Delta State’s economy received a boost last week when Governor Ifeanyi Okowa inaugurated two multibillion naira business ventures pioneered by Executive Chairman of Lee Group of Companies, Chief Leemon Ikpea.
The Lee Group, which is already involved in several oil and gas investments in the state, last Thursday flagged off the Trebet A1 Factory Extension in Ekpan, Uvwie Local Government Area and the Lee Oasis Supermarket in the heart of Warri metropolis.
A visibly excited Okowa said the confidence of Chief Ikpea and Lee Group was an indication that the state remains a favourable destination for investors.
He said: “We are a very friendly and peaceful people, we have a lot of human and natural resources, obviously, Delta State is the place to be when you talk about investment.”
The governor attributed the prevailing peace and security in the state to the role of traditional rulers, youths and women, whom he said are involved in the creation of enabling environment for investments to thrive.
He added that while it was not possible for the state government, or any other state of the federation, to create job for all its teeming youths, the role of the government was to provide infrastructure, peace and security and the enabling environment for businesses to thrive. He remarked that if businesses thrive, youths and able-bodied members of the society would be gainfully employed.
Okowa said the $16 billion EPZ project in the Warri South West Local Government Area was on course and urged the people of the area to continue to be law-abiding and to give peace a chance.
“We must realise that the more we create the enabling environment for investors to come, the more job opportunities that will be available for our youths, our women and opportunities for our people.”
Chief Ikpea said: “We are here gathered to the glory of God, for the twin ceremonies of the official opening of Lee Oasis Supermarket Limited and the groundbreaking ceremony of the Trebet A1 factory’s extension.
“It would interest you to know that Trebet A1 factory expansion project is estimated to cost about €6million (about N1.4billion). We are committed to realising an ultra-modern processing factory fitted with state-of-art equipment for the production of various premium juices, carbonated drinks and water.
“I want to assure Your Excellency that as players in the organised private sector; we would continue to partner with your administration for the prosperity of our people and the overall development of Delta State.”
Ikpea hailed Okowa for creating enabling environment for businesses in the state to grow, stressing that Warri and its environs are peaceful for interested investors to do business.
Okowa used the occasion to inform applicants for the state government’s empowerment programmes that the first 6, 000 direct beneficiaries of the empowerment programmes would commence their business within six months. He called on Deltans to be patient with his administration, noting that he would not renege on his campaign promises.
At the ground breaking ceremony, the governor disclosed that in his administration’s quest for conducive environment for traders, contractors have been mobilised to work at the Sapele market while those who would construct the market at Orerokpe, Okpe Local Government Area would be at the project site in the next couple of weeks.
The ceremonies were attended by the Ovie of Uvwie Kingdom and Pere of Seimbiri kingdom, their royal majesties, Emmanuel Sideso Abe I and Charles Ayemi Botu; the Unuevworo of Ekpan, Chief Newton Agbofodoh JP; Chief Emmanuel Okumagba, President General, Okere-Urhobo kingdom and Chief Wilson Oboh as well as delegations from the banking sector, including First Bank, which sent a large contingent of representatives, led by Group Head, Mr. Phillip Madojutimi.
Others were former commissioners of information, finance, Mr Oma Djebah and Bernard Okumagba; and Chief Fidelis Tilije, Commissioner for and Mrs Mary Iyasere, Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mr. Godwin Abhulimen and Tony Ikpea of Lee Group, among others.
The Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC), Bafred Enjugu, has appealed to communities in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State to protect projects sited in their areas.
Enjugu spoke when he inaugurated various projects implemented by the company in communities under its Joint Community Relation Committee (JCRC).
Represented in the event by an official of the company, Innocent Nwabueze, the MD said the projects were meant to improve the quality of lives of residents. According to him, the cordial relationship between Okrika and the company must be sustained .
The projects commissioned include two 500KVA transformers, three water boreholes, classroom and fencing project of schools in communities in the area as well as inter-locking of hitherto impassable community road in Okochiri community.
Communities which benefited from the gesture are Ogoloma, Okochiri, Okrika Island, Ibuluya-Ama, Okari-Ama, Aborindende-Ama, Ogbogbo, and Ekerekana.
Chiefs, elders and community representatives at the event expressed gratitude to the company.
Enjugu said: “PHRC as a socially responsible corporate citizen recognizes the vital roles of her host communities in ensuring sustained operations and community development.
“In appreciation of the peaceful disposition of Okrika community and as part of our affirmative duties, we are here to commission some community projects conceptualised and implemented under the Joint Community Relations (JCRC), platform by PHRC.
“PHRC recognises the need for economic empowerment and human capital development for host communities, this informed the reason we have earlier embarked on skill acquisition and poverty alleviation programs, and micro credit scheme for the people of the community.”
The Managing Director also noted that arrangement had been concluded to start a market at Ekerekana-Ama community.
The Chairman of Okirika Divisional Council of Chiefs , Chief Nemi Adoki, hailed the PHRC and urged the company to embark on more projects to pacify restive youths.
He appealed to PHRC to immediately commence projects captured in its 2015 operational year, adding that the inaugurated projects were captured in 2014.
According to him, the projects when awarded and completed would reduce sufferings of people of the communities.
Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has been in the saddle for over three years. Dickson has within the period hosted a few international events in Yenagoa, the state capital. But there is a local event with a global appeal that Dickson has failed to host – the Bayelsa Peace Day.
The Bayelsa Peace Day is very important to the historical development of the state. It is celebrated on August 22 to coincide with the day former creek warlords popularly called freedom fighters in the Niger Delta region surrendered their arms and ammunition to embrace the Amnesty Programme offered them by the Federal Government.
