THE WXYZ POLITICAL MOVEMENT BY ADAKA BORO (1938-1968): NIGERIA'S FIRST SECESSIONIST

...Boro was just 27 years old when he declared the Niger Delta Republic

Before Chukwuemeka Ojukwu declared the Republic of Biafra in May 1967, Isaac Jaspa Adaka Boro had declared the Niger Delta Republic in February, 1966.

Boro had formed the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, an armed militia group with members consisting of mainly his fellow Ijaw ethnic group, declared the Niger Delta Republic in February 23, 1966, and fought the Nigeria's Federal Forces for 12 days but they were eventually defeated and then jailed by the Aguiyi-Ironsi led Federal Military Government for treason.

Before he declared the Niger Delta Republic, Isaac Adaka Boro's father, an educationist, had offered his son sponsorship abroad to further his education rather than take up arms against the government. The Senior Boro feared that would ruin the family, but the young Boro said to have rejected the offer.

However, Boro went on to fight for Nigeria against the Biafra during the Civil War but was killed under a mysterious circumstances in active service on May 9, 1968, at Ogu, near Okirika, in Rivers State. He was 29.

THE MAN ISAAC JASPA ADAKA BORO

Isaac Jaspa Adaka Boro was born on September 10, 1938, to Ijaw parents in Oloibiri, Bayelsa state. Ironically, this is where crude oil was first discovered in 1956. The mega dollar which then came with the discovery were not impacted on the area where the crude oil was coming from.

His father, Pepple Boro, was a school headmaster in his autobiography; "The 12 Days Revolution" Isaac Adaka Boro described how he moved with his parents to different towns whenever his father was transfered to head a school.

The young Boro did not find any difficulty in obtaining the First School Leaving Certificate which examination he passed with distinction. He also passed the West African School Certificate Examination at Hussey College in Warri, in 1957. He reportedly produced the best school certificate result for the College in that year.

After completing his Secondary education in Warri, Delta state, he took up teaching job before he joined the Police. In 1961, he obtained a scholarship from the Eastern Regional Government to study Chemistry at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Isaac Adaka Boro later emerged as the President of the Students' Union Government for the 1964/1965 session after two failed attempts. This was his first major role in leadership post that made him very popular.

He was so radical and courageous that as a student, he dragged the Federal Government of Nigeria to court seeking the nullification of the 1964 general elections. He was also the pioneer for the campus transportation which was hitherto nonexistent in the University. The young Boro paid attention to the unending Political crisis in Nigeria and spent more time reading the thoughts of known Revolutionaries like Fidel Castro.

When he left UNN in 1965, he moved to Lagos and founded a Political movement called WXYZ with two like minds Samuel Owonaru and Nottingham Dick. The movement advocated greater control of the benefits of oil wealth for the Ijaws.

Boro who said to have strong admiration for for Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Belewa, condemned the coup that led to his assasination and said Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, emergence as Head Of State convinced him that revolution was the only way out for the Ijaw people and advocated a rejection of the new regime.

He questioned the legitimacy of such a violent change and needless show of disrespect to the Nigeria Constitution, describing it as a direct affront on the covenant of true Federalism agreed on by the founding fathers of the country.

Notebly,a few weeks after military coup, Boro declared the secession of the Niger Delta from the rest of Nigeria.

THE 12 DAYS REVOLUTION

On February 23, 1966, a few weeks after the January 1966 military coup, at the age of 27, Isaac Adaka Boro declared the secession of the Niger Delta from the rest of the country. He called the new country "Niger Delta Republic", but it would only last for 12 days.

He firmed the "Niger Delta Volunteer Force" made up of young men whom he had been training in a militia camp behind his father's compound in Kaiama, present day Bayelsa state. In his speech, Boro told his supporters that they are going to demonstrate to the world what and how they felt about oppression.

Interestingly, his career, comfort, young family, and even his own life were nothing compared to the common good and interest which he sought to pursue. Boro and his comrade in arms were determined, resolute and completely sacrificial to their cause. They envisioned aNiger Delta which would be the beacon of true civilization and progress.

Despite the superiority and sophistication of the Nigerian Army, Boro and his close associates including Captain Sam Owonaru, Captain Nottingham Dick, George Amangala, and so on, didn't see a possibility of failure.

Aptly penned down in his autobiography, Boro avowed his commitment to truth and justice. He was sure of victory even after faced with death. His proclamation was the first time the unity of Nigeria would be put to test. Boro argued that the Niger Delta region where the nation's wealth comes from had suffered years of neglect and underdevelopment.

The protest which lasted for 12 days was forcefully restricted by the Federal Government under Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and the Governor of the Eastern Region, Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, who ironically, would make the same move by declaring the Republic of Biafra, a year later in May, 1967.

