Hon T.N. Paul Birabi: The Forgotten Nigerian Nationalist
By Davio Teniente
I will begin with one of my favourite quotes: “If Nigeria were to be a
limited liability company, Hon T.N. Paul Birabi would have been a major
shareholder”.
Reading through the Biography of Hon. Timothy Naakuu Paul Birabi
(1916-1953), member of the Nigerian delegation who attended the London
conference of 1953 to negotiate Nigeria's independence, founder of the
first secondary school in Ogoniland, founder of the first hospital in
Ogoniland, the first Ogoni university graduate, the man who was
instrumental to the establishment of over 50 primary schools in Ogoni
land, i found the exclusion of this gentleman from the Nigeria's centenary
honours list as representing the diminishing capacity of our country and
those we choose to make decisions for us.
Hon. T.N. Paul Birabi's exclusion from the centenary awards list hurts the
true spirit of our nationhood. It hurts the efforts of this great and
exceptional founding father and nationalist, his friends like Dr Nnamdi
Azikiwe who knew him personally and acknowledged his capacity during his
speech at his graveside.
I am in difficulty of finding the most apt words to describe this
government's decision to exclude Hon. Birabi from Nigeria's centenary
honours list. I blame not just those who sat to make the selection but the
fact that those who approved the selected list could not identify the
absence of Hon. T.N. Paul Birabi is to show the level of depravity we
accord to national commitment. I could only reason that those who made the
selection were most likely not in right tune with Nigeria's history, I
reason that they were too much in a hurry to do a decent job or they could
have been influenced by the fact that this great nationalist came from a
small and marginalized community – Ogoniland.
Hon T.N. Paul Birabi's achievements are simply staggering and i see no
possibility of an Ogoniman who can match the heights attained by this
gentleman. Unfortunately, he died in 1953 at the age of 37. May his soul
rest in peace.
Eminent historians, Profs. Tamuno and Alagoa, wrote his biography and had
this to say about him:
“When Timothy Naakuru Paul Birabi left the safety of his teaching
profession to join the boisterous field of politics his challenges seemed
to increase. In 1953 he was fully involved in the crisis that had
entangled the National Council of Nigeria and with the Cameroons (N.C.N.C)
hierarchy at the Eastern House of Assembly in Enugu. The Council of
ministers led by Prof. Eyo-Ita had rebelled against the N.C.N.C party and
the Eastern House of Assembly was dissolved just one year after the
legislature had been introduced. This meant that he had to go back to the
Ogoni electorate to seek re-election. His reputation before his death
stretched beyond the precincts of his community and he had acquired
national significance as a member of Nigeria's highest legislative chamber
the Federal House of Representatives.
It was as a member of N.C.N.C. team that he went to London in 1953 along
with representatives of Northern People Congress (NPC) and Action Group
Party to negotiate with British Government at constitutional conference
that ushered in autonomous Government and subsequent independence for
Nigeria.
Although a member of the official N.C.N.C. delegation at that time he was
also the president of River's association, an organisation set up to
campaign for special treatment in the provision of social amenities for
the Niger Delta people of Nigeria. Timothy Naakuu Paul Birabi championed
the proposal of chief Dappa Biriye for treating the people of the Niger
Delta, which include the ogoni people, as unique area requiring a special
development programme. It was these shared view that led the British
Government to institute the Willink commission of inquiry in 1957 to
explore the demands of the Niger Delta for the creation of a separate
state to cater for peculiar needs of its people was either understood by
their neighbours in what was then eastern Nigeria.
The commission headed by British administrator Mr. Henry Willink did not
recommend the creation of a separate state. However, it recommended that
because of specific challenges of the region and what appeared to be
neglect by the Government of eastern Nigeria, the Federal Nigerian Delta
Development Authority be established to find solution to address the
problem of the region. These were all the precursors to the establishment
of the present Rivers State which was created by the Federal Military
Government in May 1968. Indeed Timothy Naakuu Paul Birabi M.H.R. (Member
House of Representatives) had within his short spell with the N.C.N.C.
made such an impact that he was already positioned as Minister for
Education following the 1953 elections.
On his return to Nigeria in October 1953 from the Constitution Conference,
he found his wife had fallen ill. Sadly Mrs Paul Birabi never recovered
and later passed away from acute malaria shortly afterwards on 11th
October 1953 at the age of just twenty two. This tragedy left Timothy
Naakuru Paul Birabi broken-hearted and with two small children. He fell
ill himself shortly afterwards and was taken to General Hospital in Bori.
