, "sagging." They keep pulling down the short dresses they wear on top that expose the navel or bums (they call such short tops “provokers”), every time they get up from a chair, they have to squat, or bend. For the ladies, the ugly sight of their underpants (which they call G-String pants) assault your eyes.

Let me mention here that banks in Nigeria used to devote Fridays to African/Nigerian dress codes. On those days, bankers wore various attires to reflect their cultural background. That was when you would see agbada, babariga, etibo, woko, opu shirti, jumper, shokoto, kente, akwete, and so on. Unfortunately, that tradition appears to have been jettisoned because bank workers now wear mostly branded T-shirts, which we see as un-patriotic. The suit and tie, jeans trousers (pants) and jackets, dinner jackets, French suits, baggie shorts, weird T-Shirts, and so on are foreign to Nigeria. They are all products of Westernization, and have become the popular dressing of many men, especially in corporate services. Put succinctly, when you are told to appear “corporate” for a function, it means you should wear a suit and a tie.

It is also quite unfortunate that many African countries are under the yoke of second hand clothing because of the craze for foreign dresses. The prevailing appetite for western dress pattern has not only become a trend but has equally made Nigeria a “dumping ground” for all sorts of western goods thereby forcing many local textile industries to fold up due to low patronage. How it happens? A typical businessman just arranges with his brother or sister abroad to get them. These are mostly used clothes that are freighted in container loads into the country. We are not even sure if these clothes come from known clothing companies at all; and that is why it is even worrisome. One is not even sure of the hygienic condition of all these second hand clothes.

This is why some people have argued that the remote causes of most sexually-related criminal acts in our country today could be traceable to this ugly trend of indecent dressing. A young hoodlum who accosts a young lady in a dark alley could be tempted if he sees that she is flaunting her boobs at him. Under such a circumstance, anything can happen. The redeeming aspect is that many universities in the country are coming out with dress codes to curb this menace in our dress culture. It is against this backdrop that NICO organized a three-day workshop in early 2010 on “Promoting Nigerian Dress Culture” to address the menace of indecent dressing and project our dress culture as a tool for national identity. This issue will also be the subject of discourse in the upcoming Annual Round Table on Cultural Orientation (ARTCO 2010) later this year. When we are talking about ‘Proudly Nigerian,’ it is not just by word of mouth, but knowing that your appearance matters. How would somebody identify me outside the shores of Nigeria as a true Nigerian? Dressing speaks volume. That explains the dictum that, “you are addressed the way you dress.”

c). Attitude to Marriage: The attitude to marriage among the Izons is a subject of serious concern because it has negatively affected the socio-economic wellbeing of the people. Here, we are going to look at the Izon man’s arrant polygamous lifestyle, the propensity for elaborate and expensive marriage ceremonies, and the “nylon bag marriages.” In the first place, the Izon man takes delight in proving his manhood, marrying wives all over the place. He gets many children in the process, but is unable to give such children good education. They often console themselves with the saying that “if I train one of them, then he will draw the others.” Some of us have been victims, being the “big tree” in the family and have continued drawing, not only siblings, but members of the extended family. The result is that most uneducated children from our polygamous homes have ended up on the streets, indulging in political thuggery and other militant actions.

In the second place, we spend so much on marriages, to the extent that many grooms end up in penury after their expensive marriage ceremonies. Take the instance of a staff who applied for three months’ salary advance for him to many by December this year. My reaction was: NOT APPROVED. I told him to save towards his marriage or better still, plan his marriage according to his income. My take on this is that if you marry with borrowed funds, then it is a “credit marriage.” Many of our youths enter into marriages, when they are least prepared. The result is that they continue to struggle in life, trying to make ends meet. Perhaps one could argue that the way marriages are contracted contribute to this problem. We now have (i) knocking of door, (ii) introduction, (iii) payment of bride price, (iv) traditional marriage ceremony, (v) court wedding, (vi) church wedding, and (vii) wedding reception. The list is endless, especially when we consider the Iria, bibife, and other ceremonies among the Kalabari.

