Ijaw Leader, Chief Edwin Clark has described as nonsensical the plan by the Nigeria Navy authorities to establish a naval base in Kano.
The former National Commissioner who had been away from the country for about a month now faulted the government and the naval authority on the planned project.
NewsSpecng had reported that the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo had on 2 September said that the board of the Navy approved the establishment of a naval base in Kano, aimed at enhancing the security architecture of the state and the nation at large.
But Clark, in an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Naval authority, described the plan as an attempt to make the impossible possible.
He, therefore, urged the president and Naval authorities to rethink.
He said, “ In this our very country, Mr. President of Nigeria is attempting the ninth or tenth wonders to build a naval base in the desert. I don’t know whether perhaps, while I was away, they have manufactured vessels that can go through deserts, I don’t know.
“So I said I should add my voice as usual. Nobody can gag me down. I stated in that note i will continue to write open letters to Mr. President even though he doesn’t look at them until he changes and if he doesn’t change, until it pleases the Almighty God to take me home. And the younger ones will stand up and fight for their rights. So the purpose of this briefing this morning is to express my views about the impossibility trying to be made possible”.
He further stated in a prepared speech read by one of his lawyers, “I am writing this Open Letter to you specifically to raise a fundamental issue of national concern. This pertains to your proposal to set up a major naval base in your home State, Kano, which as God would have it, is at the very heart of the Sahel region.
“Since this your plan came to public knowledge, especially following the donations of 100 hectares of land at Dawakin Tofa community for the purpose by the Governor of Kano State, His Excellency, Dr. Umar Ganduje, many in the Nigerian public have been taken aback; especially as an utmost example of putting square peg in a round hole.
“My dear Chief of Naval Staff and my young friend, as your ‘father’, and one who has served as a member of the Federal Executive Council in 1972, few years before you were born, and later served as a Senator of the Second Republic, I will like to counsel you that decisions which one takes while serving the country, or in any other position for that matter, must be based on higher issues of national and human interests, and rational consideration. That a new Naval Base is being built in the middle of the Sahel which the entire world knows is presently under threat of fast spreading desertification and totally ill-conceived and with all due respect, parochial.
“Please permit me at this juncture to ask a few questions. If more Naval Bases are to be set up in the country, what has happened to the coastal States of Nigeria, particularly in the Niger Delta area where much of Nigeria’s (the country’s) shore line exits, and needs to be protected? I believe you know that at present there is no serious Naval Base in such serious places such as Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta and Edo States. In Delta State in particular, major coastal towns such as Sapele, where there is need for a naval base, it is sad that there is no functional one. There used to be a naval base there, but for reasons best known to the Federal Government, it was downgraded to a training school, and in fact, almost abandoned.
“The so-called Warri Naval Base is nothing to write home about as today, the base is not functioning as it ought to be. Large navy war ships which used to patrol the waters, providing protection, can no longer do so due to the fact that the place has stilted and the Federal Government has refused to dredge it. The structure where the base is housed, was not properly designed and constructed with the intent of building a naval base. The structure is an old colonial building which was acquired and quickly renovated to serve as a Naval Base. Today, the structure is a shadow of itself as a result of wear and tear. The island acquired opposite the base for expansion, which used to be the habitation of Ijaw families of Ogbe-Ijoh, but they were chased away, their property and homes destroyed. This was about 25 years ago. There are exchanges of letters between the Delta State Government and myself, as the lawyer of the Ogbe-Ijohs.
“Let me quickly remind my dear Chief of Naval Staff, that all over the world, there is what they call needs assessment which determines what projects should be constructed and where to site them. Also, Economics has what is called nearness to raw material. Bayelsa State is entirely surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the River Niger, yet there are no naval bases there to protect the shores of Nigeria and the oil companies. For instance, the Bonga Oil Field which is the largest oil field in Nigeria, is in Bayelsa State. Two riverine communities, Agae and Amatu communities, are at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, where oil companies are located yet there is no naval base to protect them. The people are left to their fate. The same can be said of Akwa Ibom and Ondo States.
“The question thence is, for instance, how possible will it be to navigate a navy warship through the waters of Lagos to the desert naval base in Kano which you want to build? Or is there a waterway to take one from Lagos to Kano? Or you want to commit huge scarce resources to create artificial ocean and river in a country that is so indebted? You think because you control the government other Nigerians can be treated with impunity as second class citizens.
“The Niger Delta area, that is from Delta State to Rivers State and to Cross River State, there are at least five sea ports, but like I said because the Federal Government has refused to dredge the sea ports, vessels cannot berth, making the Apapa area of Lagos State and by extension, the whole of Lagos State, to be so congested.
“This is the true definition of naval base world over, except in Nigeria where might, religion and ethnicity take priority over national interest. Thus, it is only in this our beloved country Nigeria, that such an ignoble and indefesible actions can take place; a country where people get away with murder, in an attempt of the Federal Government to replicate and duplicate facilities that are naturally not suitable in an area. Billions of naira have been wasted while attempting to establish such facilities in areas where God did not provide the resources. Kano State is endowed with its natural resources. Rightfully, therefore, what would should been done was to establish facilities and projects that will effectively use such natural resources there, rather than this wild goose chase.
“The siting of a naval base world over, is mainly for provision of security along the waterways of the coasts in order to provide security of a nation’s internal waters and its territorial integrity. And this is done where there is water and not in the heart of a dry land. It is even difficult to decipher and more curious why you intend to crowd the north which is already saturated with heavy military infrastructure, especially in places like Kaduna and Kano States. (There must be a limit to nepotism and parochialism).
“When 30% of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)’s profit was allocated to frontier basin exploration in the recently passed and assented Petroleum Industry Act, some of us had anticipated such “smart” moves, and were, therefore, not surprised. The AKK (Ajaokute-Kaduna-Kano) gas pipeline running from Akwa-Ibom State, in the Niger Delta South-South geo-political zone, without even mentioning Akwa Ibom State where the gas will be sourced from in naming the project, are all part of the game plan.
“I believe that you would have already obtained the necessary approval to embark on this most ridiculous and audacious project. But what I would have
thought is that your principals would have given priority to such projects such as asking the NNPC, the International Oil Companies (IOCs) and their Nigerian counterparts to move their operational headquarters to the Niger Delta, which has not been done despite promises upon promises. The implementation of this relocation order made by Mr. President through the Acting President Mr. Vice President, when he acted as President, has remained adamant like a still born. However, what is quickly organised is the building of a naval base in the part of the country where there is no water. Who knows, maybe sea vessels that can cruise on sand, have been built.
“I wish you well in your work and urge you to re-think on this totally ill-conceived project which makes this country which belongs to all of us, appear as the most ridiculous country in the world; building a naval base in the Sahel.
“Remember, accountability comes after service.”
