Non-Right To Self Determination By Hannatu Musawa | Sahara Reporters

Non-Right To Self Determination By Hannatu Musawa | Sahara Reporters

In Defense of MS Hannatu Musawa - the author of the above article.

The last Article of the "United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 13, 2007" provides " Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, people, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act contrary to the Charter of the United Nations or construed as authorizing or encouraging any action which would dismember or impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and independent States."

The UN Declaration under contention does not support secession campaign. Therefore, it is not the right law, if you must avail yourself of any UN Declarations to support a secession initiative.  I read the entire 46 Articles of the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 13, 2007, and there is no part of it supporting disintegration of a sovereign nation by any means. And that is the same UN Declaration that Mr. Goodluck Diigbo alluded to in his emancipation proclamation address. The protection and inalienable rights of the indigenous people to exist in accordance with their inherent beliefs system as contained in the 2007 UN Declaration are not in any shape or form an endorsement of secession.

Furthermore, the last sentence in the last paragraph of Ms Hannatu Masawa article reads "In light of this, rather than relying on international law and the UN Convention to enforce the Ogoni people’s right to self-determination, an internal decision-making framework, such as a Constitutional Convention, National Conference or Constituency Assembly may be a more informed, advisable and sensible way for Dr. Goodluck Diigbo to present his argument for breaking away from Nigeria.”

Over the years, Southern bloggers, Pundits, Opinion Writers have been agitating for a forum for us to discuss the nature, scope, and extent of our coexistence as one nation. And that is exactly what the author seems to be suggesting in her last paragraph – the need for dialogue, internally, instead of making references or relying on arcane laws or UN Articles and Declarations that do not bear any relevance to the underlying ecological problem in the Niger Delta.

Much as I would willingly hesitate to accuse some of you here of being intellectually dishonest, suffice it to say that, when you take exceptions to the author's view or content in a given article, try and acknowledge a part of it that tends to push or support your case. Majority of those that criticized the author on Sahara Reporter (where this article was originally published) completely ignored the point she made in the final paragraph of her article, reproduced above in italic. That none of the critics notice that part of the article, given the strident demand for SNC by most Southern writers, smacks of intellectual amnesia and naivety. 

In a nutshell, I firmly believe that the author is not saying anything untoward or antithetical of the interest of the good people of Ogoni Land and the age-old beliefs that they hold and share as a tribal entity. In my own judgment, the piece is simply a legal opinion on the relevance of the Article cited by Mr. Goodluck Diigbo (United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 13, 2007) as a basis for the secession of Ogoni people from Nigeria. 

In conclusion, I am unequivocally opposed to the disintegration of Nigeria – that is no longer a secret, but it worth repeating here. Much as I empathize with the people of Ogoni and the entire Niger Delta for the degradation of their God given land by our federal government and IOCs, I do not think that secession is the best approach to resolving the situation in the Niger Delta. 

The truth is that there is nowhere in Nigeria that members of a community would welcome the pollution and environmental ills prevalent in Ogoni Land and the entire Niger Delta in their own backyards. And that is the main reason why the situation in the part of our world must be handled in a nonpolitical and non-partisan manner. 

As I said elsewhere on this blog, there is an "Ogoni" in every Nigerian, because Ogoni Land, and by extension, the Niger Delta contributed immensely to the development and overall survival of the 'geographical expression' referred to as Nigeria. Niger Delta made us what we are today, as a nation-state, as a corrupt nation-state, and an ethnically conscious nation-state. We should help to build it, and not destroy it. That is my position, and it has always been so. 

My conclusion here is by no means an endorsement of the profligacy of some of the political leaders in the region. As I was taught in my Economics Class in Grammar School, I want to remind those who exercise control over Niger Deltans' recurring wealth or development funds that "money is not needed for its material composition, but what it can purchase." Stop stealing. Stop accumulating wealth you can't reasonably expand. Ibori and Uncle Deprieye will tell you what I mean. I purposely veered off topic to drive home the point that all is not well with the management of funds and projects in the Niger Delta. 

By the way, here is the link to the United Nations (2007) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf)