Contending Issues in the Niger Delta Crisis of Nigeria - Journal of ...

Dr. Esekumemu V. Clark
others, have been at the forefront of the struggle to rectify the
injustices by non-violent means and to find an amicable solution to
the problem. In the mid sixties the late Boro, a chemistry student at
the University of Nigeria, took the then Federal Government under the
leadership of Balewa to court. The charges brought against the
government were: (1) oil revenues were not used for the development
of the oil-producing local communities; (2) issues of environmental
problems facing the oil-producing region as a consequence of the oil
production by the multinational oil-corporations; (3) education; (4)
poverty reduction; and (5) political participation at both regional and
national levels, should be addressed by the Nigerian government. The
court had failed to redress the problems because of the pressure from
the government. Indeed, the inability of the court to provide legal
recourse to the grievance led to restiveness in the Nigerian Delta. In
January 1966, Boro and other Izon students declared the Riverine
State 1[5] and took control of the oil fields in the Ijaw areas. The
Nigerian military seized power on January 15, 1966, thereafter it
crushed Boro’s revolt and he was sentenced for treason against the
state by the military under the leadership of Major-General Ironsi.
However, in 1967 Boro was released by General Gowon 2[6] and
subsequently joined the Nigerian army and was killed in action during
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