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Tag: Ken Saro-Wiwa

  • Appeal Court dismisses appeal to quash judgment on Saro-Wiwa, others

    THE Appeal Court Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has struck out an appeal by leader of “Conscience of Ogoni People”, Gani Topba, against the judgment of the Ogoni Civil Disturbances Tribunal of 1995.

    The appeal was struck out for lack of merit.

    The tribunal tagged the late environmental activist, Ken-Saro Wiwa, and 11 others, criminals, found them guilty and sentenced them to death.

    Topba approached a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt seeking clearance of the 12 Ogoni heroes from the negative image placed on them by the judgment, and for the court to declare them innocent.

    Justice Lima Abdulahi, in a 2017 judgment, struck out the suit, thereby upholding the tribunal’s ruling. He held that the suit was an academic exercise.

    Abdulahi said the appellant did not state what he suffered following the judgment; neither did he claim damages over the death of the victims, following the decision of the panellists.

    According to him, the decree which established the Special Tribunal on Civil Disturbances, including that of Ogoni, did not make provision for appeal. He added that those sentenced to death or long term imprisonment had no opportunity to appeal the judgment based on the decree binding the tribunal.

    Justice Cordelia Jombo-Ofo on Thursday also upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court, affirming that the “appellant was merely exercising his academic prowess”. In striking out the appeal, Justice Jombo-Ofo said the appellant lacks the needed Locus Standi to initiate the appeal. She therefore dismissed the appeal.

    Read Also: Appeal Court cancels vacation for election petitions cases

    She said: “It is not the function or duty of the court to engage in academic exercise or speculation, the court was established to determine live issues.”

    However, Topba said it is not yet over. He insisted that the Appeal Court was bias and he will proceed to the Supreme Court.

    He said: “We are heading to the Supreme Court. It is sad that the right of the minority could be denied, even at this level. I had an incline that today’s judgment would look like this and I am not surprised. I have hope in the Supreme Court to do justice to this matter because Ken Saro-Wiwa was killed wrongly and that must be established, corrected, because if it is not, it will happen again.”

  • I couldn’t mourn my father until 10 years after his execution, says Zina Saro-Wiwa

    Zina Saro-Wiwa says she was unable to mourn her father, Ken Saro-Wiwa, a playwright and Ogoni activist, until 10 years after his execution.

    The New York-based artist disclosed this in an interview with Frieze, a UK magazine.

    Saro-Wiwa was hanged in 1995 for his alleged involvement in the murder of four Ogoni chiefs under the regime of Sani Abachi, late military dictator.

    According to Zina, her father’s death came as a rude shock, forcing her to cut off all ties with anything that reminded her of him.

    The former journalist said her decision to produce a documentary about her father’s legacy sent her on a journey of recovery, which helped her to come to terms with his death.

    “I didn’t move into art consciously. It proved to be the only strategy that allowed me to deal with what had happened to me and my family and Nigeria,” she told the magazine.

    “For 10 years after my father’s execution, I hadn’t really mourned him and chose to cut myself off from anything that surrounded his legacy, as there seemed to be no real space for me within it. He became an international symbol, rather than my father.

    “When I was ready to deal with it I thought that making a documentary about him would be the way for me to reclaim some of his memory and to forge a connection with Nigeria.

    “But every time I went to a pitching meeting at a production company I would break down sobbing. I eventually made a video that dealt directly with my inability to mourn my father’s death: Sarogua Morning (2011).

    “It was a video performance where I shaved my head and forced myself to cry and mourn in front of the camera. That was the film I needed to make. Not a documentary. This work gave me agency, resilience. It made me research mourning cultures around the world and in Ogoniland.

    “It made me think about the relationship between performance and catharsis; it commented on the gap between the public and private sphere when it came to mourning his death. It was also painful and very hard work.”

  • MOSOP raises the alarm over plot to assassinate its president

    MOSOP raises the alarm over plot to assassinate its president

    The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People ( MOSOP ) has raised the alarm over plot by key oil industry operators in Nigeria to assassinate its president, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara.

    The disclosure was made yesterday in Port Harcourt by the Publicity Secretary of MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke.

    He said: “The plot is being hatched through the sponsorship of local actors to engage in a campaign of calumny against the leadership of MOSOP, cause crises in Ogoni and provide an environment to kill the MOSOP president, by replicating the Ken Saro-Wiwa treatment.

    “We want to alert the world of the activities of Belema Oil Producing Limited and Robo-Micheal Limited, all Nigerian companies that have engaged local actors, sponsoring groups and individuals, solely to cause crises in Ogoni, to justify a crackdown on activists and treat the present leadership of MOSOP in the same way it dealt with a generation of Ogoni leaders in the 90s, which eventually led to the November 10, 1995 hanging of renowned environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight other Ogoni activists.

    “MOSOP unequivocally says no to any plan to resume oil production in Ogoniland, until there is proper negotiation. We denounce the activities of Belema Oil Producing Limited and Robo-Micheal Limited in Ogoniland.

    “Ogoni problem is not just about oil, but an unjust system that has marginalised our people, discriminated against us and it is driving us into extinction. These, we must note, are far beyond the capacity of any oil local industry operator to resolve.”

    MOSOP also insisted that the three parties to the Ogoni conflict: Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited ( SPDC ), the Nigerian government and the Ogoni people, must dialogue to resolve the issues.

    The umbrella organisation of Ogoni people called on Ogoni people to be mindful of the devilish plots by the Nigerian oil industry, allegedly being orchestrated by Belema Oil Producing Limited and Robo Micheal Limited, while urging the peace-loving Ogoni people not to be lured and used by the oil industry against one another.

  • Campaign against out-of-school kids hots up in Niger Delta

    The expansive Pearl Hall of Atrium Event Centre on Ken Saro-Wiwa (formerly Stadium) Road in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, was filled to the brim with eminent personalities, while parking of various cars became a Herculean task, with the security personnel deployed in the place having a very busy day in controlling the crowd and vehicles.

    The event was the inauguration of the Rivers state chapter of the Association for Formidable Educational Development (AFED), thereby declaring war against out-of-school children in the Niger Delta, through low-fee-paying private schools, which will be affordable to parents and guardians.

    In Nigeria currently, there are over 10 million out-of-school children, in a population of about 170 million people, while the alarming time-bomb must quickly be addressed, to avert the danger ahead.

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike recently ordered that all private schools in Rivers state that are not on minimum of four plots of land, which he described as illegal, would all be shut in September, in a state where one plot of land costs between N20 million and N40 million in Port Harcourt, depending on the location.

    The owners of the yet-to-be-approved private schools in Rivers felt that the leaders of the state’s chapter of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) were no longer protecting their interests, thereby opting for AFED, which was established in 1999, but registered in year 2000 as a professional and humanitarian organisation, to cater for the interest of owners and operators of low-fee paying private schools in Nigeria.

    The colourful inauguration was attended by the paramount ruler of Rumuevuorlu community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers state, Eze Chris Akani; Prof. Godwin Omokhua of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT); the National President AFED, Mrs. Esther Ifejola; the association’s National Secretary, Mr. Orji Kanu; the Rivers Controller of AFED, Pastor Joe Udechi; his counterpart of Anambra State, Pastor Donald Okorie; and the Proprietor of Phebeans Group of Schools, Port Harcourt, Mr. Femi Ajiboye; among other important persons.

    The guest speaker from Lagos, Dr. Ibukun Daramola, spoke on: “The Low Cost Approach to Solving Access to Education: A Divine Assignment.”

    The monarch (Eze Akani), in his remarks, stated that he boycotted other equally-important engagements to be at the AFED’s inauguration, because the association was talking of very important aspects of life, that would take Nigeria to greater heights.

    The traditional ruler said: “Nigeria is at a crossroads. The only way out is education, because we currently have well-educated people, who are dwarfs morally. That is the problem with Nigeria today. The market women cannot steal N100 million, but the well-educated people are now stealing billions of naira, dollars, pounds and euros.

    “The money that ought to be used for education is being kept in dustbins, septic tanks, water tanks and in cemeteries. The organisation that will stand up to the challenge is AFED. The organisation is blazing the trail for standing up to the challenges in education in Nigeria.

    “God did not tell us to be corrupt, while millions of people are wallowing in abject poverty. Nigeria has produced many educated people who are morally bankrupt. Our cultural values have also been eroded. Education should be for empowerment, development and positive changes. Graduate unemployment is widening.”

    The monarch also admonished the proprietors of private schools to be committed to AFED and that there must be no going back.

    The national secretary of AFED, while also speaking, disclosed that when the like-minds started the association’s struggle, they could be likened to orphans, before Prof. Pat Utomi became the National Patron, while the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, and many other eminent personalities are now supporting AFED.

    He noted that being together would always be a way forward, while admonishing the members of the association to be united, both physically and spiritually, work very hard, form cooperative societies and must always be encouraged to stay together.

