By Ben Oramalugo

From 1982 session, history was obliterated from primary and secondary School curriculum in Nigeria, until the emergence of civilian Government of Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu. That interregnum inertia was a great blunder. A professor of legal History at Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Dr Akin Alao summed it up when he said “A country without a sense of history is a Soulless one. It could safely be said that many challenges facing state and nation building efforts in Nigeria are as a result of neglect of history. History of intergroup relations in the country has confirmed the extent of interaction among the various ethnic groups or nationalities long before the position of colonial rule”.

It then means that we have raised generation of Nigerians that have no idea or knowledge of her past, ancestry, or previous civilisations. This new generation has no knowledge of empires of West Africa and Nigeria – Benin, Oyo, Kanen Bornu, Sokoto, Mali, Ghana, Songhai and Republican Confederacies of Igbo land and their coastal neighbours. This means that this generation does not know about slavery and slave trade of millions of black people to America (Prof Alice Jekayinfa 2022). It also means that the student of this era cannot comprehend the European conquest, imperialism and African resistance. They cannot understand the bestiality of Europeans on African people. They cannot understand the contribution of Great Zik of Africa, Chief Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello (Sultan of Sokoto), Nkurumah, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania towards nation-buildings in Africa. While this Lacuna is trending in Nigeria, the Chinese are busy drilling their kids on Confucious narratives – history, values and standards, which they hold through adulthood. Americans and Europeans make history compulsory in their colleges and universities. An average American knows how America came into existence, he knows about the war of independence of 1776, he knows about American Fiasco in Vietnam. How can people exist without knowing the past?

1949 Iva valley Enugu Massacre was one of the historical events that Nigerians, especially the young ones are ignorant of. There is urgent need to interrogate the event in proper perspective, so that Nigerians can understand it better with other unjust killings in Africa, which I will elaborate profusely in comparative nostalgia.

Let me start with North Africa. In 1471 the colonisation of Africa began with the Portuguese taking some of the Moroccan Coastlines. In the early 16th century, Algeria came under Ottoman empire. Although Algeria was under Ottoman, that did not stop colonisation from attacking her. The French invaded  Nigeria in 1682, the Dutch in 1715, the Spanish in 1775 and the U.S. in 1815, to name a few. In 1830, the French conquered Algeria and it became a French Colony. The struggle for Algeria independence started in earnest. 1.5 million Algerian lives were lost in the struggle. In 1961, a year before Algerian independence, Algerians in France protested and over 100 demonstrators were killed. On 20th September, Macron, the President of France condemned the Massacre of Algerians in Paris.

The war of independence 1954 – 1962 was horrific and in 2017, Emmanuel Macron admitted that France colonisation was a “Crime against humanity” (Medi Alavi 2024). Within this context and taking Nigerian judicial victory as a precedence, Algerian people should drag French to the International Court for proper historical jurisdiction.

Just like Iva Valley Massacre, Killings also occurred in South Africa severally. According to B. Hirson in “Soweto: Roots of Revolution” (1978), on June 1976, the Soweto Students Representative Council called on striking students to demonstrate against the use of Afrikaans in schools. 10,000 students responded. Police confronted them and opened fire, killing six and sparking an uprising in Soweto which soon spread to other black townships throughout South Africa. Everywhere, the racist regime responded with bullets. By 25 June, 176 had been killed and 1,139 injured. The victims in Soweto or their dependents should also toe the line and go to court. Iva valley court victory has shown that it can be done.

Another great Massacre  took place in Belgian Congo. Belgian Congo was an arena of death between 1885 and 1908 when King Leopold II of Belgium ruled over the Congo free state.

Between 1 to 15 million death were caused by famine, disease, mutilation, hunger etc.

Extraction of rubber was the main stay of the economy. Congolese that refused labour were either killed or their hands were cut off. The cruelty in Belgian Congo was so high that the international community raised up committee to investigate the horror.

Simple put, Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya (1952-1960) was an armed conflict between the British and Kenyan land and freedom army  comprising of kikuyu, Meru, and Embu fighters.

Kenya lost about 11,000 people. It was the greatest massacre of the 20th century. Few years ago, the Kenyans went to court and won the case but the implementation of court verdict is still obscure and sketchy.

There were other high profile individual killings by the imperialist that needs mentioning.

