The way I see Liberia

On November 10, 1995, the renowned Nigerian playwright and leader of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Kenule Saro-Wiwa and eight of his Ogoni compatriots, known as the Ogoni 9, were convicted and summarily hanged by the Nigerian Government. As leader of MOSOP, Ken attacked the oil companies and the Nigerian government, accusing them of waging an ecological war against their homeland, thereby threatening the survival of the Ogoni people.

In 1990, Ken dedicated himself to the amelioration of the problems of the oil producing regions of the Niger Delta. He launched a non-violent movement for social and ecological justice for his Ogoni homeland known as the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).

Ken was so effective, that by 1993 the oil companies had to pull out of Ogoni. In 1994, Ken became a candidate for election to a Constitutional Conference proposed by the military dictator, the late General Sani Abacha and was assured of election, not just as the voice of Ogoni, but as a voice for all of Nigeria's minorities.

Before the election, Ken was arrested for the murder of four Ogoni chiefs. A mock trial was held which took place over many months and was condemned internationally as fraudulent. After the verdict was handed down, calls from all over the world to spare the lives of the Ogoni 9 were made; however, the Government of Nigeria refused the plea for mercy and hanged the members of the Ogoni 9 on November 10, 1995.

Many groups have emerged from the rich Niger Delta since the hanging of the Ogoni 9. One such group is the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND. MEND has intensified its conflict with the Nigerian government and its largest commercial partner, the oil giant Shell. Government forces have bombarded villages and oilrigs in its attacks on Mend’s ethnic Ijaw rebels.

Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, known simply as Asari, is the Ijaw Youths Council, IYC, leader for another group called the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force. Asari was born as Dokubo Melford Goodhead Jr., but was later converted to Islam and adopted the name Mujahid Dokubo-Asari.

In 2005, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari threats of open warfare against foreign oil companies caused turbulence on the world markets. He was invited to the capital, Abuja, for a meeting with President Olusegun Obasanjo. He operated quite openly and after talking about independence once too often; he was arrested and is presently in custody, awaiting charges of treason.

Mend has demanded the release of Mr. Asari; however, Mend has insisted that their organization is separate from Mr. Asari’s organization. While Mend and the other militant groups claim to be standing up for Delta residents, some locals say they are just oil thieves. The region is home to a huge industry of stealing oil, breaking into the pipelines that criss-cross the remote and inaccessible regions of Nigeria and selling it on the black market. Some of the oil thieves that break into these high pressure pipelines also have between their upper and lower lips lighted rolled objects that they smoke, that sometimes cause sparks and explosions that incinerate everything and everyone in the immediate vicinity.

The group enjoys considerable local support and it is difficult to pinpoint exactly who is a member. But unlike at least one other group, Mend has not specifically called for the Niger Delta to secede from Nigeria. Mend has however threatened to initiate full-scale military operation in Nigeria's main oil-producing region and is behind the kidnappings of oil workers in plain view without any resistance; moreover, the kidnapped workers are freed at will without any arrest of the kidnappers of this shadowy group, about which little is known.

Mend's leaders like to be faceless and they usually send statements to the media via e-mail concerning pending attacks and acknowledgment for questionable attacks. Their threats and attacks on oil installations in the region have caused a 15% cut in Nigeria's oil output and a surge in world oil prices. From where I sit and as I study these episodes, all of these events are a direct curse of Ken Saro-Wiwa on the Nigerian Government. These happenings will continue until a seceding pack is realized. Nigeria, you hanged the wrong man and his curse is upon you with no end in sight.

The jury is out ~ the honeymoon is over

Matthew 12:25, Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. The term kingdom, city or household in this sense means entity, the people and or the country. Liberia is this household. From where I sit, I have realized that there is a huge lack of cohesiveness and indifference between the branches of government. Do not get me wrong; there should be difference of opinion, difference of the mind and difference of reasoning, but the one supreme goal that should be the order of the day, is to serve the people. What I have observed is that the very people who are to serve are conducting themselves as masters of the manor. For those who are endowed with the pleasure of authority are nothing but servants. You are to serve.

There were cries of abuse of power and the disregard for the rule of law in the past, but I am afraid, the past has come full circle to hunt us and to hunt us with a bang. Why should there be a rift of such magnitude between our leaders? Ignorance, power, greed, hatred, vengeance, what? I hate to speculate and I will not speculate. I just hope that the business of the people be brought forth and disagreements and opinions are sensible and respected and the total regard for the rule of law takes center stage.

If the Madame as a person fails, or any entity of the government, such as, the different branches of the government, the Madame’s cabinet or any component of the government fails, it will be recorded as the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf lead government failed. If that happened, everyone that worked in any capacity and received the Republic of Liberia government check, failed the Liberian people.

One hundred days have come and gone and there will be more hundred days to come; if the people don’t forget there petite jealousy, hatred and indifference for Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as a person, the government of Liberia under President Sirleaf shall surely fail and history will bear forth the culprit.