    Kanu disclosed that in Lagos State, AFED is the greatest association with the highest membership, while asking the members in Rivers state to extend their services to the riverine/rural areas of the state, to ensure access to qualitative education, while disclosing that the British government was currently supporting AFED with £2.2 million.

    He revealed that members of the association could also benefit from grant from Rivers government, as being done through the Lagos State Development Trust Fund, to support the low-fee-paying private schools, through which one of the members in Lagos recently got N5 million.

    The national secretary also asked the Rivers chapter of AFED to set up technical committees, especially to be liaising with the people in power, while insisting that the owners of private schools must maintain standard, pointing out that gigantic structures would not mean that learning was taking place, while charging members of the association to create scholarship platforms for extremely-poor students, since the best service to God would be the one given to humanity.

    The guest speaker expressed surprise about the classification of Rivers as an educationally-disadvantaged state, while advising Rivers governor, Nyesom Wike, against shutting the yet-to-be-approved schools in the state,  describing access to education as imperative, since it would take the people out of poverty.

    He maintained that the reality on the ground was that government alone would not be able to fund education, in view of the enormous cost, stressing that there was the need for vibrant policies to stabilise the school system in Nigeria and the costing of education, while lamenting that children of many wealthy parents are in the Federal Government Colleges, meant for children from poor homes.

    Daramola also urged the AFED members to work as a team, since a tree would not be able to make a forest, thereby calling for synergy, for government and its officials to take the association seriously and to be able to source funds to improve the facilities in the various private schools, adding that when the staff are well paid, as and when due, they would last longer and be more productive.

    The guest speaker also advised members of the association not to use the property they are living in as collateral for loans from banks and other financial institutions and also warned them never to take loans to pay salaries, while pleading with government to give subvention to owners of private schools.

    Daramola maintained that not all the highbrow schools have standard, suggesting that state governments could give certificates of recognition/good performance to the AFED members, while waiting for approval, through which the government would also increase its Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR).

    UNIPORT’s Prof. Omokhua, called for support for AFED to succeed and for children to have access to qualitative education, rather than dropping out of school, because of poverty, only to become nuisance to the society.

    In his welcome address, the Rivers controller of AFED disclosed that the association currently has over 200 members, who are owners of private schools in the state, assuring that AFED had come to stay in Rivers.

    Udechi assured that members of AFED in Rivers would strictly adhere to the core values of the association, consisting of commitment, leadership, integrity, passion, excellence and creativity, while urging Wike to partner with AFED to reduce the number of out-of-school children from the streets of the state in no distant time.

    He said: “This journey, which commenced on February 22, 2017, with the introduction of AFED and its activities to 22 schools present, has been an arduous task. The task of convincing and mobilising members from the nooks and crannies of our beloved Rivers State to believe in an association unknown and unheard of, was a great one. Nonetheless, we are thanking the Almighty God.

    “Currently, we are having well over 200 members, who have shown interest in our association and we are sure that the number will surge in the shortest possible time, given the breakthrough that our God is giving us.

    “As a team, our long-term commitment is to ensure that the ugly cliche associated with Rivers State as ‘Educationally-Less-Developed State’ is removed from the annals of history. With God on our side, we shall achieve this.’

    The Rivers controller of AFED also assured that he and members of the protem executive of the association would justify the trust and confidence reposed in them, promising not to let the members down.

    The national president AFED  stated that there was an urgent need to reduce the number of out-of-school children, thereby salvaging the future of Nigeria from ignorance, poverty and war.

    She noted that the Rivers governor, whom she described as a listening leader, would see a way of working with AFED to improve the standard and scale of education in Rivers, the treasure base of the nation.

    Ifejola, who was still recovering from illness, but represented by the association’s Vice-President, Mr. Michael Adeyemo, stated that emphasis must continually be placed on qualitative education.

    She said: “Education remains a vital part of quality of life and one of the key components of the Human Development Index. Considering the position of Nigeria among countries with highest number of out-of-school children, there is urgent need to reduce the number, put at over 10 million children in Nigeria.”

     

  • Court dismisses suit against Ken Saro-Wiwa’s trial

    A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt on Friday struck out a suit filed by a group seeking to annul the Ogoni Civil Disturbance Tribunal which convicted and sentenced to death by hanging the Ogoni rights activist, Mr. Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight other leaders of the Ogoni ethnic nationality in Rivers State.

