The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

  • Goodluck charm

    Goodluck charm

    The last time Moseyn Ekiw saw his mother she showed no sign of ailment. That was just a week ago. At 80, she could still break bones with her teeth.

    Now, he is on his way to the Garden City, the capital of Waters State to see Mama. He received a call early that day that she wanted to see him urgently. His heart was heavy. She is the only parent he has known for a long time. Though his father is alive, he considers him dead. The man is a good example of irresponsibility. He has 20 children from five women and did nothing to raise them. His own case was the most pathetic because he even denied his pregnancy. It took all kinds of persuasion for him to accept being his father five years after his birth. His emergence as a council chairman after the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) one-year mandatory service worsened their relationship. Every day his father would call him requesting for money and other material things. By the time he became the Controller of Staff to Governor Timiro Ihceama of Waters State, he was no longer on talking terms with the old man.

    Soon, he drives into his house in the GRA. Mama is in the sitting room eating apple. Smile plays on his face.

    “Thank God nothing is wrong with her,” he says quietly and moves closer to exchange pleasantries with her.

    “Welcome my son,” the old woman says.

    A minute of silence ensues before Mama takes the conversation to a level he never imagined.

    “The Dame was here,” she says.

    “Which Dame?”

    “The most popular Dame in this country, the one whose husband you work for, the one who asked you to vie for governor of Waters State.”

    “Okay, go on Mama,” he says.

    “Her mission here is simple. She wants me to convince you to stop preparing for the governorship race. According to her, the mood in the state does not favour someone from the same place as the governor to replace him. She says it is the time of the  Riverside People.”

    At that moment, his eyes feast on the Dame’s picture on the wall. It is one of those her pictures taken by an ace female photographer which gave her beauty she can never have. His eyeballs become heavy with tears.

    “I have been used and dumped,” he tells Mama.

    “When she first asked me to go and be causing trouble for the governor all in the name of becoming the next governor, I pointed out to her that the mood in the state is that the People on the land have had enough. That by the time this governor finishes his tenure, they would have done 16 years. I told her the pendulum favours the People on Water but she told me to forget that. She said all I need to become governor is the Goodluck Charm with her husband and that she would get it for me. Now, two months to the emergence of flag-bearers she is sending my mother to me that I should drop out of the race. I knew they had no good plan for me when they refused to make me a senior minister despite all I have done to help them break the governor’s stranglehold on the state. They even made a man I convinced to dump the governor a senior minister. Mama, I have been humiliated by this woman and her husband. If only I had stayed true to the governor.”

    Tears cascade down his face.

    “Don’t cry my son,” Mama says.

    “At some point when I saw that she was going back on the content of a statement she issued saying I was in charge of the Umbrella Peoples Party (UPP) in Water State, I got my loyalists in the parliament to issue a statement saying without me the party would lose the governorship of the state. Mama, I don suffer for these people. Where I go hide my face?”

    His phone rings. The caller is the UPP chairman in Water State.

    “Good day oga,” the chairman greets the junior minister.

    “Good day,” he manages to sound alright.

    “I just got a letter from the Dame saying the time had come for us to face reality. She said we must choose our candidate among the People on the Water if we hope to make any headway in this election,” the chairman says.

    “This woman has finished me. She has finished me. She also came to see my mother to deliver a similar message,” he says.

    “That is serious. What do we do now?”

    “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

    The conversation ends and he briefs his mother about why the chairman called. His phone rings presently. On the line is his Media Aide.

    “Good afternoon sir.”

    He replies the greeting.

    “Sir, there is a report in Evening Monitor and Evening Enquirer quoting a letter from the Dame to the chairman on the need for the UPP candidate to emerge from the Riverside. Online papers are quoting it too.”

    “I will talk to you later,” he cuts off the call.

    His phone rings immediately. The second phone begins to ring too. The calls are from men who are looking forward to taking active part in his government. He refuses to pick any of the calls.

    He decides to go get a copy of the Evening Monitor from the news-stand a few blocks away and right there on the front page is his picture with the banner headline : “UPP dumps Ekiw”. A bromide of the Dame’s letter is also on the front page to authenticate their report.

    There is also an interview with an activist from the Riverside.

    These words catch his attention: “ The Riverside people in Waters State have every reason to expect to have one of their own leading the state,based on history, fairness and balance. The People on Water are the largest ethnic group in the state with about 10 Local Government Areas and substantial populations in 2 others of 23 Local Government Areas. The other two have less than 5 each. The People on Water are 39.7 per cent of the population of the state. In 1999, Ilido emerged on popular Riverside support. Again in 2007 and 2011,the Riverside people gave the incumbent their mandate.”

    He goes back to the house to show his mother the paper. As Mama goes through the story, he remembers he once told a group of editors in Lagos that he could never govern the Water State in 2015.

    “I am from the same place as the governor,” he remembers telling the in his suite in a highbrow hotel on the Island.

    “Never say never in politics,” he remembers one of the editors saying.

    “I will be creating problems for myself if I start thinking about succeeding my kinsman,” he remembers saying to close the conversation.

    Now, he has created problems for himself. He cannot go back to the governor. The trust is broken and he will feel sad if he remains in the cabinet.

    “Mama, I need to take a break from this madness.”

    “How do you mean?” asks the old woman.

    “UNICEF once offered me a job in Paris, which I turned down because of my political engagements. I saw the head of the body in Geneva a month ago and he said they would still be glad to have me. I laughed then because I thought I would never need it. Now, I think I will resign my appointment as minister, move to Paris and start a new life.”

    He hugs his mother and they both cry. An era has ended. A new one is beginning.

  • last word: Ugborodo…What can big stick achieve?

    last word: Ugborodo…What can big stick achieve?

    Some days back the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta threatened to wield the big stick against recalcitrant side in the Ugborodo crisis. The crisis recently took a turn for the worse with the various acts of arson carried out against each other by members of the feuding factions, resulting in the destruction of houses and cars worth several millions of naira in both Ugborodo and Warri.

    The recent gale of arsons followed the refusal of members of Aruton quarter of Ugborodo to allow the Navy, led by the Commanding Officer of NNS Delta, Navy Captain Musa Gemu, to return some members of the community who have been displaced, citing the need for the people, whom the community is accusing of leading the invasion of Aruton, to atone for the sacrilege before they could be reabsorbed.

    At a meeting organised by the Navy at the Warri naval base over the weekend, Captain Gemu sounded a note of warning to those working against the implementation of the peace agreement, especially the resettlement of displaced person, not to test the will of the force, giving them a week to sort out the reabsorption disagreement, after which the navy might have to step in to enforce the term.

    “I am sounding it clearly to the elders, leaders and the youths. This is your last chance. You have one week to go home, sit among yourselves and agree to allow displaced persons return home in peace.

    “This is not my personal decision. It is part of the peace accord your leaders on both sides signed with the Federal Government in Abuja. I want to receive a positive feedback at the end of the week. After then, we will not tolerate any more act of lawlessness. It is not the desire of government to apply force. But we would have no other option if you fail to respect peace,” Captain Gemu said.

    Speaking with this writer in Warri, the leader of one of the warring factions, David Tonwe, said nobody would force the community to reabsorb the displaced until they fulfill the rites required of them by Ugborodo tradition, for the atonement of the sacrilege they committed against the community.

    Tonwe warned that an attempt to force the community against the dictates of its customs and traditions would not work well.

    According to him, peace would not be achieved in the community by the use of force, rather the concerned authorities should see to it that the right things were done in the matter.

    “Some other people have gone through the same process before; the Olaja-Orori went through it, the Eghara-Aja went through. Nobody is above the law and tradition. You are dealing with military people and military people don’t care about whatever you say. What they are saying now is that we want peace and let me tell you, that is where we have problem in this country; the process of achieving peace is not by force, it’s by dialoguing, it’s by negotiation, it’s by discussing.

    “Even in the meeting at the naval base, an elderly man stood up, Abeokutan Anderson, and told the naval chief that these people have committed a crime, which is a sacrilege and they need to go and appease the gods of Ugborodo community and they shouted him down there, saying the issue was not for there. You cannot use force, except you want to kill everybody. You are now trying to use force, imposing people so that they can forget about their culture and tradition.

    “If they want peace, let them follow that process; we don’t even need a naval man to take them back to the community, we don’t need any force to bring them to the community. It is our own custom and tradition,” he said.

    Chief Emami  with Tonwe’s absence at the last meeting, it is clear ehere the problem is.

    “We are aware that Aruton and Magangho where the violent youths were resisting Navy from resettling displaced persons, are not our stronghold. So, when those who these youths are loyal to continuously stay away from meetings like this, it tells where the problem lies,” he said.

    With Tonwe rejecting the meeting’s resolution and the one-week ultimatum expiring this weekend , trouble seems ahead. But can wielding the big stick bring about the much-needed peace? It does not look so.

  • An eyesore on Calabar’s gateway

    An eyesore on Calabar’s gateway

    Its size embodies the promise it held when it was conceived. But, this estate on the gateway to Calabar, the Cross River State capital, for over two decades, has not lived its original dream, writes
    nicholas laku

    It lies on the left as you enter Calabar, the Cross River State capital, through its only entry point by road – the Odukpani-Calabar Road. It was conceived to be an estate to cater for the housing needs of residents/civil servants. It has served various purposes over the years but none for which it was intended.

    The rows of decrepit single storey buildings in the massive estate are now overtaken by weeds. Staring at the walls of the buildings, one can tell that at some time, they used to be white. Most areas are covered in algae. In many places, the roofs are either missing or have caved in. The doors and windows are missing in almost all the buildings. Where roads used to be are now thick bushes. What remains are ruins. “Ghost town” describes it better.

    The abandoned housing estate at Ikot Ekpo community in Calabar Municipality is one that has always aroused the curiosity of many who pass through that road, whether they are  first-time visitors to Calabar or residents who have lived in the city for years.

    The land was acquired during the Shehu Shagari  administration for low cost housing for civil servants. When the administration came to an end, following a military intervention, the project was abandoned.

    In 1992, it was gathered, the project was taken over by the then governor, Mr Clement Ebri, who purchased the estate from the Federal Government and continued where it stopped.

    The estate was handed over to the Cross River State Property and Investment Limited (CROSPIL) to manage after being bought from the Federal Housing Authority. CROSPIL, it was learnt, got the Certificate of Occupancy of the estate.

    The estate was completed and was to be commissioned in December 1993 for the state civil servants, but the late Gen. Sani Abacha coup in November 1993 disrupted the arrangement.

    For the second time due to military intervention in government, the estate was abandoned.

    A source in CROSPIL said: “Everything was ready. The houses were completed and ready to be handed over. Everything was in place. There was electricity, pipe-borne water, good road networks and so much more. It was a wonderful package. But the coup torpedoed all that as civilians were chased away.

    “Since then people started vandalising the place. People were going there to steal the materials used in building the houses to build their own houses or sell them. Over time the place decayed to the state that you find it today. It is really sad I must say.”

    In 1998, CROSPIL sold it to the Federal Ministry of Commerce to cater for the housing needs of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority workers.

    The Donald Duke administration was said to have re-acquired it from the Federal Government. After that, issues about the ownership of the estate have been shrouded in mystery.

    Cross River State Commissioner of the Lands Ralph Uche said the estate is not owned by the government.

    According to him, the estate was sold to a private developer, who has left the place to rot to the state it is.

    One of the major complaints about the estate was that it was poorly planned.

    “The way they built the houses, you see that each of the houses are too close to the other. You will be in your bedroom and someone will be in his house looking directly at you. Parking space was also a problem. In fact, whoever designed the houses got it wrong. That might be one of the problems bedevilling the place. I don’t know. But, we are not responsible for that place,” a Ministry of Lands official said.

    At a time, it accommodated displaced persons who were involved in a communal conflict between Akwa Ibom and Cross River states. The displaced persons, it was gathered, became a nuisance to people in the community and had to be ejected.

    At the moment, the dilapidated houses are occupied by various rodents and reptiles who roam free. The part of the estate closest to the road has been cleared and occupied by unidentified people.

    Our reporter, who went to speak with some of the occupants, was harassed. “What do you want? Who are you? What is your business here? My friend, will you leave this place?” a group of men threatened.

    However, an occupant, who begged not to be named, volunteered some information. He said most of the occupants were people who had nowhere to live and were there to ensure a roof over their heads.

    “Like myself, I am a hustler. I came from the village but as I talk with you, house rent I cannot pay. So, this place that is just here like this nobody is living here, I just came and cleared one room and I am staying here now. That is the thing.”

    Even though the state government says the estate is not its, residents feel the run-down state of the place is not good for its image, as it welcomes all who enter the renowned tourist city by road.