Boro and his comrades were tried for treason and sentenced to death. During his trial, he remarked that there was nothing wrong with Nigeria but lack of mercy in her activities. However, the military regime of General Yakubu Gowon who succeeded the murdered Ironsi in the July Northern counter coup against the Eastern earlier coup against Tafawa Belewa and other Northerners granted Boro Amnesty on the Eve of the Nigerian Civil War in May, 1967. He was then enlisted into the Nigerian Army and was commisioned as a Major.

FIGHTING IN THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR

Boro recruited some men who then volunteered to serve under him and he briefly trained them at escravos. His group was then attached to the 3rd Marine Commando Division (then 3rd marine) under the command of Colonel Benjamin Adekule. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his book "My Watch" describes the training of Boro's 1,000 rivers men as "hurriedly and poorly done with little or nothing in the way of training facilities and resources."

Be however acknowledged their contributions to the army despite the poor training. Major Boro and his men recorded a lot of victories during the war. Their Knowledge of the creeks of the Niger Delta, their understanding of the local languages, their ability to leave off the land and their swift, though tactically less accomplished movement accounted for their huge success in areas around Opobo, Obodo, Opolom, Andoni, Oranga and Buguma.

They fought gallantly to liberate the most critical oil and gas belt of Nigeria from the Biafra troops although, Colonel Adekunle received received all the credits or their successes.

ISAAC ADAKA BORO'S DEATH

Isaac Jaspa Adaka Boro died during the Nigeria Civil War near Okirika, in 1968. He was 29. A lot of theories came up concerning his death, with some pointing at Colonel Benjamin Adekunle claiming he saw Boro as a threat to his ambition while others point at the Igbos, who felt Boro betrayed them by joining the Nigerian state to fight against the Biafra.

Speaking about this, Isaac Jaspa Adaka Boro's younger brother, David Boro, who was still a teenager at the time his brother died, described his brother as one who did not see himself as a soldier. David stated that his elder brother, Isaac Boro was an Aggrieved freedom fighter who wanted quick result and was only in the army to win the war and would leave when that happened.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo also wrote in his book that Isaac Jaspa Adaka Boro was killed by a fleeing rebel soldiers whom e encountered during a private visit. The suspicions surrounding his death led to a weakening of the soldiers morales and their fortunes bagan to dwindled.

Major Isaac Jaspa Adaka Boro was buried at the Ikoyi cemetery in Lagos, but his remains were later exhumed in 2013 and reburied in the Heroes park in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state capital.

BORO'S LEGACY

Isaac Jaspa Adaka Boro's re12 days revolution was the first rebellion of many to come against Nigeria state. He's quoted as an inspiration for both violence and nonviolent Niger Delta Activist like Ken Saro Wiwa and others.

Boro's struggle for equity awakened the consciousness of the Ijaw nation like never before, to the deplorable conditions of their communities despite been home to major oil Wells. They can be described as the proverbial "people who were bathing in an ocean but couldn't get water to wash the soap in their eyes."

Evey year in Bayelsa state, May 16th is set aside to celebrate his impact on Ijaw land and his he fought for the Niger Delta region.

Captain Sam Owonaru was Boro's second in command and was the last surviving member of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, speaking before his death on June 16, 2020, Owonaru said that inability to control and manage their resources was the reason for their agitation.

Isaac Jaspa Adaka Boro's revolution may have failed but it opens the doors for others agitating resource control and drew attention to what is happening in the Niger Delta region. But still yet, the region is still far from being the region of her dreams. Cries of marginalization, Political intolerance and rapid degradation of the region have all fallen on deaf ears.

SOURCES;

1. Igoni, D. (2020, January 11). Northern Nigeria Encouraged Isaac Boro's 12 Days Revolution - Brother, David Boro. Punch.

2. Orodaye, M. (2020, August 28), Isaac Adaka Boro, the Revolutionary Ijaw soldier who declared the SECESSION of Niger Delta Republic.

3. Oseji E, and Ebirim, J. (2021, May 23), why we are celebrating Isaac Adaka Boro 53 years after. Inaws in Lagos. Vanguard.

4. HistoryVille (2023, May 16)

Informative and educative

The same Adaka Boro that killed innocent Opobo people just for being Igbos?

Armaggedon:
The same Adaka Boro that killed innocent Opobo people just for being Igbos?

Boro slayed the flat head Biafrans trying to lay claim of Opobo that is Ijaw land.

The evil that a tribe does lives after them.

If Adaka Boro thought things were bad then, he will cry now if he were still alive

gidgiddy:
If Adaka Boro thought things were bad then, he will cry now if he were still alive

He knew things would always be bad. He tried to pull his people out but Ironsi and Ojukwu jailed him.