    The group, Ken Saro-Wiwa Associates, had approached the court asking it to declare the special tribunal constituted by the military government and process of setting up the panel as unlawful.

    The group had also asked the court among other reliefs sought to set aside the tribunal judgment handed out to Ken Saro-Wiwa and others on October 31, 1995.

    It further prayed the court to hold that the special tribunal was unlawful and acted contrary to the African Charter on Human rights.

    Justice Mohammed Liman in his verdict condemned the ruling of the tribunal that convicted the nine activists, noting that such laws cannot exist in a civilized society.

    Justice Liman held that the tribunal was not properly constituted, adding that only three men formed the tribunal whereas the constitution provides for the chairman and three other members.

    He stuck out the case on locus standi, noting that the applicant was unable to state his relationship with the convicts.

    He ruled that the applicant had nothing to gain or lose in the matter, adding that it was for academic reasons.

     

     

  • Niger Delta Avengers give conditions for dialogue with FG

    Niger Delta Avengers give conditions for dialogue with FG

    Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) on Monday indicated interest in discussing with the Nigerian government.

    But the group that has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks on oil and gas facilities across the Niger Delta region has spelt out some stringent conditions for any dialogue.

    It will be recalled that this is the first time the group has shown any readiness to discuss with the administration of President Buhari-led administration.

    The decision is contained in a statement signed by the its spokesman, Mudoch Agbinibo, in which the Avengers said it was ready to negotiate with the government if there are good grounds for such deliberation.

    However, the group said it was yet to see any signs that the government had made new concessions.

    Speaking in the statement that was posted on the group’s website Agbinibo said: “The high command of the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) is using this medium to restate that there are no new items to put on the table for dialogue, we only want a genuine attitude and conducive atmosphere that will make us commit to any proposed dialogue and last peace talk.

    “We want the federal government to commit members states of the multinational Oil Corporations to commit independent mediators to this proposed dialogue; we believed that it is only such environment that will engender genuine dialogue that will be aimed at setting up a framework for achieving the short, medium and long term demands of the Niger delta to de-escalating this conflict and bring about a lasting peace.”

    The group further noted that the NDA is restating its commitment to attack the interest of oil corporation and international refineries operators that bring in vessels to the Niger delta territory to buy oil that every successive government have refused to use and reapply the proceeds towards any development in the region since 1958.

    “If they refuse to heed our advice will result to sinking of two their mother vessel as an example to others They should not undertake any repair of pipeline, oil and gas facilities that are damaged or attacked by our forces during this period of “Operation Red Economy” until and/or after the dialogue.

    “We are using this medium to warn and condemn the activities of all brands of social media agitators being peddled around by some politicians to promote their criminal ways in the affairs of the Niger Delta. This genuine spirit behind our struggle for the Niger Delta cannot be derailed on the basis of connivance by politicians, traditional rulers, settled ex- agitators and criminals moving around to fill their pockets.

    “The issues of the Niger delta are as old and as new as the days of Pa. Dappa Biriye, Major Jasper Isaac Adaka Boro, to Ken Saro Wiwa and the government of President Musa Yar’ Adua. We are warning this government of President muhammadu Buhari, not to turn the essence of genuine peace talk and dialogue to political jamboree that is prevailing now where all manner of social media agitators and criminals have being sponsored by the job seeking corrupt political class to safe faces before the government of the day.

    “Finally, if need be we may review our earlier stance of not taking lives. We are going to redirect and reactivate all our activities if the government, oil companies and their services firms don’t heed to these modest warnings of not carrying out any repair works   and suspend the buying of crude oil from our region as we await the right atmosphere that will engender genuine dialogue.

    “We want a peace with honour not a peace of our time”

    The group’s latest decision is coming at about a week after the government ordered troops in the oil-rich region to end onslaught against the militants.

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  • Niger Delta declares ‘War on Books’

    Niger Delta declares ‘War on Books’

    • “A book must stir you up to do something. To be, we have to think.” ~ Ken Saro-Wiwa”

    For decades, the Niger Delta has been engaged in agitations over the exploitation and neglect of the region by the Federal Government of Nigeria. The region is responsible for over 90% of the revenue that accrues to the Nigerian State.

    Isaac Boro, an Ijaw Nationalist is a forerunner of the Niger Delta struggle. Being a man of conviction, youthful passion and exuberance, he led the region into an historic declaration of the Niger Delta Republic characterized by arms bearing which has since defined the Niger Delta struggle.

    But things are changing in the Niger Delta, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, an Ijaw man became President of Nigeria and the zone was pacified.

