I have taken my time to trace our journey from slavery to now. The chains are still there; it’s just reshaped and renamed.
Let’s start with the transatlantic slave trade. Look around the world today, and you see Black people everywhere. Not by accident. This is the result of human cargo. Thank God humanity eventually intervened, and we regained our freedom. Then came the Berlin Conference, where European powers sat around a table and carved up Africa like a Sunday roast. The British, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Belgians, Germans and the rest. They came, they ruled, they left with our resources. But before they left, they built structures to make exploitation permanent.
Take the Nigeria Land Act of 1988. It transferred ownership of our ancestral lands from the people to the government. Today, the colonial masters are gone, but the Nigerian government maintains the status quo. Why? Because it benefits them.
I was told about newly discovered oil in Oghara. Steplat Energy is about to mobilise to site. The law is colonial law. The land belongs to the state government. We are slaves in our own land. And what are we fighting for? 3%. The Petroleum Industry Act of 2010 offers us 3% of what is rightfully ours. And we are ready to kill one another over it. I just completed research on Pan Ocean’s activities in Ovade. The images of community attacks are despicable.
Slavery came and went. Colonisation came and went. But our land still does not belong to us. So what independence are we celebrating? The British handed the baton to Nigerian elites who now serve as our new slave masters, partnering with oil companies to drain our resources. We are repeatedly raped of our birthrights.
Now take a deep breath. The reality is this: the constant violation continues, whether through slavery, colonisation, or our own brothers and sisters. Look around. The men and women with money are feeding on our stolen oil wealth. The rape continues.
Make no mistake. We are at a crossroads between the devil and the deep blue sea. We ordinary people have no friends. We are left to choose our poison.
The 2027 elections are approaching. The same game Tinubu and Buhari played in 2015 is back, but this time with Washington’s attention. Donald Trump may need to intervene. I once worried about our sovereignty. But are we truly sovereign? Look at Tinubu’s politics. Despite all the killing and kidnapping across Nigeria, he has declared a state of emergency only in Rivers State. Why? That is where the oil flows deep. He has taken over our governors in the Niger Delta, and planted men to rig the next election. If he survives, he will become another Paul Biya.
Our elites are no different from the slave traders or colonial masters. So who do we run to? Millions of Nigerians are in Libya trying to cross to Europe, begging to be slaves there.
The question really is: should we allow Tinubu and his men to continue to rape us, or invite Donald Trump to take over and rule us? The only person who can stop Tinubu from becoming another Paul Biya is Donald Trump. The question is simple: do we prefer Donald Trump to Tinubu? The game is on.
The question remains: between the devil and the deep blue sea, which one do we choose? Or is there a third way that we have yet to imagine?
Africa, who bewitched us?
By:
Ogbevire Christian Ashaiku (AKA Daddy Kris)
Human Rights Activist
PhD Law Research Fellow
Middlesex University London
