Isaac Adaka Boro

{{Short description|Nigerian army officer (1938–1968)}}
{{Peacock|date=September 2021}}
{{Use Nigerian English|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name             = Isaac Adaka Boro
| image            =
| order            = 
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1938|09|10|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [[Oloibiri]], British Nigeria
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1968|05|09|1938|09|10|df=yes}}
| death_place      = Ogu, [[Okrika]], [[Rivers State]], Nigeria
| relations        =
| children         = Deborah Waritimi, Esther Boro, Felix Boro
| profession       = Political activist, soldier
}}
Major '''Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro''' (10 September 1938 – 9 May 1968), fondly called "Boro", was a Nigerian nationalist and soldier of [[Ijaw people|Ijaw]] descent. He is considered a pioneer of [[minority rights]] [[activism]] in Nigeria.<ref name="Sola Odunfa">{{Cite news |author=Sola Odunfa |date=14 February 2006 |title=Nigeria: Burning with rage |work=Focus on Africa Magazine |publisher=BBC World Service |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/focus_magazine/news/story/2006/05/060515_nigeriadelta.shtml |access-date=3 March 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sanya Osha |date=1 April 2006 |title=Birth of the Ogoni Protest Movement |journal=Journal of Asian and African Studies |language=en |volume=41 |issue=1–2 |pages=13–38 |doi=10.1177/0021909606061746 |issn=0021-9096 |s2cid=145335875}}</ref>

Throughout his life, Boro held several roles, including those of a [[university]] student leader, teacher, policeman, and [[Nigerian Army|Nigerian military]] officer.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Uchendu |first=Egodi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YYMIEAAAQBAJ&dq=Isaac+Jasper+Adaka+Boro&pg=PA700 |title=Nigeria's Resource Wars |date=2021-03-02 |publisher=Vernon Press |isbn=978-1-64889-157-1 |language=en}}</ref> An undergraduate student of chemistry and student union president at the [[University of Nigeria]], [[Nsukka]], left school to lead a protest against the exploitation of oil and gas resources in the [[Niger Delta]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 June 2021 |title=Niger Delta Avengers threaten return, vow to crash economy |url=https://guardian.ng/news/niger-delta-avengers-threaten-return-vow-to-crash-economy/ |access-date=10 March 2022 |website=The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News |language=en-US}}</ref> areas, which benefited mainly the federal [[government of Nigeria]] and the Eastern region with capital in [[Enugu]] but nothing was given to the [[Niger Delta]] people. He believed that the people of the area deserved a larger share of the proceeds of the oil wealth.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} He formed the [[Niger Delta Volunteer Force]], an armed militia with members consisting mainly of his fellow Ijaw ethnic group. They declared the Niger Delta Republic on February 23, 1966, and fought with federal forces for twelve days before being defeated. He and his comrades were jailed for treason. However, the federal [[regime]] of General [[Yakubu Gowon]] granted him [[amnesty]] on the eve of the [[Nigerian civil war]] in May 1967. He then enlisted and was [[Warrant officer|commissioned]] as a major in the [[Nigerian army]]. He fought on the side of the Federal Government but was killed under mysterious circumstances in active service in 1968 at Ogu (near [[Okrika]]) in [[Rivers State]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 May 2020 |title=Fifty-two resounding salutes to Major Isaac Jasper Adaka (Lion) Boro |url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/05/fifty-two-resounding-salutes-to-major-isaac-jasper-adaka-lion-boro/ |access-date=18 March 2022 |website=Vanguard News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=HistoryVille |date=7 March 2022 |title=Isaac Adaka Boro (1938-1968): Nigeria's First Secessionist – HistoryVille |url=https://www.thehistoryville.com/isaac-adaka-boro/ |access-date=7 August 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Niger Delta activists like [[Ken Saro-Wiwa]], [[Mujahid Dokubo-Asari]], and many others often referred to him as a major inspiration.

== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
In his [[autobiography]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20090530191857/http://adakaboro.org/the12dayrev ''The Twelve-Day Revolution''], He wrote about his early life:<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Twelve-Day Revolution, Chapter 1 - My Early Life' |url=http://adakaboro.org/the12dayrev/chap-1-my-early-life |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420192128/http://www.adakaboro.org/the12dayrev/chap-1-my-early-life |archive-date=20 April 2015 |access-date=13 April 2013}}</ref>
<blockquote>
"I am reliably informed that I was born at the zero hours of midnight on 10 September 1938, in the oil town of [[Oloibiri Oilfield|Olobiri]] along humid [[Stream|creeks]] of the [[Niger Delta]]. My father was the headmaster of the only mission school there. Before I was old enough to know my surroundings, I was already in a city called [[Port Harcourt]] where my father was again the headmaster of another mission school. This was in the early forties. The next environment where I found myself was in my hometown, [[Kolokuma/Opokuma|Kaiama]]. My father had been sent there to head a school yet again."
</blockquote>

== Niger Delta revolt ==
On 23 February 1966, he declared the secession of the "Niger Delta Republic":{{sfn|Oriola|2016|pp=49, 80}}

<blockquote>
"Today is a great day, not only in your lives but also in the history of the Niger Delta. Perhaps, it will be the greatest day in a very long time. This is not because we are going to bring the heavens down, but because we are going to demonstrate to the world what and how we feel about oppression. Remember your 70-year-old grandmother who still farms before she eats; remember also your poverty-stricken people; remember, too, your petroleum which is being pumped out daily from your veins; and then fight for your freedom."
</blockquote>

== Legacy ==
His revolt signified the first armed rebellion against the [[Federal Republic of Nigeria]].{{sfn|Oriola|2016|pp=85–86}} He has been widely cited as an inspiration for both violent and non-violent [[Niger Delta]] activists.{{sfn|Oriola|2016|p=80}}

== See also ==
* [[Isaac Boro Park]]
* [[Ken Saro-Wiwa]]
* [[Ernest Ikoli]]

== Citations ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book| last = Oriola| first = Temitope B.| title = Criminal Resistance?: The Politics of Kidnapping Oil Workers| publisher = Routledge| date = 2016| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aRkpDAAAQBAJ| isbn = 9781317157847}}
{{refend}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boro, Isaac Adaka}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:1968 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Bayelsa State]]
[[Category:University of Nigeria alumni]]
[[Category:Nigerian Army officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel killed in the Nigerian Civil War]]
[[Category:History of Rivers State]]
[[Category:Ijaw people]]