    Niger Delta Books 2The former President, who launched a National bring back the books campaign and oversaw a Niger Delta amnesty programme that witnessed a lot of emphasis on education and training, seems to have set an agenda for his people unsuspectingly.

    Mr. Udengs Eradiri, the President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) who was preceded by the fiery Asari Dokubo and Kaima declaration signatory, Mr. Felix Tuodolo has taken up the charge and has decided to declare a war on books in an attempt to change the course of the struggle in changing times.

    What is not lost upon him is the simple quote ‘Knowledge is Power’ and Mr. Eradiri has taken this message to the Niger Delta youths as the new alternative to violence, arms bearing and insurgency.

    Eradiri’s IYC has sent a strong message to impress this philosophy with the launch of a Library and Information Communication Technology (ICT) Centre at the Ijaw House in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state. He said ‘First of all, they must be educated’ and added that the initiative was set up ‘to create an environment to develop young people’, he said the motives of  ‘a library and an ICT centre’ is primarily ‘to change the perception of our young people’ while it o provide costless means of studying and quality research through internet-linked laptops and computers.

    Mr. Eradiri, said that the center will be used as a resource and also a training hub for youths while noting that it shall develop programmes and ‘enter into agreements to encourage learning among the youths’.Niger Delta Book 1

    Mr. Eradiri’s IYC has entered into partnership with Books to Africa, a UK based international Non-governmental Organization, which donated about 1000 books that formed the first stock of the library and ICT center which has dozens of Computers. The NGO is known to give books from donors majorly in the UK to need areas in Africa.

    The library was named in the honor of the late Dr. Oronto Douglas, a renowned intellectual and writer who has traversed the globe in pursuit of the Niger Delta struggle.

    The Ijaw Youth Council pledged to contribute its quota to ‘ensuring that it (the forum) becomes a breeding ground for leadership.’

    ‘And how do you breed leaders?’ asked Eradiri who intimated the people present at the launch of the facility of the Educational Endowment which his leadership has instituted. He challenged other eminent indigenes and business interests  in the Niger Delta region to contribute to the endowment funds.

    Meanwhile the fortunes of Oil which the bedrock of the agitation is in steady reversal. The instruments of the impending Ijaw resurgence will be data not bazookas.

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  • Ken Saro Wiwa Poly gets Ag Rector

    A new acting Rector has been appointed for Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic (KENPOLY) Bori, Rivers State. Dr. Georgewill Onengiye has been appointed  acting rector of the state owned polytechnic formerly known as Rivers State Polytechnics (RIVPOLY) .

    Onengiye, who is the second rector of the institution, takes over from Sir Obianko Nwolu-Elechi through an internal selection.

    The new rector, who hails from Akuku-Toro Local Government Area of Rivers State, was the Head of Computer Science Department and the former Director of Information Communication Technology (ICT), KENPOLY.

    Congratulating Onengiye, the chairman, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), KENPOLY chapter, Comrade Ferry Gberegbe said members of the polytechnic community were happy about the appointment.

    He said it showed that Governor Nyesom Wike did not only respect their opinion, but respected the national policy on education. He urged Wike to address the issue of funding and release the three years outstanding subvention to the institution.

    He said: “Before now we were agitating, calling on Governor Wike to ensure that he did not appoint an outsider as the rector. With the appointment of Dr Onengiye as the new Acting Rector the polytechnic community is glad to celebrate the second internal rector of the institution.

    “We are aware of the new rector’s pedigree; with the support of the staff and the students of the institution we know he will not disappoint us. All he needs now is our prayer to take the institution to the greater height,” he noted.

     

  • Entries for Ken Saro Wiwa book review competition begins

    Entries for Ken Saro Wiwa book review competition begins

    The organisers of the Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF)have called for  entries for reviews of any one of five works of Ken Saro Wiwa’s fiction  and drama.

    The best review of either ‘Sozaboy’, ‘A Forest of Flowers’, ‘Adaku and  Other Stories’, ‘Prisoners of Jebs’, or a joint review of ‘Basi and  Compan’y and ‘Transistor Radio’ will receive a humble 100,000Naira prize  money at the opening day of the Festival, at Freedom Park in Lagos, on  November 13, 2015.

    The competition is open to Nigerians aged between 18 and 41, i.e those  who were either not born, or were just teenagers or at most aged 21, at  the time of the death of this Nigerian literary icon.

    The entries are to be submitted to Mr. Toni Kan, chairman of the panel  of judges, on or before 5pm on November 6, 2015. Mr. Kan is the author  of ‘Nights of The Creaking Bed’ and brand ambassador for the Samsung  Galaxy Note 5. Each review should be no more than 1,000 words and  typewritten and sent via email to tonikan11@gmail.com.

    “The competition does three things”, according to Jahman Anikulapo,  programme chairman of the Committee For Relevant Art(CORA), organisers  of LABAF, “it serves to improve on the human infrastructure of reading;  there cannot be a robust literary/literacy subculture, or a book market,  without a vibrant review culture. The grounds on which conversations of  culture stand, in the Nigerian arts landscape today, is shaky.

    “It also helps to memorialise Mr Saro Wiwa, to whom the theme of this  year’s edition of the Festival is dedicated. Saro-Wiwa was murdered by  the state on November 10, 1995.

    “And Finally, it is the foundation of CORA/LABAF Annual Literature

    Review contest.”

    Anikulapo added: “So much effort has been paid, by sundry sponsors,  to writers of books and less to the infrastructure of reading. CORA  fancies itself as a landscapist and as we have pioneered the idea of  Book Festivals with programme content, as opposed to book fairs in the  country, we also want to sow seeds in the area of getting whole  communities, as opposed to writers alone, to share in the joy of  reading.

  • Ken Saro-Wiwa resurrects in award-winning story

    Ken Saro-Wiwa resurrects in award-winning story

    When Peter Ukwa, an undergraduate of Political Science at the Bayelsa State-owned Niger Delta University (NDU), Wilberforce Island, wrote True Independence, he thought he was simply embarking on a mere literary voyage. But the piece, a short story eventually metamorphosed into an award winner.

    In fact, the subject matter, setting and the theme of the story appealed to the judges who constituted an award panel for Bayelsa State chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).

    Centred around the oil curse of the Niger Delta and illustrated vividly  by pipeline rupture, environmental pollution, gas flaring, sheer neglect by the government and murder of an environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, the story was sure to capture the interests of ANA judges.

    Ukwa, in his story, attempted to illustrate the dramatic irony that accompanied the execution of Saro-Wiwa by the despotic ruler, late Gen. Sani Abacha. In his True Independence, set in Ikara, an imaginary community in the Niger Delta region, Abacha created Bayelsa State from the old Rivers State, a day after the activist was executed. It was indeed a good illustration of irony of a situation.

    Ukwa, who hails from Idumu-ogo in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, vividly narrated the story employing simple diction that won the hearts of the judges. So, he won the short story award in the adult category. His work was published in the Mariner, a monthly journal of the state ANA.

    He said: “There is a decent hope for Nigeria as Nigeria has her own equivalence of good and promising youths. For every bad guy, there is another intelligent chap waiting on the wind of happening, someday, somehow, anyhow.

    “ If for anything the award has good things to say of the quality of teaching and scholarship going on in the young institution NDU and of the young creative writer who is coming in no time to take the stage and bring hope and succuor to his famished generation and nation; especially now that our youths are drifting: no aim, no purpose, no pursuit”.

    In the spirits of his story’s title, he queried: “Can Nigeria in her one hundred years existence and less than a couple of weeks to her fifty four years independence as a nation beat her chest with her present challenges and proclaim True Independence?”

    Ukwa described the award with a cash reward of N20,000 as a huge encouragement to him. He said he had prepared other stories for his readers. “It is a kind of encouragement to me. This is my first entry for a prize and l got it. It is a huge encouragement. I have other stories coming up. I have prepared a story similar to this which l entitled Rivers People. It will be produced very soon”, he said.

    Throwing more light on the story, he said it depicted the happenings in the Niger Delta region especially issues of resource control, oil spillage and compensation.

    “The message is that Bayelsa State was created the year after Saro-Wiwa was executed. Bayelsa was created in 1996 while he was executed in 1995. It was the same administration of Abacha which executed Saro-Wiwa that created the state. I wonder if it was compensation.

    “The people of the Niger Delta have suffered so much from the activities of the oil companies. In most communities, we have oil spillage, destruction of aquatic lives and the story dramatized an oil spillage that killed many people”, he added.

    Also, the state Chairman of ANA, Mr. Emmanuel Frank-Opigo, congratulated Ukwa on his award. He spoke at the monthly reading of ANA members which was held at the Prof. Azaiki Library and Museum recently in Yenagoa.

    “Ukwa was one of the six winners in the competition organised by the state ANA and he won the prose prize. His works was very good and published in our magazine.