Finally, the level of moral depravity in the society has brought to the fore a phenomenon, which for want of better term, we call “nylon bag marriage.” A girl gets into bed with a young man today, and she stays the night because the night is far spent. She finds the place conducive and decides to make a permanent abode out of it. She quickly brings in a few of her things for a second night, which turns to one week, and then one month. Before the young man knows it, she has got used to the set up and starts addressing herself as the “wife” or “madam of the house.” Of course, the young man was not prepared for marriage, so when things fall apart, she has only her paper bag to pack her things out of the house.

d). Chieftaincy Titles and Honourary Degrees: The love for chieftaincy titles and honourary degrees is another problem bedevilling the present age. Everyone wants to be addressed as Chief, Chief Dr., Double Chief, High Chief, and so on. Unfortunately, most of these so-called titles are monetised. The most annoying are the honourary doctorate degrees, which are awarded by mushroom institutions parading themselves as affiliates of non-existent foreign universities. The funny thing is that these persons would take serious offence if you do not give them due recognition. Many persons, especially contractors, would collect mobilisation for contracts and use such funds to acquire chieftaincy titles and honourary doctorate degrees. To them, the more the chieftaincy titles, the better.

There is this story about a military governor who was on a familiarisation visit to parts of the old Rivers State. They got to the local government headquarters and the people turned out in their numbers to receive the governor and members of his entourage. The governor was to experience the shock of his life when the chiefs were being introduced. The head chief started by introducing himself as: “Your Excellency, I am Late Chief Dr.....” and went on to the next person and again introduced him as: “Late Chief Hon....” People wondered what was happening; a young man quickly whispered to the chief that he should not add the “Late” in the introduction. But the harm had already been done. To the illiterate chief, the “Late” which he used to see on obituary posters was a title that could be added to a respected chief. Such is our love for titles!
 
e). Burial ceremonies: The approach to burial ceremonies has taken a different dimension altogether. We now see people giving out invitation cards for burial ceremonies. This is because those that are bereaved see the burial as a profit-making venture. Sadly, these are people who never looked after such old folks, when they were alive. Why wait until your parents die before you celebrate them? Why not honour your parents while they are still alive? Why not build them a befitting bungalow while they are alive, so that they would enjoy their labour in your life? Do you have to wait until they die before building them a mansion and bury them in an expensive five million naira casket? We are witnesses to corpses being deposited in the mortuary for many months, sometimes up to two years, before funeral arrangements are made.

f). Respect for Elders: Our youths now do not have regard for elders any more. They even address their parents anyhow, telling them that their time had passed. Some of them even bully their parents to submission. It was even reported recently that a young man flogged his father mercilessly because there were some differences between them. Can we imagine a father being beaten as an errant young boy? So, what kind of leader does that young man hope to become in future? Not a promising one, I dare say. But this is the reality of what we are faced with in our communities.

Conclusion
In this paper, we have looked at Boroism, Ethnic Nationalism and Militancy in the Niger Delta. It was observed that late Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro, who pioneered the struggle for resource control, was not appreciated as at that time. But then, he planted a mustard seed that has grown beyond the borders of Ijawland. While ethnic nationalism started as an avenue to draw attention to the deprivations the people were experiencing, the resort to militancy added another dimension to the struggle. This had been expressed through pipeline vandalisation, piracy, hostage-taking, and of recent, kidnapping of innocent law abiding citizens, just to mention a few acts of violence. Unfortunately, the baton has changed hands as the Igbos have taken over kidnapping, not as a protest movement, but as a business venture. Incidentally, they have grabbed it with two hands, going after the well-to-do individuals for whatever ransom they could get in return. The unfortunate thing is that many innocent lives have been lost to these nefarious acts of kidnapping.

In the final analysis, we have just identified a few areas of concern, which are highlighted for the next generation as a roadmap. There is no gainsaying the fact that the issues are not definitive. But in our considered opinion, use of Izon language in the home, promotion of Nigerian dress culture, re-orienting our value systems as regards marriage traditions, expensive burial ceremonies, acquisition of chieftaincy titles and bogus honourary doctorate degrees, and respect for elders, among others, are some of the issues that need to be addressed. Apparently, the above are basic factors that would determine our “Ijawness,” wherever we are domiciled. The recognition of these key issues would to a large extent determine whether we are actually walking in the light of what Adaka Boro stood for: sustaining the Ijaw ethnic and cultural identity in the Nigerian nation.

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