Albert Korubo Horsfall is a former Nigerian security chief and prominent nationalist. Horsfall was a police man and pioneer member of the National Security Organisation (NSO). He was also the first director-general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the fifth director-general of the State Security Service (SSS) and the pioneer chairman of the Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC). In this interview with IGNATIUS CHUKWU, he spoke on the sacrifices of the founding fathers of Rivers State, looming security dangers and the socio-economic destabilisation in the state occasioned by the activities of gang groups, elevation of militants in society, the forth-coming elections, need for peace and stability in Rivers, among other issues. Excerpts:
Sir, why are you stepping out at this moment, knowing you do not stir for nothing?
I came to the conclusion that I should alert the nation and the Rivers people in particular of the potential security dangers and the socio-economic destabilisation that may be about to happen in Rivers State in the face of current political developments. As has happened before, by being docile and by trying not to engage in the realities of our situation, Rivers people are sleep-walking into a state of disaster. We are being taken for granted, once again. Rivers people do not accept the imposition of another mainland governorship candidate on the state by one of the main political parties after 16 years of governance by candidates from the mainland. We therefore appeal, very strongly to all political parties to present candidates from the riverine communities for the governorship race of the state in 2015.
Will we forget so soon that between year 2000 and 2002 the seeds of insecurity were deliberately and purposefully sown and sponsored by top political players in the state? Assassins sponsored by these groups and engineered through a serving police officer at that time murdered a number of persons including Monday Ndor, etc. and thus drove the state to a downward spiral of insecurity and instability. Fear descended on the citizenry. This state of affairs caused me to issue my warning captioned ‘Stop this madness forthwith’ in a release to all Rivers people. I took various subsequent other actions to try to arrest the reckless drift to insecurity in the state. Nevertheless and in spite of my little efforts, the state of insecurity persisted and by 2003 assassinations and cult driven gang warfare and gun fights were to be seen all over the state particularly in Port Harcourt, the state capital! At the same time some top politicians had actually sponsored and armed a number of young radicals who soon became ‘warlords’. We know them. And in fact, the weak institutions and leadership in our polity have now promoted some of them to public recognition and status! Meanwhile, the series of unjustified killings and destruction of properties including the destruction of oil and gas installations, attack and kidnap of expatriates, etc. continued. All these dangerous events continued to happen in Rivers State until 2007. In some cases respected chiefs of communities, heads of war canoe houses, were brought to the open, flogged and de-humanised by the so-called war lords, etc.
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In all, these activities affected not only the economic and political lives of Rivers people. Fear and despair descended on most communities when women and even men who went fishing in the creeks, and fishing is our main economic lifeline in the riverine communities of the state, were attacked and murdered by renegade gangsters operating outside the control of the main war lords. Massive mistrust of one another descended on the people of Rivers State. But no one but God could save them from the misery that had already befallen the state. Rivers people were helpless! Those who could, migrated to Abuja, Lagos and other safe places. Economic life came to a standstill. Most ordinary people could not venture outside of their homes to pursue their economic activities. The expatriate communities soon quickly dis-invested and packed out of Rivers State. Therefore economic life, and even social life came under the hammer of insecurity and the state literally died. Thus from 2003 until about the end of 2007 Rivers State was practically dead. My fellow Rivers men and women, boys and girls, are we, once again, going to let ourselves to drift into this state of anarchy and helplessness?
On whose platform are you taking all of these initiatives? Is someone not going to accuse you of anti-party activities as some other elders have been accused?
No. I serve only one platform, my God, my conscience and the ordinary Rivers people. I have demonstrated it again and again that I believe in peace and in all my life I have worked hard to promote peace because where there is no peace there will be no progress.
The second thing is that I love the youth. I have done most of my charitable activities and services in the promotion of youth interest. I believe very strongly that the youth is the future of any nation. Where there are no strong and well developed youth we can only expect a weak future for the next generation of that country because like a computer, what you put into the system is what you get out of it. If you train and develop the youth well and incline them in the right direction then you have a good and vibrant future for your country, state, community, even your family.
My love for peace has been demonstrated several times in many ways. I said in some earlier paragraphs that in 2002 I issued the aforementioned warning. I followed it up with several other actions, advice and activities to ensure peace in the society and the state. Again in 2002/2003 when the peace of my home community Buguma, was disturbed, there were killings, fighting, and the whole community was sacked. I intervened to restore peace and issued this cry to the youth and I quote: ‘…don’t let the politicians or the perverted elders deceive you’. In the matter of love of the youth and their development, for instance, I have several instances to cite. But one such recent one concerning Rivers State, because I had always operated at the Federal not Rivers level; before I became chairman of the SRC (Rivers State Social Rehabilitation Committee) I was first offered by the Rivers State Government a prestigious position in one of the universities. But I politely declined and opted for the youth rehabilitation programme which I initiated for the training, re-orientation, reformation and rehabilitation of militant youths who had been living in the mangroves, undertaking all manners of misguided activities, etc. I did so, in spite of the dangers involved, when the militant struggle was still actively taking place, and I did this well over a year before the federal government declared its amnesty programme.