They also need Iva valley touch. The killing of political prisoners should get profound judicial succour. Biko the founder/President of SASO in 1968, was the leader of the Black Consciousness Movement, He once wrote? “Merely by describing  yourself as a black, you have started on a road towards emancipation, you have committed yourself to fight against all forces that seek to use your blackness as a stamp that marks you as a subservient being”.

Detained under the Famous Terrorism Act on 10 August 1977, he was the 45th South African political prisoner to have died in detention since 1963. On September 25, 1977, 15, 000 mourners attended his funeral in King Williams Towel.

Walter Rodney wrote these books: “How Europe underdeveloped Africa” “The Groundings with my brother”, “Decolonial Maxism”, “The Russian Revolution”, “A history of the Guyana people 1881-1905”, “Water Rodney speeches.” He was a radical revolutionary who was poised to change the world for better. He argued that Africa can only develop if it disengages from European imperialistic system. He wrote against devastating effects of slavery and colonial imperialism in Africa and Caribbean.  He was 38 years old when he was killed on June 30, 1980 in George Town Guyana. We also hope that the family should sue the American Government and the CIA for this heinous murder. Iva valley court verdict has removed the veil from the eyes of the progressive world.

Last but the not the least was the brutal 1961 murder of Patrice Lumumba by the Belgian Government and the CIA in Congo. The 1975 church committee United States Congressional report and the Belgian Government investigation also indicted the Belgian Government. The “Assassination of Lumumba” (1999) written by Ludo De Withu, a Belgian historian and sociologist made it clear that Lumumba was murdered by the Belgian Government and American CIA.

There is need to point out that Lumuba died a  hero. It can be seen in his words “Neither brutal assaults, nor cruel mistreatment, nor torture have ever led me to beg for mercy, for I prefer to die with my head high, unshakable faith, and with the greater confidence in the destiny of my country rather than live in slavery and contempt for sacred principles”. No wonder that Malcolm X in 1966 immortalised Lumumba. Malcolm called him “The greatest man that ever walked on the African continent. He was fearless. The colonialist were so scared that they had to kill him”.

The recent verdict of Iva valley Massacre has thrown up a precedent that justice can be obtained no matter the year, nationalist and boundary. The family of Lumumba and Congolese should seek justice. Bringing back the teeths of Lumumba was just a global show that was not intellectually sustainable.

There were many cases of high profile assassinations that we cannot reveal here for lack of space but let us pounder about the Iva Valley incident. In 1884/1885, Berlin Conference took place in Europe where Europeans powers divided Africa on a piece of paper. Nigeria was assigned to the British. When slave trade was abolished in 1833, an alternative source of economic activity was sought. Beside raw materials like palm oil, Cocoa, grand nut, cotton, etc, there was the need for exploitation of minerals like coal, gold, Tin, clay etc. By 1861, colonialism was firmly rooted in Nigeria.

In 1909, coal was discovered in Enugu. People from Udi and Ngwo formed the majority of coal mine workers. By 1948 there were 6000 coal miners in Enugu. In 1938, Enugu became the administrative capital of Eastern Region. This scenario set the stage and background for the coal mine massacre of November 18, 1949. As from 1909, coal was discovered, the economic nucleus of the British became visible. Coals were exported abroad and were used to empower railway engine that transported goods to export terminals.

The massive productions of coals coincided with the intensive nationalism of the period, which impacted on the workers unionism. The Zikist movement made a lot of impressions on the workers which inevitably ignited the nationalist struggle for Nigerian independence in 1960.

In 1944, Colliery workers union was formed under the leadership of Isaiah Okwudili, a former school teacher. He was charismatic and intelligent. His knowledge of labour laws was so amazing, which he quoted to the admiration of the colonial and Nigerian workers. His membership of Zikist vanguard, gave him the theoretical stamina that assisted him in the struggle. One interesting point is that Isaiah emerged from the rank and file. He has worked in various places in the mine-inside and outside, besides being a teacher. The Lesson for us today is that labour leaders should emerge from rank and file, so that they will be in a proper state of mind to grasp the rudiment of the struggle.

At the end of the second world war in 1945, inflation enveloped the land. The workers demanded increase in wages. The Management refused the request and even refused to negotiate. The workers refused to accept this grandiose insult. The management sacked the workers in droves and employed new workers to replace them, banned the CWU and reintroduced ethnic based Representative Council, thereby fueling well known tactics of British “Divide and Rule.”