Prior to the day of disarmament, the region was a hotbed of militancy. The freedom fighters relocated to the creeks, set up militant camps and engaged federal troops in a prolonged war to protest the marginalisation of the region. They were angry that despite being the goose that lays the golden eggs, the region was allowed to languish in penury and neglect.
They were aggrieved that in spite of being the economic pillar of the country, the Niger Delta was abandoned to wallow in abject poverty. They protested violently and started satisfying with barrels of gun, demands the government refused to fulfill for them peacefully. Kidnapping became a burgeoning empire and waves of coordinated attacks on oil installations swept across the region. The militants soon brought oil production to its lowest ebb and brought the Nigerian economy to its knees.
But in his wisdom, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, governors and elders in the region brokered a peace deal. Yar’Adua proclaimed amnesty for the militants and brought them out of the creeks. On August 22, the grand finale of submission of arms and ammunition was held at the Adaka Boro Park, Yenagoa, which was also called the Peace Park to reflect the spirits of the day.
It was fearful sight to behold. Daring and fearless young men were on parade. Also in display, were cache of sophisticated arms and ammunition. Militant commanders whose names sent jitters into the spines of people came out and revealed their identities. The public for the first time, matched their faces with their names. They all renounced militancy and agreed to promote the peace.
So, the Bayelsa Peace Day was born. It was first celebrated on August 22, 2010 by the former administration of Governor Timipre Sylva. It was repeated in 2011 by Sylva who used the three-day event to remind the ex-militant leaders of their pledge for peace.
Through the occasion, he brought the ex-warlords together and became very popular among them. The eventful period used to be very colorful. Tompolo, Boyloaf, Africa, Pastor Reuben, Shoot-at-Sight, Ogunboss, Ateke Tom, Farrah and many other former ‘generals’, ‘commanders’ and their foot soldiers graced the event. Bayelsa bubbled as the events started with Peace Walk, concert and ended with the Miss Peace Beauty Pageant.
But since assuming office, Dickson has not hosted a day which the ex-militant leaders and many Bayelsans say is precious to them. Many people believe that the governor is far away from the ex-militants because of his inability to host the Peace Day.
In a letter addressed to the governor, one of the foremost ex-militant leaders, Mr. Victor Ben Ebikabowei, popularly called Boyloaf appealed to the governor to consider hosting the Peace Day. The letter which was obtained by the Niger Delta Report reminded the governor the reason for the celebration.
He said: “Most recently the Niger Delta region has been engulfed in hostilities induced by decades of undeserved official neglect, although the base of the nation’s wealth communities in the region still ranks tops in the list of under-developed communities of the country. These and other fundamental issues led us to arms struggle to liberate our people from the injustice done to them by the Nigerian State.
“However, late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua took the bull by the horn to chart new course of peace by granting amnesty to militants in the region, thereby opening a new chapter of intellectual dialogue.
“The Amnesty Programme has succeeded beyond the imaginations of bookmakers and public analysts. August 22nd 2009 at the Peace park Yenagoa saw the return of the highest hull of arms since the commencement of the amnesty programme.
“This is a demonstration of our patriotism and eagerness to resolve the lingering issues amicably. Since the commencement of the amnesty programme our youths have been provided with non-violence training and sent to different parts of the world to acquire skills and enable them to be self-sustaining and re-integrate them to the society.
“In August 2010 & 2011 we celebrated the Bayelsa Peace Day, despite the meager funds; it was a huge success, the Peace Carnival Walk and Peace Concert.
“Once more, we are prepared to demonstrate to the nation and the International community that the historic disarmament exercise on August 22nd, 2009 at the Peace park Yenagoa was a not a mere charade or funfair. We are committed to a sustainable peace process for accelerated development of the state and the Niger Delta region”.
He told the governor that the event of this year was proposed to last three days with a range of artistic activities aimed at building a culture of peace. He said the proposed activities include symposium/lecture, Peace day carnival walk & concert and Miss Peace Bayelsa Beauty Pageant.
He said: “The peace walk/carnival in 2011 saw the participation of 4,000 youths. This year we anticipate over 5,000 youths will participate. The event is aimed at regaining the lost investors confidence and re-assure the international community and the nation that indeed there is peace in Bayelsa State.
“Above it will mark our collective progress towards building a culture of peace, make a stance against crime and violence and serve as a reminder of our permanent commitment to peace.”
Youths, women, children and the elderly from Ubima community in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State will not forget in a hurry the benefits of a medical mission, which they recently hosted.
The gesture was courtesy the All Grace Energy Limited and Western Ord Oil and Gas Nig Limited.
The companies came up with this idea as part of their corporate social responsibility after acquiring oil wells deposited in the community. for which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will soon be signed.
Some of the beneficiaries, who spoke to our correspondent during the programme held at Ubima Health Centre, said the companies brought great relief to them. They noted that the exercise was timely because of the rainy period when many farmers fall sick.
•A beneficiary having his blood pressure examined
One of the beneficiaries, Elder Eyidah Louis, said: “ I am very grateful to the organisers of this free medical programme. I was passing by when I saw crowd and I decided to enter and they attended to me. You can see my drugs. I am very happy that I was attended to. We want them to come back again they may not know the good they are doing to us, it is a very big relief to the members of the community.”
Another beneficiary, Mr. James Alikor, said he was sick and had no money to treat himself when he heard of the medical mission. He thanked the companies for initiating the idea.
A member of the community, Innocent Okachi, said the youths have endorsed the oil companies for facilitating the programme when they have not started the business which brought them to the area. He added that they were glad that the companies were coming to their community with good intention.
Dr Sagbemi Babatope of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), who was among the medical team, said: “Here we have received and treated patients with dental problems, ranging from toothache and poor oral hygiene, which is common to a village that does not have dental services. So far, we have been able to do some extractions. Like the woman I am treating here, she was having mouth odour but after this treatment she will be okay.
“The facilitators of this programme have tried a lot to ensure the good health of the people of this community. By the time we are done with them, they will see the difference from their previous experience. As for the drugs, it will be enough, I have already attained to 50 patients on the dental department alone.”
Another Medical Practitioner, Dr. Martin Ejire, said: “So far so good, we are impressed with the turn out. The most important thing is that we came to this community and the people appreciated it. You can see that they are happy and willing to appreciate the good gesture. We are treating the disease we called cataract, which always affects some part of the eyes when weak. But it is not a peculiar problem to the people of this community. It also happened to those in township. We came prepared to ensure that the people are healthy; there are a lot of classes to give out. “
Responding on behalf of the companies, Mr. Gafar Yemi Olagunju said: “All Grace Energy Nig. Ltd/Western Ord Oil and Gas Nig Limited are companies with human face. We are coming to the community to carry out our social responsibility. We felt we should let the community know what we have in stock for them. This is the first thing we have done; we are going to do more of this. The idea is to ensure that the people we are working with are healthy; we want people to realise that we mean business. The first action also shows that we have the community in our heart; we will like to say that we are working with the people with the same platform with us.”
Youths in Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State have been charged to desist from harassing contractors handling the Urban Renewal Projects within the area.
The Chairman of a committee set up by Eket Conference of Village Heads and the Paramount Ruler, Chief Nduese Essien, gave the advice during a meeting with youth leaders of Eket extraction.
Essien, who was former Minister of Housing and Urban Renewal, said there was need for the people of Eket to come together and support the present government in the state.
He said the government means well for Eket people stressing that there is a need for all the youth leaders and elders to rally around all the contractors handling one project or the other.
Essien pleaded with the youths to protect amenities that will be put in place by government and watch out for vandals and report same to the police authority.
He gave the hope to the youths of Eket that they will be accommodated by the state government in the scheme of things.
Major Gen Anthony Etukudoh (rtd), who also spoke at the occasion, urged the youths to be calm and embrace development in their area.
He promised that the youths would not be left out by the state government.
The elder statesman tasked the youths to watch over infrastructure put in place by the government to the people of Eket local government area.
A youth leader, Godwin Nduaese, eulogised the political leader Chief Essien for calling the meeting, saying that it was timely.
He said the youths would support the present state government.
Nduaese said the youths have resolved to eschew violence and ensure development in Eket.
A member representing Eket Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Mrs. Owoidehe Ekpoattai, urged the people of Eket to support the government of Governor Udom Emmanuel as he means well for the people of Eket.
She advised the youths to shun violence act which are inimical to the growth and development of Eket.
She urged the youths to show commitment by protecting the influx of projects that the state government has ear marked for Eket.
•Navy, Opume bury 25-year-old soldier killed by Boko Haram
Tears. Tears. Tears. If only tears could wake the dead, Seaman Paul Alex Amaseimogha would have no business lying stone cold, face up in his white casket. Who did not cry that day? Perhaps only people oblivious of the death of the 25-year-old.
Friends, family members, relations and residents of Opume kingdom in Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, were weeping, sulking and crying.
Like the river surrounding Opume, the tears of Darling, the mother of the deceased, flowed. Like the water cascading from a fountain, the tears of Miss Yusuf Emma-Ojo, 25, the deceased’s fiancee, who hails from Kogi State, flowed.
Rogers, the father, was all tears as he repeatedly used his wrinkled bare palms to wipe his swollen visage. In fact, the community was beaten by the same bug of sorrow.
Those who could not cry stood with their hands folded. The misery permeated so much in the community that children disappeared from playgrounds.
That Amaseimogha died was not the reason for the tears. The circumstances surrounding his death and the fact that he was cut short in his prime fighting a needless war in the Northeast caused the lamentation.
He was one of the young soldiers trained in counterterrorism in Belarus and deployed in Borno State to flush out the Boko Haram insurgents. He was hit by bullets in the Boko Haram battlefield and the vivacious young man described as an intelligent and patriotic soldier by his peers later passed on.
While his fellow fallen heroes were buried in a dedicated graveyard in Abuja, the family of the late soldier requested that his remains should be brought back to them for interment. The Chief of Naval Staff directed that the remains of Amaseimogha should be taken to his Ijaw community and buried according to the Navy tradition.
So, the residents amidst their tears, rained curses on Boko Haram and called down evil on sympathisers and sponsors of the evil group. Miss Ema Yusuf, the fiancee of the late soldier was the worst-hit. The beautiful young woman never expected that a man she had dreamt of spending the rest of her life with would die unexpectedly.
•A relation goes down in pains
This is a day I least expected to come soon,”she sobbed. Recalling her last meeting with him, he said: “The last time I saw him was when he said they were taking them to Jaji Forest in Kaduna State. He left. The next call I got was that they were going to Maiduguri.”
But Miss Yusuf said something unusual happened.
“The last time he called, I don’t know, I was in a programme, we were launching an album with Samsung and he was calling again and again. He had never called me like that. He later sent a text saying he was going to the warfront. I never heard from him again.
“I only heard he was dead. His friends told me. A friend of his sneaked from their camp there to come and see me with some Alex’s properties, his phone, and he was like Alex is dead. I didn’t believe it at first but when I saw his phone, I knew he was no longer there again.”
She further remembered that she had earlier mounted pressure on him to resign from the navy but the late Amaseimogha refused insisting on serving the country.
On why she asked him to leave the service, she said: “I told him to resign but he refused. I told him so because they were not paying them. They were not giving them the necessary attention. They don’t even care if they were there. Some died of dehydration, no water.”
She said the man she never married would not have died if he were attended to immediately after the attack. “He survived the attack for a whole night. No medics attended to him. They cared less. They just left them there without any medication, no attention.
“He wouldn’t have been a dead man because he got the attack on Friday and died on Saturday morning. He didn’t die immediately, he survived all through the night. There was no proper care, they kept saying, ‘the helicopter has not arrived’, until he gave up,” she said.
In a tearful voice, Miss Yusuf displayed a ring festooned in her finger and said her fiancé made a vow that after their six-month contract of combating the terrorists, he would take her to the altar. But she said he never came back. She said her fiancé was so decent and Godly that throughout the period of their courtship, he never made love to her.
“He gave me this ring proposing marriage. He said they have signed a six-month contract that after he is coming back to finalise everything but he never came back,” she lamented.
Describing the late soldier, she fondly called Alex, she said: “Alex is a very unique man in nature. He is very tolerant. He loved his country. He wished there was something more he could do to solve this Boko Haram attack. Alex is a man that I’ve never met a kind like him on this planet earth.
“All the time we were in courtship until he deceased , he was waiting to take me to the altar before he would ‘cross me’. He never made love to me. He was a very honourable man. I just wish there are men like him out there but I’ve never seen a man like him.
“He is just so unique. He would always challenge me when l called him perfect. He would say, ‘my baby, no man is perfect. It’s only God that you can use that word for. Perfection is of God and not of human’. But to me, he was always my perfect man.”
The aggrieved fiancee could not conceal her loathsomeness to her fiancé’s decision to serve the country as a soldier.
She said: “With everything in me, I regret he served the country. I wish there was something I could do to just bring him back. I’ve been telling his friends to retire from the force because Alex died for nothing.
“He died but they are not recognising him. He survived, but they didn’t give him care and attention. Why are they dying there for nothing. The government does not even know you are there. There is no food to eat and there is no water. Your colleagues are dying of starvation and dehydration.
“There was one that died instantly. He was walking and was shouting water, water, water, he fell and died. I regret he served Nigeria because it was not worth it. How can a man put his life at stake in the warfront and died and there will be no attention from the government.
“I don’t think it worths it at all. I get angry everyday and ask myself what is this for? Everything about him is cut short, his unborn children, his home, his family is mourning. Where is the government?”
Just like Miss Yusuf, Rogers, the father of the deceased, is still in shock. All his investments on his late son had ended suddenly in a white casket. He said his son would not have died if he had avoided the special force.
“He was a brilliant and intelligent child. After everything, he went for Naval training successfully and passed out. I trained him at the Petroleum Institute in Warri. After graduating from that place, he said he was going for Naval training, I sponsored him to that very place not knowing that at the end, this type of thing is going to happen.
“He graduated and was working as a Naval officer already and after two years he told me that he had got another training at oversea, Russia. When he came back, he said he is no more in Navy that he is in special force and I asked him what is the difference between Special Force and Navy and he said that side is better than this.
“I never knew the force was facing defence at the Maiduguri Forest. When he returned from that place, he was posted to Abuja, from Abuja to Maiduguri. When he got to Maiduguri, he phoned me and told me he was at Maiduguri and I said where Boko Haram is? He said no problem, that they went for defence and I said okay.
“At the end of it, I was called and told that he is dead. After that I came back to the community to receive his body from the Federal Government. As you see me, I am not happy, there are tears in my eyes,”he said.
The 50-year-old said the twin brother of his deceased son is studying at the University of Calabar, describing all his sons as responsible, respectful and obedient.
“They are six and they are united. Nobody fights. They obey me to the core,” he said.
He, however, added: “I have no regrets that he went to the Navy even until now. The diversion is from the training at Russia, he wouldn’t have died. At Navy, he was trained as a communicator, they didn’t train him to go to war. I regretted he diverted from Navy to other area.”
He demanded adequate compensation from the Federal Government. He said the news of his son’s death got to him as a rumour which he later confirmed to be true.
Also, Silas, the twin brother of the deceased ,described his death as painful and shocking.
“We didn’t expect it. I heard from him three weeks before his death. We used to chat on Whatsapp.
“The last time we spoke, he told me about his experience in Sambisa Forest. He told about the progress they were making. He had this passion for the Navy so I don’t regret that he joined the Navy because it was his decision and he did that for a reason. I miss him a lot”, he said.
Even his first cousin, Mr. Mitema Amaseimogha, never believed that he was dead. The relative who works with road safety said there was a time he was rumoured to have died but it turned out to be false.
He said: “Last December, there was a rumour that he was dead and I was in Jaji at the Nigerian Army Training School. Then I called him and he said he wasn’t dead. So when I heard about his death,I didn’t believe it until I saw his corpse. I feel very bad, we were so close. My mother took him as her son. He is not the arrogant type, he would always play with the children around.
“He had always wanted to work for his country. He had always loved the uniform men. He was staying with us at Opolo whenever he comes to Bayelsa state,before he went for the recruitment. Since then, we never met again. It’s over three years now but we have been communicating on phone.”
Navy buries its own
The late Amaseimogha was given a military burial based on the tradition of the Navy. He was honoured by top echelon of the navy from the Naval Headquarters, Abuja and the Headquarters of the Central Naval Command (CNC) in Yenagoa. His body was driven into the riverine Ijaw community in a convoy of the Navy.
The Chief of Naval Staff was represented by the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), CNC, Rear Admiral Stanley Ogoigbe, who ensured that the ceremony was carried out to the details. Ogoigbe led the naval officers to the community and spent time pepping up the family members and giving them reason to live again.
The pall bearers, soldiers dressed in military fatigue, lowered the white coffin draped in a naval flag in the arena. In tears, the community gathered to witness the departure of their hero and to catch a glimpse of his remains.
They listened to the officiating priest as he spoke on hope for a better life. Quoting from the Bible, he described death as the greatest enemy of mankind. At the end of the sermon, the citation of the late Amaseimogha was read to the audience.
After the sermon, it was time to bury the heroic solder. He would not be buried within the community because of his age and the fact that he had no wife and children. It is the custom of their people. Therefore. The pall bearers bore his coffin and in military fashion and command walked about a kilometre to a nearby forest where youths from the community dug his grave. There he was laid and covered after 21-gun salutes.
The curtain fell on the late gallant, patriotic, disciplined, dedicated and intelligent soldier. But the Navy took his accoutrement comprising shoes, cap and the naval flag and the FOC presented them to Silas, the deceased next-of-kin, as objects of remembrance.
The FOC curdled and consoled Silas. He also gave N250,000 from the chief of naval staff to the family for the burial expenses and asked Silas to begin the process of collecting all the entitlements of his late brother.
Among the senior naval officers, who trooped out to honour the late soldier, were Commodores A.K. Owo-Chuks, B. Babagbale, C.A. Ofor, F.O. Teimisan, U.B. Onyia and M.A. Eno.
The man Amaseimogha
He was born in Opume Town on May 1, 1990. He attended the Community Primary School, Ogbia Town and had his secondary school at the Community Secondary School, Ayakoro in Ogbia Local Government. He, however, completed his secondary school in Adagbabiri after which he proceeded to the PTI, Warri where be obtained a Diploma in Computer Engineering.
He later attended the Navy Training School in Port Harcourt where he was trained as a communicator. He served as a full-fledged naval personnel for two years and was sent to Russia because of his intelligence for a five-month training. He served as an intelligent officer in the special forces before he was transferred to Maidguri were he died.
Navy pays tributes
The FOC read the citation of their late soldier and described him in glowing terms for dedicating his life to fight for the peace of Nigeria. He said the deceased paid the supreme price of patriotism.
“He went for the training, he did very well. It was not everybody that went for the training that passed. He came out and he was deployed happily. He never expected he will die. None of us that have joined the military look forward to death. But we know death is the ultimate prize you pay for your patriotism. He is a hero, he paid the ultimate prize for his love and patriotism for Nigeria.
“Like the Reverend Father stated in his sermon, Alex is not dead. He has gone to sleep. He has done his bit for Nigeria. He paid the prize to ensuring that Nigeria is a peaceful country.
“We are very proud of him and in that regard I will state again that on behalf of the Chief of Naval Staff, officers, ratings of the Nigerian Navy, I wish to express my gratitude and appreciation to the Amaseimogha family to the Opume community and to the great Bayelsa state for giving us a worthy son that immensely fought to ensuring peace in our dear nation, Nigeria”, he said.
FOC later described the ceremony as a sad day for the Navy.
He said: ”It is a day of mourning. In fact it reminds us alive and in uniform that, God is just our guidance. He keeps us when we go in and go out for operations. We are just using today to observe his ultimate prize for his patriotism to the nation.
“He was in combat fighting insurgency in the northeastern part of the country. These days,operation is not done by one service alone. We carry out operations jointly. So, he was on one of the special forces in support of the Nigerian army to ensure that insurgency is reduced in the country.
“Casualty is expected every time you go into combat. When you go in and come back, you give thanks to God. Some percentage of casualty is always expected, it could have been any one. It is a pity he is a young man.
While describing his burial as special, he said the name of the deceased would remain indelible in the cenotaph of departed heroes. “His name will be indelible. It can never be erased”, he said.
On how they relayed the tragic information to his family, he said: “When we heard that the young man fell in the battle front, what we did was to promptly check out record to look for his next-of-kin. The next-of-kin happened to be his twin brother, so we communicated with him immediately.
“He is a student of UNICAL. We connected our base in Calabar to locate him, which they did through his address and that’s why you see us here today. We gave them the option of either burying the young man in national military cemetery in Abuja or to bring him home and they decided to bring him home.
“The military has a tradition for everything. We have a procedure for communicating with the next-of-kin. In fact, the next-of-kin is informed first before any notice and announcement”.
So, the journey of the late Amaseimogha ended abruptly. He fought gallantly for peace and paid the supreme prize. It is only expected that the country will reciprocate the sacrifices of persons especially soldiers who shed their blood for peace and sovereignty of Nigeria.
The President of Political Watchdog, a nongovernment organisation, Comrade Curtis Ugbo, has blamed the region’s lack of development during the last political dispensation on self-styled activists who abandoned the struggle for resource control.
Ugbo decried a situation where the ‘apostles’ of resource control and a better Niger Delta abandoned the struggle and became ‘spokespersons’ of the Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government.
Ugbo described some of the agitators as self-seeking freedom fighters whose main concern is lining their pockets at the expense of bringing development to the region.
Ugbo, who spoke with our reporter in Benin City, Edo State, said these activists were busying acquiring eye-popping properties outside the region and the country.
Ugbo stated: “Before Goodluck Ebele Jonathan became the President of Nigeria, the Niger Delta struggle was at its peak and resource control agitation was very high. The likes of Ankio Briggs, Asari Dokubo, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, Ledum Metee and Edwin Clark were always on the television telling Nigerians and the world how the Southsouth has been marginalised by the North and the West despite her oil.
“By divine and metaphysical error and act, Goodluck Jonathan, from the Southsouth, became the President of Nigeria after President Umaru Yaradua’s death in 2009. His emergence came as a joyous daybreak to end our age-long marginalisation. There was a beacon light of hope for my region. Immediately, the Niger Delta struggle stumbled and died or went comatose. The Niger Delta activists mentioned above became Jonathan’s spokespersons and abandoned the struggle. Even though in 2011, Nigerians – Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Christians and Muslims – voted massively for President Goodluck Jonathan.
“Thereafter, administrative thieves were appointed ministers and head of federal institutions, convicted criminals received presidential pardon, militants were given contracts running into billions of Naira, impunity and corruption became the norm; all these and many more replaced the Niger Delta struggle for resource control.
“The need for constant electricity, portable water, good health facilities, good road network, and massive manpower development went into oblivion. Even the recent Ogoni UNEP report that would have changed the lives of an average Ogoni man was not implemented by their regional brother-president which played a major role in the problem with Ex-Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
“Saro wiwa, Isaac Boro and others actually fought for the wellbeing of the people, they refused kick back and agitated for basic amenities for their people, but today struggle is glamour with thieves and they obtained money and embezzle it. Ijaw communities have land but they rather prefer to build schools in Benin Republic.”
He cautioned those who are being called upon to take up arms and go back to the creek to first of all demand accountability from the so-called freedom fighters before embarking on such mission.
The saying, ‘every day for the thief, but one day for the owner of the house’, became a sad reality for Mr Ochocho Mathew, a former mobile policeman who was nabbed in Warri, Delta State, recently for impersonation and illegal duty.
For four years, the ‘police corporal’ went about garbed in well-starched uniform with matching well-polished boots and posed as a mobile policeman even though he had since left service. Armed with his uniformed marked F/No. 255038 and the two chevrons marking him as a corporal, Ochocho continued to work as ‘policeman’.
But he got to the end of his road on the wrong side of the law on Thursday, June 25, when a patrol team attached to the Quick Response Squad, a special police force in Warri, accosted him and a consignment of equipment around the NPA Expressway during an ‘escort duty’.
“He was escorting a Ford Transit vehicle conveying equipment from Lagos to Warri, but we suspected that there was more to the man than the uniform he was wearing and the identity card he showed us,” a member of the squad who arrested him told our reporter.
Police Public Relations Officer, Delta State Command, DSP Celestina Kalu, said the Ford Transit van with Reg. No. (Lagos) EPE 790 XH, was loaded with a fairly used Mikano SP 20 generator and a Denyo Daw-18083.0 KVA welding machine.
“The said vehicle was being escorted by one Ochoche Matthew ‘m’ who was fully dressed in police uniform with F/No. 255038 and Cpl. rank. The said Ochoche Matthew claimed to be a serving policeman attached to No. 20 Squadron, Police Mobile Force, Lagos.”
When he was accosted by his ‘colleagues’, it was gathered that Ochoche tried to talk himself out of trouble by feigning anger at their lack of understanding and disrespect for a fellow policeman on a german-german(extracurricular) assignment. But rather than being cowed, the team insisted on taking him and the consignment to the QRS Base, located on Ogunu Road, Warri.
At the base, Ochoche turned his charm offensive on the Commander and Officer-in-Charge, QRS, Alkali Lamido, a Superintendent of Police, assuring him that he was a genuine officer who was doing the escort job just to make some extra money. It was learnt that the no-nonsense Lamido insisted on getting to the bottom of the matter, particularly because he suspected that even if Ochoche was a genuine mopol, he was on illegal duty.
One of the suspect’s kinsmen at the QRS Base, who was called in to help get the truth out of him, spoke with him for several hours, yet the suspect refused to budge or change his story. “He kept insisting that he was a mobile policeman. When he saw that that story was not getting him out, he confessed that he was merely on illegal duty. He even got angry that he was being embarrassed by his colleagues in Warri after passing through countless checkpoints from Lagos.
“The OC made calls to various police units, including Falomo, where the man said he was serving until the breakthrough finally came when one of those he called, brought out Ochoche’s record. It was found that although he served with 20 PMF, Lagos, he was demobbed since July 18, 2011.”
Reliable source in the force disclosed that Ochoche was removed from service after he refused a posting from Lagos to Akwa-Ibom state four years ago. “He disappeared and nobody heard from him until he resurfaced in Warri days ago,” the source added.
Meanwhile, DSP Kalu said the suspect was arrested for impersonation and is undergoing investigation, while the vehicle and exhibits have been impounded.”
To the people of Asaba, their monarch, the Asagba of Asaba, Prof Chike Edozien, 90, is God’s reprentative on earth.
A former Director-General, Nigerian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, member Commonwealth Arbitration Tribunal and chairman organising Committee of the Asagba’s birthday celebrations, Prof Epiphany Azinge (SAN), told Niger Delta Report that the Asagba stool means everything to the people.
He explained why the people see him as God’s representative on earth: “We see the monarch as a symbol of the unity of Asaba. We see him as the representative of God on earth. We see him as the mouthpiece of the Asaba people, by extension we look at him as a philosopher king who though fallible to large extent almost infallible in decision making in thoughts words and action
“So, we hold him in high esteem because we believe in terms of thought processes, vision that naturally he is the person who will direct and help us navigate through the challenges that may come our way. He is the custodian of the lands around us and more significantly he ensures peace, harmony, unity and stability in the land.
“The present monarch is one that has carved a niche for himself, easily the most educated ever in the history of Asaba and that has been unquestionably in most of his actions and the directives he proclaims. It has also been clearly demonstrated in the positive reforms that he has carried out .It has also found expression in the peace, unity and harmony that exist among our people at this point in time.