And, again, on peace, in 2003 before the election of that year, I summoned a meeting of all the political parties operating within the state and pleaded with them to rein in their supporters from engaging in violent campaign and thuggery of any sort. All the parties except the governing party attended the meeting at Port Harcourt Club. At the end of the meeting a communiqué was signed and all the parties undertook to maintain peace and ensure peaceful electioneering. Nevertheless, the anti-peace elements, surprisingly including some top politicians continued their nefarious activities, funding and arming rival cult groups to wreck mayhem on the communities.
Rather interestingly, most of the above sordid developments took place in this state without the outside world, even within Nigeria knowing what was really taking place in the state. And so no one could intervene or condemn these dastardly acts. This was as a result of massive corruption officially instrumented on some elements in the media, the security, the police and other public agencies. Therefore the happenings in Rivers State were hardly being reported in the media and I doubt even in official records, correctly. And the world at large was looking elsewhere when Rivers State was burning. This state of affairs only changed when the activities of militants affected the national economy by the massive vandalism and disruption of oil and gas activities and the unfortunate kidnapping of expatriates by the so-called militants. The Federal Government of Musa Yar’Adua was thus forced to take action by opening dialogue with the militants and eventually granting them amnesty.
One would be forced to ask now; are Rivers State and its people once again, sleep-walking into another state of potential anarchy and violence, etc. as they did before? From its inception in 1967 Rivers people had recognised our ethnic and cultural diversity and accordingly exercised a formula for sharing things within that cultural diversity namely riverine and upland. And that formula was crafted deliberately by the founding fathers of this state.
How does the present situation affect the dreams of the founding fathers of Rivers State?
Rivers State was not created, as were some other states, out of political convenience or geographical balancing. The state was fought for, stoutly and in long drawn sustained struggle, political, economic and even military. The political struggle for Rivers State started far back in 1934 when Rivers people mainly Ijaws met in Lagos and resolved to carve out a distinctive place for the southern deltaic peoples of this country. These political struggles were sustained throughout those periods and culminated in the establishment of Rivers Province, carved out of the old Owerri Province in 1947. Those struggles continue even till this day. However, in between, especially in 1966 Isaac Adaka Boro’s armed struggle took place. In the 1980s-90s Ken Saro Wiwa’s Ogoni struggles which turned militant at times also took place. But the main issue that resulted in the creation of Rivers State was the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-70. The creation of Rivers State unlike some later states was not a mere political expediency but the result of a long drawn struggle including the Nigerian Civil War in which our sons and daughters fought gallantly and many lost their lives. I can list here just few of the outstanding individuals who took part in the struggle. They include Harold Dappa-Biriye, Ernest Ikoli, Melford Okilo, Frank Opigo, Ngeri Rowland, Joseph Wobo.
Aside from the politicians and the political revolutionaries some of our gallant sons and daughters who shed their blood in order that Rivers State will become a reality include: Admiral Denson Okujagu, Admiral Promise Okujagu, Col. Nyanayo, Major Adaka Boro, Captain LongJohn Obuloni, Captain Loveday, and a lot of other gallant officers and other ranks. Is anyone suggesting that by the so-called new political arrangement crafted by our later day self-seeking political groups who some political rivals regard as upstarts and brats, that the sons and daughters or descendants of those who struggled for the creation of this state will not share in the opportunity to govern this state?
Was it said that someone, possibly one of those captured in the last sentence claim recently that he had abolished the Mainland/Riverine sharing formula in this state or that there are no founding fathers of this state? I am afraid, such persons if they exist should have their mind examined. As stated earlier this state was founded by unceasing political struggles by our foremost sons and daughters, by our gallant military men who shed their blood for the sake of the state, by musicians like Rex Jim Lawson, David Bull, etc. Even those who did throw social parties and functions and other forms of entertainment during the Civil War, all contributed to the founding of this state. So we must appreciate them. All of them!
The people of this state are reputed to be fair-minded and civilised. In all their struggles you would identify one thing flowing through their actions, ‘fairness to all and justice for all’. That is how some of those whose communities joined the state in 1976 following the Irikefe Boundaries Commission became governors and deputy governors and held very high political positions on behalf of the state before and especially since 1999 regardless of their fresh status. This privilege was not accorded to them because the Rivers people are lazy, indolent or un-ambitious. No. it is because like our forefathers we are fair-minded and generous people. It would amount to great insult, therefore, for anyone to suggest that there are no founding fathers of Rivers State. Because there are! There may even be ‘founding mothers’ – the Hilda Somiari type who boldly confronted injustices, and confronted all sorts of brutish behaviours during the civil war days and beyond.
The ultimate political struggle that led to the creation of Rivers State in 1967 by Gen. Yakubu Gowon, then Head of State was spearheaded and led by HRH Harold Dappa-Biriye. Initially General Gowon was being persuaded to create a COR (Calabar Ogoja Rivers State) but there was no doubt that the heavy and persistent pressure by Biriye and others persuaded him to go for a Rivers State and a South Eastern State rather than a COR state. Biriye stood head and shoulder above others to co-ordinate the final onslaught of the state creation drive which involved delicate politicking, diplomacy and intelligence that culminated in the founding of Rivers State. I, at that time, was a young man of 24 or 25 years old, an ASP in the then Special Branch of the Nigeria Police Force. I was a PA to the then Head of Special Branch. The Special Branch at that time was or acted more or less as the secretariat or records keeper of the various military administrations that emerged from time to time. In my unique position as a PA to the Head of Special Branch I was the messenger, the connection, the channel, the recorder, the administrator and the link person through whom many of the delicate transactions, messages, etc. were channelled forwards and backwards in order to achieve the objective of the Rivers State creation.
Did you play any specific role in the creation or founding of Rivers State?
But in my case, unlike some others, I worked from the belly of government being an insider. And soon after Port Harcourt was liberated in May, 1968, I was naturally, instantly deployed as the head of a security contingent to work with the 3rd Marine Commodore Division – to serve with the Nigerian military forces as the civilian security coordinator to ensure peace and stability in the liberated areas. In that capacity, I was not only part of the machinery of expressing the vision for the creation of Rivers State as I did when I served in the Headquarters Command as PA to the Head of Special Branch but I became a principal actor in the physical founding of the state. Say, what you may therefore, I am part of the founding fathers of the Rivers State.
Rivers State is for all of its people and those others and there are numerous such others who have come to live and work in it, the process that dates back to many decades. We all reside side by side as fully integrated Rivers people. My vision and expectation is that we keep it that way.
The various ethnic nationalities of Rivers State otherwise called the Rivers people have lived together in co-operation and collaboration for centuries. They have had economic, cultural, political and educational collaboration for that long. I am proud to say that I am part of the expression of this socio-cultural process. I am linked by blood, etc. with several parts of the state, mainland, riverine, including the Ikwerre and Ogoni. My father’s first daughter is from Ogbogoro (Ikwerre), I finished primary school in Emohua (Ikwerre), my family had linkages in Aluu and my nanny who nursed me when I was a kid is from Ogoni, etc. So what I advocate today for the riverine communities I will do so as a steward in the court of justice and fairness, equally to protect the interest of any of the mainland communities.
What about your personal security in all of this?
Yes there is glaring evidence that those who are bent on using violence to serve political ends will stop at nothing and will not hesitate to apply thuggery or violence to express themselves. My answer to this question is very simple. ‘Those who live in glass houses must not throw stones.’ Perhaps you have not heard the story – indeed a fairy tale story that when my political convoy was attacked in Okrika in 2002 I disappeared! The next place, according to this sweet story, that I resurfaced was in Israel. Have you not seen that I have disappeared from the scene for about four weeks since September, 2014? Where have I been? All over. Perhaps to consult with those – FBI, International Court of Justice, MI6, etc. – who will deal decisively with anyone or group should anyone be foolish enough to attempt violence against me. In any case the law will say ‘buyers beware’. And I will say to the fools that threaten violence ‘beware’ – the Horsfalls are a unique species. Read their history and you will know that no sane person attempts violence against them otherwise the consequences will be too grave for such persons to bear.
Yes did they say that during a funeral ceremony Peter Odili had said that I frustrated him from becoming President of this country in 2007? Yes I did, and if he said so he is correct. I did so because he was attempting to answer ‘my father’s’ name in his attempt to become president on the platform of old Eastern Nigeria. I regard Odili as my personal friend. I think he also regards me as his friend in spite of our different political viewpoints on Nigerian politics. But everybody who knows me will know that I will speak the truth as I see them. You asked me to comment on the performance etc, of Odili as governor of Rivers State. I will not, because friends don’t run down friends. Let others do that.
Where do you place President Goodluck Jonathan in all of this?
Jonathan is my kinsman. He came into politics by accident. But no matter what anyone may say about him and his administration he has given democracy a new face in Nigeria, especially in the area of free speech and human rights. No past administration of this country had given such opportunities or tolerated criticisms as his administration has done. So am sure people will vote for him not because they like him as such but because they have found true expression of their democratic views in his style of administration.
How exactly do you feel about Nyesom Wike the former minister for Education?
Obviously, I do not know enough of him to form a correct opinion. However, I will ask him to advise his media people to look at his image more seriously and carefully. The rumours being spread about him especially his physical engagement with his opponents, etc are not palatable. Hopefully, these stories may not all be genuine or true but as a budding politician he should look after his image so that he can prepare himself for future political office but must forget the idea of becoming Rivers State governor just now!
Let me say in conclusion that the Rivers people will not sacrifice their-long cherished association and collaboration and their need for peace and stability so that the selfish interest of a few people may be satisfied. No. It shall never happen!
IGNATIUS CHUKWU