However on the 23rd November 1953 Timothy Naakuru Paul Birabi passed away
at the age of 37 throwing the entire Ogoni community into mourning.
Legacy
Timothy Naakuru Paul Birabi path to greatness is connected with various
activities and achievements during the last five years of his life. These
were so profound that the history of the change which occurred in the
social, educational and political history of Ogoni read like the history
of the life and achievements of Timothy Naakuru Paul birabi. He was a
leader and motivator and his personality was embossed on the mode of the
various changes that occurred within Ogoni between 1948 and 1953. Never
before or since has such a profound, lasting and momentous change occurred
within Ogoni. Even if one concedes that the changes were bound to occur,
the timing and style of these changes were certainly attributable to his
leadership and sheer force of personality. Furthermore, he was the first
Ogoni man not only to obtain an academic degree, but to critically use his
education as an instrument to better his people by addressing fundamental
issues of development.
Socially the Ogoni community into which Timothy Naakuru Paul Birabi was
born was essentially an illiterate one. Engrossed in agricultural
pursuits, the Ogoni appeared to be under the yolk of their more civilized
neighbours. As such the Ogoni nationality owes her exposure in educational
pursuits and achievements in the 1950s and 60s both to his personal
example and his mission. The success of Timothy Naakuru Paul Birabi the
first Ogoniman who rose from humble beginnings to frame through the
attainment of University education – is still a shining beacon of what can
be achieved if one applies oneself to academic pursuit for the benefit of
the community.
For a man from one of the smallest tribes in Nigeria to have been held in
such high esteem by colleagues from all parts of the region in the
National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (N.C.N.C) was proof of the
recognition of Timothy Naakuru Paul Birabi's qualities and abilities among
his party members. Although death deprived the nation of exploiting his
full potential, it is a tribute to his memory that his potential was
acknowledged by the party hierarchy.
His unrelenting representation of his people is still, to this day
unparalleled. He pressured the N.C.N.C government of Eastern Nigeria to
grant scholarship to qualified sons of Ogoni to study abroad. Two
prominent beneficiaries were Messrs Monday Danwi (Medicine) and Ignatius
Kogbara (History and Political Science). By spearheading the establishment
of post primary schools in Ogoni he sought to bring education nearer to
his people. Amongst all his achievements and contributions to his
community, one intangible but immensely important milestone stands out and
has lived on long after his death. Administratively, the Ogoni were
treated as an appendage of the Opobo and administered as part of the
Calabar province. Indeed it is due to Timothy Naakuru Paul Birabi and a
small number of other Ogoni leaders that Ogoni has its separate identity
today. He preached the unity of the Ogoni and the right to equality with
their neighbours. To the Ogoni, maligned and treated with derision by
their more educated and wealthier neighbours, Timothy Naakuu Paul Birabi's
abilities and achievements stood unparalleled and helped to promote the
confidence and pride of the people. As such the Ogoni have since held
their own, politically and socially.
Dr. Azikiwe's funeral service tribute at the grave side of the late
Timothy Naakuru Paul Birabi, MHR., B.A., F.R.G.S. still remains the most
apt description of this general, charismatic son of Ogoni:
“Nigeria has lost a worthy son and the Ogoni nation has lost a sun “.
He is well and truly established as the father of Modern Ogoni.”
T.N. Paul Birabi is accepted as the greatest leader the Ogoni community
has ever had. He is yardstick against which subsequent leaders had been
measured and his name still conjures amongst the Ogoni a reverence and
call for unity which no other leader before or since has been able to
achieve.
Nigeria did not deem it fit to honour this great gift to our dear country.
An action that over 1,000,000 Ogoni people will consider a continuum of
Nigeria's oppression of the Ogoni people. An action that could evoke the
perception of Ogoni oppression as a state policy. An action that could
hurt Ogoni patriotism within the Nigerian state and move our society
significantly backward as one where achievement and excellence are never
rewarded.
An apology for this grievous mistake will not be enough. The remedy will
be a national honour in recognition for this man, an exceptionally
brilliant personality whose exit affected Nigeria's future in a way only
those who understand, his capacity and the educational revolution Nigeria
forfeited by his not mounting the office of a federal minister for
education, can appreciate. If for nothing, he deserves to be honored for
his role in the negotiation of Nigeria's independence and for the
education and care he gave to a section of this country – the Ogoni
people.
Author: Fegalo Nsuke, founder of Ogoninews.com. For comments, email to: