By John Mayaki

Comrade Sunny Ofehe, the hero of democracy who risked his life and freedom in defense of civil rights and social justice, has turned 50. A golden jubilee of a truly remarkable existence that sets the gold standard of a life governed by a stubborn insistence on noble ideals and convictions, even in the face of violent tyranny and forced silence.

He was the young, radical university student who in 1993 led his colleagues to express a loud and sustained rejection of the controversial annulment of the Presidential election that would have marked the end of military dictatorship and ushered into power the widely popular Chief Moshood Abiola. His motivation? He simply wanted to live in a democracy where his rights, and those of other citizens, are protected by the constitution to which everyone is subject. Not the imperial reign of the military where boundaries of rights are defined by a committee that is itself above the law.

This motivation and courageous refusal to be cowed into silence by those who ruled with guns and decrees soon landed the Delta-born comrade in trouble. General Sani Abacha, the dictator who replaced Ibrahim Babangida following the annulled 1993 elections, enacted a particularly violent regime.

Unwilling to offer even an inch to the opposition and democracy activists, Abacha remorselessly mowed them down. Comrade Sunny Ofehe saw the risks and could have “mellowed down” as others encouraged but he persisted. He was unyielding in his campaign for a return to democracy and the full restoration of human rights. As a reward for his troubles and constant “irritation”, he was exiled by the Abacha regime to the Netherlands.

Perhaps that could have proved a turning point. He could have integrated into Europe, enjoying the comfort and freedoms of a democratic society while leaving Nigeria and Nigerians to their fate. He had after all ‘escaped’ and ‘made it to the other side’. But not Comrade Ofehe. He doubled down on his brave confrontation of the regime.

Rallying allies in the West who cared enough to commit meaningfully to Nigeria’s freedom from the shackles of a corrupt and repressive dictatorship, he continued to be a thorn in the flesh of the people’s oppressors. The oppressors did not always wear military fatigues. Others came in flowing robes and straight suits.

It was in the Netherlands that he founded the Hope for the Niger Delta Campaigns (HNDC), an NGO with the objective of delivering social and environmental justice to the people of Niger Delta who suffered, and still suffer, the brunt of Nigeria’s dalliance with oil. In extracting the ‘black gold’, the Nigerian government and licensed private companies destroyed the lives and livelihoods of host communities. Rivers were polluted, lands rendered unfarmable. The region that provided the country’s most valuable resource, and gateway to new fortunes, became a center of poverty and diseases as a result. Nigeria’s blessing became their curse.

Not one to overlook the suffering of others, let alone his kinsmen, Comrade Sunny Ofehe through the NGO brought the misery of the Niger Delta people to the world – and crucially the effect of the exploration of the foreign companies to their parliaments in Europe where they could be held accountable. It was a campaign that nearly took his life but has now come to define his legacy as a change agent and an exceptional leader.

His interventions helped quell youth restiveness in the Delta and adoption of non-violent means of protest that resulted in the freedom of abducted Europeans, including Dutch citizens. His relentless efforts compelled local and European leaders to look at the humanitarian cost of their “trade deals” and effect positive changes.

Comrade Sunny Ofehe lit a sustainable path to justice, with the clearest and most profound example being his lead role in the case between four Niger Delta farmers and the Royal Dutch Shell that ended in a favorable ruling for one of the farmers.

A thoroughbred professional, he understood the importance of the media. Alongside his robust engagement of local and international platforms to mainstream the state of affairs in the Niger Delta, he invested in the establishment of a monthly-issued Niger Delta Magazine branded “Inside Niger Delta Magazine” to curate and render factual accounts of events in the Niger Delta.

He has led parliamentary discussions at home and abroad, earning a deserved spot on the world’s list of accomplished and reputable social and environmental activists.

Heroes don’t come any better than Comrade Sunny Ofehe, a man whose entire life has been that of devoted service.