Before Ojukwu, there was Boro. Before Biafra, there was the Niger Delta Republic.
Major Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro was born on the 10th of September 1938, in the oil town of Olobiri along humid creeks of the Niger Delta.
His father was the headmaster of the only mission school in the Niger Delta.
Boro was an undergraduate student of Chemistry and student union president at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, but he left school to lead an armed protest against the exploitation of oil and gas resources in the Niger Delta areas which benefited mainly the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Eastern region with capital at Enugu.
Boro believed that the people of the area deserved a larger share of the proceeds of the oil wealth because nothing was given to the Niger Delta people. He formed the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, an armed militia with members consisting mainly of his fellow Ijaw ethnic group, declared the Niger Delta Republic on February 23, 1966, and fought Nigeria’s federal forces for 12 days but were eventually defeated.
The Aguiyi-Ironsi Federal Military Government subsequently imprisoned Boro and his associates for treason.
Boro’s father, a distinguished educationist, had given his son sponsorship to complete his education abroad rather than take up guns against the government before he founded the Niger Delta Republic. Boro refused his father’s offer, fearing that the action might ruin the family.
“The Ijaws were headed into permanent bondage,” he added, “and if we don’t strike now, not only our families, but the entire Ijaws will be infernally shackled.”
Boro exclaimed as he declared the Niger Delta Republic’s secession on February 23, 1966:
“Today is a historic day in the history of the Niger Delta, not only in your life but also in the history of the Niger Delta.” Perhaps it will be the most memorable day in a long time. This is not because we intend to bring the heavens down, but rather to show the world what we think about oppression and how we feel about it.
“Remember your 70-year-old grandma who still farms before eating; remember your poor people; remember your petroleum, which is pumped out of your veins every day; and then fight for your independence.”
“We were classified as thieves, bandits, terrorists, or gangsters before today, but after today, we will be heroes of our country.”
Boro, on the other hand, went on to fight for Nigeria against Biafra during the Civil War, but was killed in action on May 9, 1968, at Ogu (near Okrika) in Rivers State, under strange circumstances. He was 29 years old at the time.