The ban did not deter the workers. They continued their work underground. It has a great lesson for us today, that power ultimately belongs to the people.

This was also period of general strike (Cost of living allowance strike) which started from 1941 and ended 1945). This increased the tempo, pressure of colliery workers agitation. The Railway strike of the period increased the tempo, because it was the primary consumer of coal at this period. All the above made inevitability of clash between the colonial Government and the workers possible.

On 4 November, 1947 and 8 November, 1948, the workers organized “Welu nwayo” (“Go Slow”) industrial action, that made the colonial Government to urban the union and granted most of their request. This victory increased their class consciousness and their confidence increased profusely. However, the colonial Government hired Robert Curry, a labour veteran to separate the leadership and the rank. They failed to understand that the rank and file was well rooted in the struggle and was the Iroko of the struggle and not the leadership.

This should also be a lesson for today’s labour struggle. The main stream workers are the engine room of any worker’s agitation.

Still, some of the workers were not paid. On November 6, 200 workers were sacked and the workers engaged on full strike. Tensions increased. 900 policemen were mobilised to Enugu.

The British Government was afraid that workers might turn the explosives to the nationalist. 100 police men were drafted to the mines. The workers resisted the movement of the explosives. ASP Philip ordered the workers to be fired. 21 workers were killed and 50 others were wounded. Names of those killed were Livinus Okechukwu, Ngwu Nwafor, Agu Ede, Okafor Ageni, Comrade Ani, Nduaguba Eze, Nwachukwu Ugwu, Moses Ikegbu, Ogbonnia Chike, Augustine Aniwola, William Nnehu, Andrew Okonkwo, Felix Nnaji, Sunday Anyasado, James Ekeowa, Simon, Nwchukwu, Nnaji Nwachukwu, Onoh Onyia, Ani Amu, Jonathan Ezam, Thomas Chukwu.

The Killing mobilised the nationalist, the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon, Nigeria Youth Movement, The Action Group, The Press, Nigeria in diaspora. The agitation for self Government increased in quantum. The Colonial Government was forced to set up a committee that founded the colliery workers union, the Management and ASP Philip guilty of malfeasance. The killing led to the Formation of first Nigeria of Labour Congress on 26 May 1950.

The background that brought the issue of discussion was the judgement of February 5,2026 in Enugu State High Court which ordered the payment of £420 million (£20 million per victim) in compensation to the families of 21 coal miners killed by colonial imperialists masquerading as Government on November 18, 1949. Each family will received £20 million with post judgement interest of 10 percent. Honourable justice Onovo also ordered that the monetary awards be satisfied within 90 days of the judgement. The court also ordered that the British Government should apologise to Nigeria and British news media for this genocide. The Court ordered the Nigerian Government to pursue redress for the victims and blamed her for their inaction over the years. The Law Suit (Suit No: E/909/2024) was pursued by Prof Yemi Akinseye (SAN). He argued that the killing was violation of right of life. He drew comparison with Mau-Mau in Kenya where millions of pounds were paid to the victims.

We salute the judge, the Appellate Counsel and the litigants for the boldness and legal sanctity that were deployed in this case. The world is happy. However, Nigerian Government should have been indicted for legal negligence. For years the Nigerian Government kept mute while this injustice lingered.

We all know that the time limit between judgment and Justice dispensation might be long but the Nigerian Press and Government should continue to pile pressure until justice is exhausted to the victims of this massacre. In the event that the British Government fail to pay the compensation, the onus lies on Nigerian Government to pay, after all, at the time of Nigerian independence on October 1, 1960, we inherited assets and liabilities in the taking over note. Moreover, for the fact that the Nigerian Government ignored this injustice for years, morality demands that our Government should pay the victims.

Beyond the lessons, discussed above, injustice is injustice everywhere. Shift in goe-politics cannot exonerate an accused for the price of crime. Even long years cannot rendered crime of this nature unpunishable. The courage shown by Justice Onovo should be replicated by other Judges in Africa – Algeria, South Africa, Namibia  Congo etc, so that the souls of victims can rest in peace.

Read the remaining part of this article on www.guardian.ng
Dr Oramalugo is a Political Scientist,  Historian,  Strategist  and ACG Customs  (Rtd).