1) The Ijaws are minorities and they still have an exaggerated impression of their real population and geographical boundaries. (refer to their battles with original landowners in benin, warri, ilajeland etc and controversy over who is a real Ijaw for example people from where the president hail from are not historically regarded as Ijaws unlike Asari Dokubo who is from the real ijaw clans)



2) The Ijaws are seriously disadvantaged in terms of human and economic capital (most educated and wealthy Ijaws have a taste and lifestyle they believe is above the primitive settings of most ijaw clans and those currently stealing petro-dollars are stocking up arms for personal security/struggle for power and mostly investing outside ijawland )

3) The ijaw identity as a brand (like the igbo identity) is quietly assuming a negative perception that they may no longer be entrusted with sensitive national and security asset.

4) The ijaws are surrounded with people who will never support the ijaw in their struggle because they have been cheated or fought by the ijaw resulting to loss of lives and property ( the itsekiri, Benin, Ilaje, urhobo etc) will never be in a country to be dominated by the ijaw.

5) The ijaw cannot feed themselves due to paucity of land and the access to the sea can always be bombarded or barricaded (refer to the experience of the igbo during the Nigerian Civil War)

6) The ijaw have serious internal division and this current unity among their elite is temporary. Some ijaw communities have cheated one another in terms of oil well location revenue and they know same will continue in absence of a neutral arbiter (even within Nembe, there is historical enmity and unsettled scores between the two Nembe)

7) The ijaw have a system that promote laziness among the malefolks and most children are being catered for by their mothers whose wise counsel against war may prevail.

The ijaws are in serious economic poverty even right now let alone when there is war.The cost of consumables in ijaw communities is usually high because the expensive cost of water transportation of goods is usually built into the cost of goods (even ordinary sweet sold #5 costs #20 in far flung ijaw communities)

9.Ijaws lack health infrastructure and the casualties that may arise can not be handled by them.

10) They don't border any country like the Yoruba or northerners in the event that women and children have to move into safe camps or seek temporary asylum or secure alliances.

Finally, if there's any war, the battle ground is going to be ijawland!

What would be your advice to the ijaw if you are in their shoes?

ok

@op....the ijaws in bayelsa and delta are the true ijaws.asari and the kalabaris are hybrids (about 70 percent ijaw) unlike bonny/opobo who are 40 to 50 percent ijaw.

reping bayelsa
100% behind you. The revolution has already started.
No freedom till we are equal. Damn right I support it

i agree with other points

^^Asari claims to be a direct descendant of the Amayanabo of an Ijaw clan.Even if thé population is now diluted, the royal clan will be ijaw.or do you think differently?

Ijaw biko don't go to war, no ethnic groups should go to war, igbo learned it the hard way, the war slowed us and sent us 50years back to say the least, our region was sent back to the stone age, we lost inestimable manpower , 3millions +40.000 brains , 6miions hands , resources, infrastructures etc . After the war we were deprived from everything . Bikonu you people are few and already poor, they will finish you . If you want your ethnic group to b wiped off keep beating the war drum if you love your people humble yourself and stop wishing doom for innocent children.
Thank you

onomeasike: 1) The Ijaws are minorities and they still have an exaggerated impression of their real population and geographical boundaries. (refer to their battles with original landowners in benin, warri, ilajeland etc and controversy over who is a real Ijaw for example people from where the president hail from are not historically regarded as Ijaws unlike Asari Dokubo who is from the real ijaw clans)



2) The Ijaws are seriously disadvantaged in terms of human and economic capital (most educated and wealthy Ijaws have a taste and lifestyle they believe is above the primitive settings of most ijaw clans and those currently stealing petro-dollars are stocking up arms for personal security/struggle for power and mostly investing outside ijawland )

3) The ijaw identity as a brand (like the igbo identity) is quietly assuming a negative perception that they may no longer be entrusted with sensitive national and security asset.

4) The ijaws are surrounded with people who will never support the ijaw in their struggle because they have been cheated or fought by the ijaw resulting to loss of lives and property ( the itsekiri, Benin, Ilaje, urhobo etc) will never be in a country to be dominated by the ijaw.

5) The ijaw cannot feed themselves due to paucity of land and the access to the sea can always be bombarded or barricaded (refer to the experience of the igbo during the Nigerian Civil War)

6) The ijaw have serious internal division and this current unity among their elite is temporary. Some ijaw communities have cheated one another in terms of oil well location revenue and they know same will continue in absence of a neutral arbiter (even within Nembe, there is historical enmity and unsettled scores between the two Nembe)

7) The ijaw have a system that promote laziness among the malefolks and most children are being catered for by their mothers whose wise counsel against war may prevail.

The ijaws are in serious economic poverty even right now let alone when there is war.The cost of consumables in ijaw communities is usually high because the expensive cost of water transportation of goods is usually built into the cost of goods (even ordinary sweet sold #5 costs #20 in far flung ijaw communities)

9.Ijaws lack health infrastructure and the casualties that may arise can not be handled by them.

10) They don't border any country like the Yoruba or northerners in the event that women and children have to move into safe camps or seek temporary asylum or secure alliances.

Finally, if there's any war, the battle ground is going to be ijawland!

What would be your advice to the ijaw if you are in their shoes?

Yet they fought the Nigerian Army to a standstill, thereby crippling the Economy of Nigeria and forcing Oil prices to skyrocket in the Global Market, forcing Obj and Yardua to call for a truce. You know nothing about the IZONS.

onomeasike: ^^Asari claims to be a direct descendant of the Amayanabo of an Ijaw clan.Even if thé population is now diluted, the royal clan will be ijaw.or do you think differently?

dont get me wrong.they are all ijaws, but some are more ijaw than others.this includes their traditional leaders.nobody goes to check your ijawness before you are made a ruler.

^^go on. What they fought to standstill was justa unit of the Nigerian army. And common sense was against any act of genocide against a tiny population of people who are even minority. This time, nobody will pity them and remember there's no where to run to!

phantom: dont get me wrong.they are all ijaws, but some are more ijaw than others.this includes their traditional leaders.nobody goes to check your ijawness before you are made a ruler.

Okay. I understand your reasoning but I doubt if your family background is not considered before you become king.I know some of their communities consider your maternal lineage instead of your paternal lineage like the igbos , Hausas and yoruba do

obamartins:


Yet they fought the Nigerian Army to a standstill, thereby crippling the Economy of Nigeria and forcing Oil prices to skyrocket in the Global Market, forcing Obj and Yardua to call for a truce. You know nothing about the IZONS.

Yea! they tried then but what the Op is saying is a full scale war. War my brother not JTF vs Militant.

obamartins:


Yet they fought the Nigerian Army to a standstill, thereby crippling the Economy of Nigeria and forcing Oil prices to skyrocket in the Global Market, forcing Obj and Yardua to call for a truce. You know nothing about the IZONS.

we are talking of a true war situation where all the stops are pulled out.

My advice to the Ijaws is that they can't win any war with nigeria government except where other minority neighbors join hand and fight ...still their luck is still hanging in the balance.

Their land will be the theater and the experiment of the war.

You will be misleading people by that generalization because even those being regarded as Ijaws have used historical evidence to proof that they are not ijaws
http://www.google.com.ng/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpremiumtimesng.com%2Farts-entertainment%2F150197-book-review-history-okoroma-people-julius-bokoru.html&ei=tUmsUvqlA8a1hAfduIHYDw&usg=AFQjCNFMfZ2XLZlLZ6xjQFm7G5mzOYLyLQ&sig2=K35UhgRl4KoD2Kd86jRDyw

phantom: @op....the ijaws in bayelsa and delta are the true ijaws.asari and the kalabaris are hybrids (about 70 percent ijaw) unlike bonny/opobo who are 40 to 50 percent ijaw.

[quote author=phantom]

onomeasike: You will be misleading people by that generalization because even those being regarded as Ijaws have used historical evidence to proof that they are not ijaws
http://www.google.com.ng/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpremiumtimesng.com%2Farts-entertainment%2F150197-book-review-history-okoroma-people-julius-bokoru.html&ei=tUmsUvqlA8a1hAfduIHYDw&usg=AFQjCNFMfZ2XLZlLZ6xjQFm7G5mzOYLyLQ&sig2=K35UhgRl4KoD2Kd86jRDyw

interesting link.but apart from the ogbias, do the other four tribes understand themselves? I.e dont they all speak dialects of ijaw?

The rest of Nigeria will watch the war on TV in their various regions.

The fight will definitely be on their homefront and the innocent living there will be made refugees, win or lose.

That's before you factor in the distruction of the little development they've been able to achieve.

the ogbias seem to relate more with obua/ahoada people.they should have been in rivers state

probably hoping to drag igbos and other minorities into it.
though a war in ijawland will surely affect igbos. and trust me you'd be shocked how belligerents emerge.
read the second world war, it started with just Germany and Poland, we all know how it ended.

phantom: interesting link.but apart from the ogbias, do the other four tribes understand themselves? I.e dont they all speak dialects of ijaw?

they speak different languages and the interesting thing is that they are so small in population! !Okoroma is just few minutes from Nembe. Agrissaba is a tiny settlement which is in same local government with okoroba (another small community,yet they speak different languages! ! And they have serious boundary issues.

onomeasike:

they speak different languages and the interesting thing is that they are so small in population! !Okoroma is just few minutes from Nembe. Agrissaba is a tiny settlement which is in same local government with okoroba (another small community,yet they speak different languages! ! And they have serious boundary issues.

na wa o! I didnt know that.i thought that apart from ogbias, the others were homogenous language wise.wow.

revolt: probably hoping to drag igbos and other minorities into it.
though a war in ijawland will surely affect igbos. and trust me you'd be shocked how belligerents emerge.
read the second world war, it started with just Germany and Poland, we all know how it ended.

World War was premised on the supremacy agenda of the Nazis and led by a powerful Hitler. He almost succeeded until the alliance of western powers led by America neutralized Germany. Ofcourse, the Russians also dealt with him.Now, which of these scenarios fit the childish ijaw struggle to be likely led by a loquacious asari? Remember asari is just recently released on bail in Benin republic and do you think if ijaw shares a border with benin republic, benin republic will do what they did?

achi4u: Yea! they tried then but what the Op is saying is a full scale war. War my brother not JTF vs Militant.

That is one of the biggest problems in Nigeria. A lot of people don't know the difference btw real war and JTF vs whatever. Smh for them.

I don't get to watch NTA but can someone tell us what is happening: are Ijaws asking for a war ni >>? I mean total war >>?

I enjoin Nigerians to keep their nerve about them and don't be drawn into an unnecessary war, a sane man always ties to ignore a madman and Nigerians should ignore whatever Ijaw man is asking for war! Why would any normal person want war and for what >? Never worth it and I am sure the parts of Nigeria who have seen real wars (not police action or ki eran ma je ile action) would rather do something more productive than travel all the way to Ijaw land to go and fight our brothers! Even if there is a minority who want war, we must do everything to talk to them and out of a ruinous path, let them know we have no desires to come over and fight or people and for what >>? GEJ? GEJ is doing a lot more to their disadvantage than anyone else right now and one day, whether 2015 or 2019, he will cease to be president, with Ijaw land having nothing to show for it, who would have lost?
The oil spills are still there and getting worse, the fishing opportunities are going or gone, the land can not be used for farming anything mostly, the oil is depleting, losing value and more wells are being drilled in other parts of the country of world, when oil is gone or loses value, what is their fall back plan? Nigeria should forget any war with Ijaws, just not needed or worth it!

mascot87: Why do you wish Ijaw nation bad? Anyway, they shouldnt wish themselves bad cos the way Asari Dokubo was talking on NTA Lagos yesterday,it seems that he his ready for war and that means that he is wishing themselves bad

Mr Man, with due respect Asari and his exMilitants ilks are on their own, they don't have the authority of the masses.

Ijaw has many kingdoms, an Okrika man will not "heed to any war called by an Otuoke man or a Kalabari man IF Okrika survival is not threatened.
Same with other kingdoms.
The truth is most of the political class and "elder statesmen" are speaking for themselves.
In Ijawland we have Amayanabors for each kingdioms, each kingdoms also have clans and every clan has a Canoe House, the heads of each Canoe houses together with the Amayanabor decide when the people will go to war and the Heads of Canoe houses prosecutes the War. The war MUST be as a result of threat to the existence of the Kingdoms. Politicians and Vagabonds don't take decision for anybody.

Jonathan should concentrate on delivering his promises, he shouldn't let persona non grata like Asari to deceive him.


Once again Neither Patience nor Jonathan nor Asari nor Clark nor Sekibo etc has the power and authority to tell the Ijaw Nation what to do.

God bless Okrika Kingdom
God bless Ijaw Nation
God bless Nigeria
God bless the President

.......@ OP....this your obsession of Ijaws will soon kill you..



..,.......hmmmm! you sound like Afam d' fool 4ever.

barcanista:

God bless Okrika Kingdom
God bless Ijaw Nation
God bless Nigeria
God bless the President

Which kind of ordering is this?
Nigeria is bigger than the president whether he's ijaw or not


However,God bless this Ijawman.pls tell the canoemen that this type of war will not be fought with canoe? Right now that asari is misyarning they and gej areforming mute.Tell them "before it is too late"(apologies to Gen. obj)

tarryT: .......@ OP....this your obsession of Ijaws will soon kill you..



..,.......hmmmm! you sound like Afam d' fool 4ever.

You call this warning for caution obsession?

You must be one of those children on nairaland.

Yahoo Yahoo Yoruba agents only devilish weapon! Their love of telling people how disunited they are, the lack of love amongs them and how only fraudulent deals with the YYYs can save them. Shame on all agents of YYYs

If the YYYs are not the problems of nigeria they should stop panicking each time a group or two talk about being on their own separately from the Yorubas.

onomeasike:

Which kind of ordering is this?
Nigeria is bigger than the president whether he's ijaw or not


However,God bless this Ijawman.pls tell the canoemen that this type of war will not be fought with canoe? Right now that asari is misyarning they and gej areforming mute.Tell them "before it is too late"(apologies to obj)

Thank you and God bless you. Those nitwit polithiefcians are only using propaganda and self deception that the whole Ijaw is behind them. The truth is that all Kingdoms in Ijaw protect their respective interests ONLY.
Even at the height of it, NO Kingdom in Ijawland has dared fighting the state(ie the country). Our fights has always been restricted to Kingdoms vs Kingdoms or neighboring tribes.

All those fools soiling the Ijaw name will receive a great shock.

We all know that the state won't fight on swords, arrows, few guns and canoes.

The igbos fought a blind and unplanned war of secession against Soviet Union, British Empire and Arab world back Nigerian Army and yet inflicted a serious set back on the Nigerian army that gives them Night mare when ever they hear of Biafra.

Going forward the Ijaws will not fight a blind war of secession , ijaws are smarter than that , they will cut of the link to Nigeria's economy first before finishing Nigeria through insurgencies and guerrillas tactics.
Nigeria strength lies in the forming of alliances with neighbouring nations and super powers and using blockades which Boko Haram did not give them opportunity to use , the last outing of the Ijaws saw a very quick strike force that could get to anywhere near the coast like the Atlas Cove and Bakassi in lightning precision ,hitting their Targets , delivering massive devastations and leaving with out detection unlike the Nigerian forces that can not hit with precision and always in the process slaughter the innocent and incurre outrage of human right community.

Anybody who knows the effect of bombing third mainland bridge ,the numerous power plants in the Niger delta , airports refineries , Fuel depots ,sea ports , ships , stadiums and telecommunication infrastructure will not pray that the militants are ever provoked as long as Nigeria exists as an independent , united nation.

Ijaw/Niger Delta militants are about the only group invicible enough to perpetrate these kind of attacks and still be uncaught, if you doubt me ask Boko Haram .