“So for a philosophy king because he fits into that expression, not just being a monarch, but philosophically well-endowed and academically vibrant even at his age ,we can say that Asaba people have benefitted immeasurably from his wealth of knowledge, reservoir of experience and his internationally acclaimed exposure in terms of his participation in many spheres of human activity. He is early professor of medicine, first indigenous dean of medicine at the famous University College, Ibadan. We feel that Asaba indigenes, and Deltans are lucky to have him as the reigning monarch in Asaba right from the inception of the State in 1991 when he was enthroned shortly before Delta State was created and Asaba became a State Capital.”
On the monarch’s 90th birthday, he said: “We decided to roll out the drums because it is given to a few to celebrate 70 years and given to fewer people to celebrate 80 but to celebrate 90 and in good health is worthy of celebration at the highest level. For us, it is not just an ordinary celebration because we never can say when there will ever going to be another monarch that would be 90 and a monarch who has distinguished himself so well and to the admiration of his subjects, believing that this is an opportunity to say thank you to him. We are given to believing that the best time to eulogise people is when they are no more. For us that belongs to the past; we believe it is fitting to celebrate people when they are alive. For us it is more proper to celebrate someone whom we consider a living legend in his own right and one whose actions, utterances and activities seem to have helped in sharpening the destiny of our people and one we have benefitted immeasurably from his intellect and acumen.”
He explains why the community is inducting the Asagba into the Asaba Hall of Fame: “I believe it is likely to create some doubt in the minds of people. Ideally it should be the other way round that it is the Asagba who confers chieftaincy; he is the symbol of authority, the reigning monarch that would do things for the subjects. But this time around at 90, we believe that it is only proper and right for us to do something that would seem to be honouring him for a change. I do not think the Asagba can ever be honoured again because from 1991 when he mounted the throne that seem to be the highest achievement anyone can aspire to. He has gotten that for almost 24 years. We want to use the opportunity to demonstrate how highly we treasure him so we conceptualized this Hall of Fame idea .
Ultimately it will be a beginning of the process in the history of Asaba. Asaba people, in our traditional folklore, are said not to acknowledge and applaud heroes, so for us it is a beginning of a new dawn. Time has come for Asaba people to acknowledge what is their own. Contrary to our historical past, if you do not eulogise great people may be you are failing in one respect. You are not invigorating, motivating people to continue in their path and continue to excel. So the thinking is that we may have Asaba sons and daughters that will distinguish themselves who will move from not becoming chiefs in Asaba but they may have done exceptionally well to be inducted to the Hall of Fame. There will a Hall of Fame whether it will be a museum or any other thing we will set up, but let it go down in the history of Asaba that Obi Prof Chike Edozien, Asagba of Asaba will be the first Asaba son living or dead ever to be inducted into this Hall of Fame which will be a symbol of excellence and a footprint that will invite other Asaba indigenes to look forward to the fact that when you do well in life, and live life of incorruptibility that there is something that awaits you. The chiefs and all the other nobility and Asaba people will induct the Asagba. Citations will be read, plaques will be unveiled and other formalities will be performed before the Iyase of Asaba will read out statement whereby the Asagba will be formally inducted into the Hall of Fame. For us it is a stepping stone for what every Asaba son and daughter should look forward to.”
On the activities for the 10-day celebration, Azinge said: ” We tried to blend tradition with scholarship, and fanfare. We tried not to make the events elitist, we have tried to galvanise our people across the strata of society to participate fully in the celebration of our monarch. We will have cultural exhibitions, we will re-invent the wheel, and growing up most of us enjoyed moonlight tales but those things are no more, we want to use this to attract our children to their natural habitat and put them in the right frame to understand their history.
“The cultural exhibitions will enable us showcase our traditional artefacts. There will public lecture delivered by Prof Akingugbe, we will have a book presentation chronicling the Asagba’s biography. We will unveil a larger than life statue of the Asagba that would be placed in a strategic place in Asaba metropolis. Hopefully this statue will become a tourist attraction in years to come. Football matches are ongoing as part of activities marking the event which will climax into the final on the 26th of July. A golf tournament is starting on the 18th July .We will have a traditional wrestling competition, we have a quiz competition that will be screened live, also an essay competition among secondary schools in Asaba have reached advanced stages.
“This celebration is an opportunity for us to bring our children back to their origin, history, and cultural setting. Intellectually, we have tried to engage our children at that level. The celebration is a full package. We will have a street carnival that will take us through the length and breadth of the city. We are modelling our carnival after the Calabar Carnival and Rivers State Carnival so that we can get the attention of the people and awaken their consciousness as to what we are doing. A musical festival will take place which will cater for our youths so they will be fully entertained. An inter-denominational service will climax the event.”
The President of the umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, speaks to Mike Odiegwu on reasons behind persistent environmental problems in the Niger Delta and plans of the youth to tackle the menace.
How would you react to the attitude of oil companies operating in the Niger Delta, especially with regard to oil spills, compensation and other environmental issues?
It is impunity – do what you like and then bribe some people and get away with it. The spillages of Mobil since 1998, they have refused to pay the Niger Delta people. They are there conniving with agents. The senior management of Mobil is conniving with claim agents, embezzling money meant for communities. We will take this matter up to the highest level of Mobil.
SNEPCO is owing our people $1.8bn. They have been asked to pay but they come with this flimsy excuse that we are in court. We are not in court. pay us our monies because the activities have brought untold hardship to our people. They have changed our people’s lifestyle and have turned them to criminals and because of this they are forced to break pipelines to carry crude. They are forced to cook crude to destroy the environment just because they must survive.
So part of the crises in Niger Delta is as a result of the activities and negligence of the oil companies, and so you see our people getting involved in negative activities just because they want to survive. They destroy pipelines just to survive; they steal crude oil just to survive. The usual ways of survival have been destroyed by corrupt practices and so SNEPCO must pay Bonga spill that saw over 40,000 barrels of oil in the environment and even when they came to clean they came with harsher chemicals that further destroyed and compounded the issue in the environment. That issue is lingering and they must pay that money. We will tackle them till the society understands what we are doing.
We will take this fight to Holland,London and America where the people will question them. I hope that President Buhari will ensure the dignity of Nigerians by ensuring that all are sanctioned without any iota of fear or favour. Any International Oil Companies (IOCs) that abuses the rules of engagement or wants to bend the normal practice when it comes to doing their business and the environment should be sanctioned because if they respect the environment in the Golf of Guinea, they should do same here. They should pay attention to our environment too.
How would you react to the recent judgment by the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt on the case involving ARCO and other companies?
I think that it is victory for democracy and the judiciary in the Justice Lambo Akanbi delivered judgment against Agip Oil Company, Plantjera and General Electronics (GE) against ARCO Group of Companies. ARCO has been servicing the Obiobi Gas Plant in conjunction with G.E for Agip since 2007 and the Local Content law says that when a local contractor demonstrates capacity to handle a job and handle equipment,it should be given priority but unfortunately Agip went and brought Plantjera,an automobile company that has no experience to try and see how they will push out ARCO and ARCO went to court.
The IOCs always boast about owning the law in Nigeria because they can spend all manner of money to hire all kinds of senior advocates and delay your case until you grow old. The judiciary us living up to expectation by restoring the dignity of Nigeria in terms of cases between Nigeria and multinationals and we are happy because the statuo quo should remain.
In fact, Agip brought Plantjera to take away ARCO, even when there was a court process on, an abuse of the Nigerian judiciary system. This is what the IOCs do. They come here and indulge in practices they don’t do in their countries because they think our people will always sell out. That is the same thing Mobil did in 1998,which is causing a lot of problem in the Niger Delta.
What does the judgment portend to the Local Content Act and the Niger Delta?
It is a wake up call for the local content board because if they were strictly enforcing their laws, we won’t go to court in the first place but they are not doing their job. You can’t blow hot and cold and behave as if nothing happened and allow these companies think they can get their way. People don’t do what is right when they see oil money. It is a wakeup call for the local content board to sit up and ensure that they enforce the laws that have been put in place to protect Nigerians.
What can other indigenous companies operating in the Niger Delta learn from AIICO?
AIICO is a strong company. It is not every indigenous company that is as powerful as AIICO to even hire a SAN. AIICO was able to get three SANs to do its case and that is because it’s buoyant. Overtime, AIICO has been able to build capacity and strength that is why they were able to challenge them. It has strong Nigerian presence and has added so much value to the lives of Nigerians. I pray that the judiciary wakes up to its responsibility just as it’s doing so that every other indigenous company can also stand up to challenge the statuo quo when it is trampled upon.
So, what do you think account for the double standard of oil companies in Niger Delta?
It is all about the attitude of our people. It’s government not being responsible and ensuring that you enforce the law. Why should a foreigner break the law in Nigeria and then he will not even imagine it in his dream in his company? It is because we are still in this master-slave mentality. We must begin to grow beyond that. They abuse the environment and don’t tell the government how much they have made. We must be respected as individuals and as a country.
I implore Buhari to look at that area because revenue accruing to the Federal Government is being lost through these practices. If the President really needs money to run his government, then he must ensure that these companies do what is right.
By the SNEPCO’s spill,the Federal Government has $1.8bn in fines and royalties. It is plenty of money to run government and pay salaries. These are part of loopholes that need to be blocked. Respect our laws and do what is right as at when due. If the government is strict with our laws, these companies will respect our land.
Do you think National Oil Spill Detection Regulatory Agency (NOSDRA), the Ministry of Environment and other regulatory agencies have done enough?
They have not done enough. There is so much inequality in Nigeria. Everybody wants to meet up. Corruption has eaten deeply into every strata of the society. The President needs to be ready to fight corruption. These agencies are there to ensure that these companies do the right things or sanction them but somebody will look the other way. That is why SNEPCO has refused to pay compensation they are supposed to pay. That is why Mobil has refused to pay 1998 spillage and that is why Agip can think that they will abuse the law of Nigeria and disobey court orders and get away with it.
Is there any future for the Niger Delta environment?
As we are now, there is no future. There is nothing to look forward to until a reversal of these issues that I have raised. The national confab has put a lot of these things into perspective and that’s why some of us have advocated that President Buhari’s government should begin from implementing the national confab report because that report has seen a lot of these issues looked into holistically. The national confab holistically discussed issues that affect our environment, issues concerning oil businesses and exploration, issues concerning government,and if implemented,we can begin from there.
So the future for the Niger Delta lies in restructured Nigeria where we have reorganised the way we will continue to live as one. That reorganization will begin to take care of every strata of the society.
What can IYC do?
Advocacy, just as I am doing now. The issues must be brought to the fore so that people can discuss and begin to proffer solution. One day somebody will listen and one day, President Buhari may decide to listen and take the steps necessary. The best we can do is advocacy and discussions; moving the discourse to their table is the new approach of IYC. It will not only be on the streets of Nigeria. It will be on the streets of London, America and Europe so that when they can avoid the discussion in Nigeria by bribing people, let them go and bribe their people and let us see.