    Mr Ubong Asuquo said: “Even if the state government says it is not in their hands, we feel they should move to do something about the place, which is more of an eyesore and not worthy to be on the only gateway to the city reputed as the nation’s paradise.”

  • ‘Bayelsa local govts were drainpipes’

    ‘Bayelsa local govts were drainpipes’

    There are controversies surrounding the local government reforms in Bayelsa State. The Chairman, Local Government Service Commission, Mr. Talford Ongolo, spoke to MIKE ODIEGWU.

    Genesis of the local government reforms

    When we came in, we had over 15,000 staff in the rural development areas and the eight local government areas popularly called the G8. Earlier before our inauguration, the governor because of his deep understanding of the problems besetting the various sectors had set up staff verification panels in all the eight local government areas. They studied the situation and the challenges and came up with various reports. The reports and revelations were mind-boggling.

     

    Removal of corrupt principal officers

    Some of these problems have been aptly captured. It was a springboard. It was revealed that the principal officers were part of the problem. So, when those that are supposed to implement your policies are part of the problems, you have to rethink, restrategise properly otherwise, you won’t succeed. So, government decided at that early stage that part of the reforms would begin with the principal officers. The principal officers were asked to go and beef up the capacity of the local government service commission. All of them without exception were redeployed.

    After they had been redeployed and asked to go on 30-day leave, because they were not even going on leave, a simple verification exercise was carried out in Yenagoa council alone and over N23million was recovered that first month. I went personally to receive the report. That report justifies the redeployment of principal officers.

     

    Non prosecution of removed officers

    This government is more inclined to looking forward. They are not out to punish people. The new principal officers were appointed in acting capacities because they have not attained that level of seniority to become substantive. As a former attorney-general, l have to insist we follow the law. The new principal officers were specially trained in ASCON for two weeks with myself and the permanent secretary present throughout the training programme. They wrote exams. They came back and took over in acting capacities. We want people with capacity to run the local government. Since, then we have been implementing other legs of the reform. We have sent them again for refresher courses.

     

    Biometrics

    We came up with the idea of biometrics. it was christened electro- diametric attendant register with automated payroll system. The simple explanation is that on the first day what the consultant first did was to carry out an enrollment exercise. Every staff in the local government system has to go there. They would take your enrollment details and the biometrics. After that, they started the clocking-in and clocking-out. So, everyday, you will go in the morning to clock-in and after the close of work, you will go back to clock-out.

    After the enrollment alone, people started protesting and even blocked the expressway. Government directed that those who didn’t enroll despite a long period of enlightenment campaign and publicity that their money should be paid into an unpaid salary account. So much was realised. We then went to the nitty-gritty of the matter. The records have justified government efforts. What we are implementing is that if you did not go to work any day, there is no way we can serve you query. People don’t go on a fishing expedition to serve queries. You are queried as you go to work. So, what we are doing now is that if you don’t go to work at all since we don’t know about your existence, we just pay that money into an unpaid salaries account. So, nobody will spend the money. These are the challenges we are having now.

     

    Promotion of workers

    In whatever we are doing, we like to carry Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) along. But it has not been easy. What we did was to organise a stakeholders’ conference where all of us including NULGE agreed on the biometrics. A communique was issued at the end of the conference and the NULGE President also signed it. Whatever we are doing now that NULGE is kicking against is in tandem with the resolutions of that conference.

    We also held another meeting in line with the conference resolution. We held a meeting of all the stakeholders. It was an extended stakeholders’ meeting. The meeting was concerning promotion because since 2008, there hasn’t been any promotion in the service. They told me that the reason was because the system was over-bloated with heavy staff strength and there was nowhere the councils can meet up with financial implications of promotions.

     

    Challenges of reforms

    But no human system can be perfect. There will be challenges here and there. As the challenges come up, we tackle them. People were just siphoning and packing money. One person would have 30 names in the payroll. If you are in an outstation since we are only dealing with workers at the local government headquarters, you are not affected so you are not to clock-in and clock-out for now. We have made it clear that we cannot ascribe to ourselves perfection. Any genuine case; if you know you are in an outstation and for any reason, your name did not appear, go and meet your principal officer and that is the routine. When people come, we clear them. People don’t want change. They just raise these small imperfections to a level to discredit the system. The consultants don’t prepare payrolls. The consultants, after taking records of the attendants, they generate a report. When they prepare these documents, they hand them over to the treasurers. The vouchers are now prepared by the treasury staff.

     

     

  • Rivers Ijaw mothers mobilise for riverine Brick House landlord

    Rivers Ijaw mothers mobilise for riverine Brick House landlord

    THEY  are mothers. They are Ijaw. And from Rivers State. Two days ago,  they gathered at the Atlantic Hall of the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt. The occasion was the Women Convention of the Eastern Delta People’s Association (EDPA). The Women Wing of the EDPA, a non-aligned socio-political group, is led by Mrs Manuela Izunwa. The wing has a strong backer in the wife of former Rivers State Deputy Governor, Sir Gabriel Toby, Dame Christy. She chaired the convention.

    At the meeting, the group’s four-cardinal objectives were stressed. They include: Pursue the protection and preservation of the ideals of equity,   fairness and     justice to enhance the building of an egalitarian society where the Ijaw-speaking people of the Eastern Delta can aspire to any height in Rivers     State; set the agenda for human capacity development of the   women of the Eastern Delta, Rivers State and Nigeria and promote unity, peace and harmony among the people of the Eastern Delta, Rivers State and Nigeria.

    A keynote address by Prof. (Mrs.) Bene Willy Abbey set the tone for the conference. Papers on the theme: “Equity, Equal Opportunity and Political Leadership: Role of Women in Rivers State”  was presented by Mrs. Mina Ogbanga. At the end of it all, the 500 registered women leaders, representing all Rivers Ijaw women spread in ten local government areas adopted a communiqué.

    The key point in the communiqué was a plea to other groups in the state to give the Ijaw the chance to produce the governor of the state after the upland people would have had it for 16 years.

    The politics of Rivers State has been played around a concept referred to as Upland/ Riverine dichotomy.  Before the incumbent, Rotimi Amaechi, who will complete a second term of four years next year, Dr. Peter Odili ruled the state for eight years. Both are from the upland.

    Aspirants from the upland, such as Minister of State for Education Nyesom Wike and Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Magnus Abe, have shown interest in the race.

    The women said: “The session reviewed the process of succession in the leadership of Rivers State since the return of democracy in 1999 and as women who have the responsibility to be sensitive to the yearnings of fathers, husbands, brothers and children noted that the political mood of Rivers State today calls for caution, and the need to foster unity, brotherliness, peace and it’s corollary Justice, equity and inclusiveness. To this end, the session, especially appealed to other parts of Rivers State to, as brothers, give the Eastern Delta people (Rivers Ijaws) who live by the coastline, the necessary support and cooperation to produce the next Governor of Rivers State in 2015 in the spirit of equity and inclusiveness.

    The session, being conscious of the fact that our brothers from the upland part of the State have led the state creditably for 16 unbroken years advises that to deny their brothers and sisters from the Riverine axis of the state from producing the next governor will be laying the foundation for injustice and exclusiveness with its attendant consequences. Similarly, the session acknowledged the agitation by other groups to be given opportunity to govern Rivers State notably the people of Rivers South East Senatorial District, which includes the Elemes and Ogonis, as genuine but appeals to them to consider our geo-political history and politico historical conventions and support Rivers Ijaws with the firm belief that other groups will also have their opportunities in future. In the event that zoning along senatorial lines become inevitable, the session believes strongly that there are credible God-fearing Ijaws in all three Senatorial Districts in Rivers State.”

    The women urged the people of the state to participate in the electoral process. They said: “The session reviewed recent political events in Rivers State and expressed concern about rising political tension in the State. While commending Rivers people as peace loving and law abiding, the session condemns in its entirety the introduction of violence and intimidation in the politics of Rivers State and appeals to politicians to go about their political activities with decorum and the fear of God.

    The session advises politicians to know that power comes from God and no force or corruption of the system can give anyone power and thus cautions politicians against making inflammatory statements capable of threatening the peace of the State. Similarly, the session calls on all Rivers women to be vigilant, ensure that they register and vote in the forthcoming general elections to choose leaders who best represent the ideals that River people are known for. The session equally enjoins all Rivers Women to participate in a 21 day fasting and prayer programme in January 2015 to seek God’s face for peaceful and violence-free elections.”

    Dame Toby said: “If any Ijaw woman will cast her vote in the next general election in the state, I, therefore, beg the political parties in the state to pick their candidates from the Riverine area of the state to promote an egalitarian society. Riverine people should have an opportunity in the governance of the state.

    “It is time to define the role of women in the politics of Rivers State. We must make use of optimum opportunity of this gathering to ensure that Ijaw women take their right place in the politics of Rivers state.”

    Prof. Willy-Abbey said: “Today we gathered together for consultation and exchange of information and opinion on tackling the challenges facing the women in Niger Delta, particularly the Eastern Delta region.  We must take over the politics of Rivers State come 2015.

    “Ijaw women must be ready to pack out of Rivers State if they are not considered in the scheme of thing. But, how ready are women to take over position in the political environment of our region? We must be adequately equipped for the battle come 2015.”

    The women’s position is in consonnance with the men in the EDPA.

    An Ijaw activist, Alatubo Charles Harry, recently argued that: “Rivers Ijaws will not sit still and watch idly our posterity and heritage consigned to hewers of wood and fetchers of water in the political matrix of our state.”

    A Kalabari politician, Nimi Walson-Jack, also  said recently: “Upland/riverine dichotomy is something that has been on. We respect the sentiment that has held these two together. Everybody who is well-meaning will decide on the right thing to do at the end of the day.”

    Barisi Benson Nnah of the Centre for Peace and Development in Ogoni, a Rivers State-based non-governmental organisation, believes in the Ijaw cause.

    He said: “The selfish interest of some individuals who want to be governor against collective interest of the Rivers State people made the ongoing National Conference to exclude Bori State or Ogoni State from the list of states being proposed for creation.

    “It is regrettable that the lessons of the over 20 years of the Ogoni struggle for self-determination seems not yet properly assimilated and a golden opportunity as this will slip away and be sacrificed for a mere governorship ambition of some self-seeking individuals pretending to bear Ogoni interests.”

  • Shell promotes split clamps

    It was a heap of accolades for the oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), in Bayelsa State. The Nigerian Content Development Management Board (NCDMB) and other players in the petroleum sector praised Shell for pioneering and expanding the frontiers of local participation in the oil and gas sector.

    The event revolved around Egba split clamps, the first indigenous split-sleeve clamps proudly produced in Nigeria by Egba Split Clamps Limited.

    Niger Delta Report discovered that the split clamp market is a busy one. Clamps are used by oil multinationals to temporarily stop spillage of oil from sabotaged or ruptured pipelines. It is a quick measure used to avert pollution of the environment at a spill site pending permanent repairs of the compromised point.

    Therefore, the split clamp is hot cake especially for oil multinationals operating in the Niger Delta region because of the rising incidences of pipeline vandalism and illegal bunkering. It was learnt that most companies source their clamps from European and Asian countries. So, all the clamps used in Nigeria are imported.

    But the story is expected to change following the discovery of Egba split clamps by SPDC. The local clamp was brought to limelight in a local content day exhibition organised by SPDC in 2009. Shell discovered Egba and since then the company has taken many steps to develop and make it the most sought-after clamp in Nigeria.

    SPDC is sponsoring the company’s professional certification to international standard. SPDC brought the Shell Global Solutions (SGS) from Amsterdam to Lagos to carry out pressure testing and inspection of Egba split clams.

     The oil company also facilitated a forum where Egba presented its clamps to the NCDMB in Yenagoa. The Executive Secretary of the board, Mr. Ernest Nwakpa received Egba and SPDC.

    The General Manager of Shell, Mr. Igo Weli, said SPDC had placed an order for six of the clamps to help the Egba update its certification which was concluded recently. He said after perfecting contractual documents, SPDC would consider placing the local manufacturer on a long-term contract of supplying the clamps.

  • Scenes from July

    Scenes from July

    Its significance lies in the madness in other lands not so far away. Long before then, it was not in doubt where their loyalty was. Almost everyone knew that they belonged to the Ikwerre man with a Yoruba first name, which makes many wonder if his mother has the Oduduwa ancestry. Some, without proof, have even said he is more Yoruba than Ikwerre.  But, that is gibberish.

    Last month, over 20 of his men in the Rivers State House of Assembly announced their time was up with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Months earlier, their leader, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, had led the way by dumping the party he believes has a leaking umbrella and teamed up to form the All Progressives Congress (APC). After this move, majority of the state’s members of the National Assembly, including Dr Dakuku Peterside, who chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) and Senator Magnus Abe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), left for the APC too. It was surprising that the state legislators did not move soon after. But, the drama in their switch is not lost coming at a time when the hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob parable is being re-enacted in impeachment moves in states whose governors have switched to the APC.

    There was also drama in the PDP’s reaction. It said they mattered not and their switch would not affect its fortune. Really?

    Well, for these men, it might have been meant to say, you can’t impeach our governor.

    The Rivers’ scenes pale away with Edo’s July scenes. There, the law was on break. Lawlessness reigned. And sadly, lawmakers were the ones behind it all. The police had it up to their necks trying to separate fights. You need to have seen how lawmakers were disgracing their constituents.  A court bailiff was told by a “lawmaker to go to hell” when he attempted to serve him summons.

    No thanks to this ‘we-no-go-gree’ caused by suspension and counter-suspension, no bill was attended to last month. Yet, these men earned their pay from tax payers who they did nothing to serve.

    Please let’s leave Edo and get to the presidential state. Bayelsa held an investment forum. It did not end without unforgetable scenes. At the forum, Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke revealed that an Industrial Park was going to be built in the state. And guess where? Otuoke of course, the presidential village whose population is less than 10,000. This is an addition to the fantastic General Hospital with facilities not being fully utilised. The university is also there and its population will soon be more than the community’s.

    Another drama in Bayelsa last month is that while a forum was being held to convince investors to come to the state, a relaxation centre, which also had a car wash, was pulled down by the government in Yenegoa. Reason: No tangible one has been given, yet the owner says he broke no town planning rule. It was a major point where men chilled out after a hard days’ job. Now they have to look elsewhere.

    The other three states in the Southsouth, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Delta sure had their indelible July scenes.

    In Delta, scenes that gave the impression that peace might take a flight were recorded. It all surrounded the Export Processing Zone being worked on by the Federal Government around Escravos. Last month, the project pitched Ijaw against Itsekiri. Before then, it had pitched Itsekiri against Itsekiri in Ugborodo. Lives were lost and heads were broken and jaws dropped when Itsekiri battled Itsekiri. Last months’ dramas were more of Ijaw proclaiming their right to the project. They rejected Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s interface committee on the project. One of their leaders, who said his grandparent’s grave would be consumed by the project, even threatened that the project would not start until their demands were met. President Goodluck Jonathan would have to wait more before performing the groundbreaking ceremony.

    Cross River maintained its peaceful mien during the month. But, dramas around the issue of border demarcation between Nigeria and Cameroun, as a result of the loss of Bakassi, played out. Fears were expressed by communities around the Obudu axis about plots to cede them to Cameroun. The last has certainly not be heard about this.

    Really, almost no July scene from the Southsouth could beat the one at the sod turning ceremony for the new PDP secretariat in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. Governor Godswill Akpabio was quoted as saying: “Those who have betrayed the governor will not enter the Government House… Those who want to take power from the back door will die. They will die. And the PDP will continue.”

    He was said to have used the Biblical story of King David and Absalom to back his position. Absalom, he said, wanted to take over power before 30 and sought to kill King David, his father. He eventually died before his father.

    Can both cases really be juxtaposed?  Absalom was a son; those who the governor claimed have betrayed are his political sons. There is no blood relationship.

    Since then, his opponents have taken advertorial space to lampoon him. They also called on Jonathan to save them.

    The governor has not spoken since then on the matter. At least in public. But, in an advertorial, which was a reaction to an open letter to Jonathan on the controversial statement, the governor’s supporters said he was only referring to political death and not physical death. They claimed it was natural that a stream that forgets its source will naturally die. There is no need for any physical effort to realise this. True talk?

    Secretary to the State Government Emmanuel Udom, in an advertorial, also toed the same line, arguing further that backdoor means ‘crude’, ‘undemocratic’ and all that. He did not forget to let us know that the people of Akwa Ibom are begging him to succeed Akpabio.

    Well, my final take: let everyone have a level-playing field. That way, there will be fairplay.

    Till next week. Have the best of August.

  • War against oil theft excites generals’ wives

    Their husbands are in the war front battling either the vicious Boko Haram insurgents in the north or the greedy oil thieves and pirates in the creeks of the Niger Delta region. Members of the Nigerian Army Officers’ Wives Association (NAOWA) are on the move to compliment the efforts of their husbands.

    Mrs. Felly Minimah, their National President and wife of the Chief of Army Staff who recently described himself as a war-time general led the women out of their comfort zones. Their mission was to identify widows of fallen soldiers, commiserate with them and give them relief materials.

    Mrs Minimah and members of her group were in Bayelsa State. They were, however, excited by the successes recorded by the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, in its war against oil thieves, pipeline vandals, illegal bunkerers  and pirates.

    They were received and treated to a grand reception by their host and Commander,JTF, Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Atewe. Their presence especially at the cocktail party organised at a grandiose hotel in Yenagoa attracted other service commanders including the state Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr. Desmond Agu.

    Beyond the party, the elegantly dressed women were also curious about the activities of the JTF especially its war against oil thieves. Therefore, the next day, they relocated to the headquarters of the security outfit at Opolo in Yenagoa. They were later briefed by Atewe.

    Maj-Gen. Atewe reeled out the figures and insisted that the JTF was gradually winning the war against oil theft. The evidence could be seen in the increase in oil production recorded by oil multinationals, he said.

    He maintained that oil multinationals operating in the region were recording significant increase in outputs because of JTF’s war against economic sabotage. He said the military outfit arrested 20 vessels for oil theft in the region within the first qarter of this year.

    He noted that the troops of JTF apprehended many hardened sea pirates, kidnappers and cultists, adding that some of the suspects died in gun battle with soldiers. Atewe told the women that the command raided and destroyed over 854 illegal refineries in many creeks in the region.

    But he had a big challenge. The commander paused, looked at his audience and told the generals’ wives that the major headache of the command was dearth of logistics. He begged the army headquarters to send more gunboats, operational vehicles and personnel to the command.

    Maj-Gen. Atewe also rued the proliferation of illegal refineries in the region. He, however, voiced out his suggestion. He called on the Federal Government to consider the building of modular refineries across the region to discourage the establishment of illegal refineries.

    “On my arrival as a commander of JTF, l declared zero tolerance for all kinds of illegal operations in the region in line with the mandate of the JTF”, he said.

    He observed that oil thieves remained resilient in their misplaced efforts to milk the country dry. But the commander warned them and reinstated the resolve of JTF to smoke them out and hand them over to prosecuting agencies.

    He lamented that the activities of oil thieves were affecting the nation’s economy and posing serious threats to the health and livelihood of the people. He said the thieves had devised a means of offering huge bribes to personnel of JTF to enable them have unhindered access to the country’s oil resources.

    Maj-Gen. Atewe, however, praised his men for turning down mount-watering financial inducements offered them by suspected oil thieves. He specifically cited a case where an officer was offered N25million by a group of oil thieves as a bribe. But he said the officer did not only turned down the offer but also arrested the suspect and members of his group.

    He thanked members of NAOWA for their visit describing it morale boosting. In her response, Mrs Minimah commended JTF for its efforts in tackling  the activities of oil thieves in the region. She said members of NAOWA were satisfied at the dogged manner JTF prosecuted the war against theft of the commonwealth.

    She said NAOWA was on a familiarisation tour and visit of military formations and units across the country. She lamented the increasing number of military widows in many barracks across the country.

    But she noted that the association was formed to assist the poor and the less-privileged especially widows of deceased soldiers. She added that the number of widows was increasing on daily basis because of the security situation in the country.

  • Who will tame the tigers of Ugborodo?

    IT was not a new madness. It was something we had all seen but could really not understand. It subsided and we knew it was just a matter of time before it would rear its head again. And on July 27, the signs that brawns, rather than brain,s would soon be on display were glaring. The threat to Ugborodo’s peace needed no special lens to be seen. By the second day, houses, cars and other valuables started going up in flames. And then the third day, discordant tunes started oozing from the mouths of many in the town.

    The fragile peace recently achieved in Ugborodo, one of the host communities of the $16 billion Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in Warri Southwest, Delta State, gave way  to turmoil when some quarters of the community violated the peace pact. Two months ago, the Federal Government, through the peace and security committee, comprising of various security agencies, state government and community representatives, set up the EPZ Interface Committee, leading to the signing of a peace agreement.

    One of the articles of the agreement was the restoration of displaced persons from the various quarters of Ugborodo to their homes, as well as cessation of hostilities by various armed groups. These yet-to-be- resettled  people in the community, first called for the dissolution of the EPZ Interface Committee, citing the continued unrest pervading the community.

    This followed the action of youths of Aruton (Ode-Ugborodo), who allegedly frustrated, for the third time, the Navy’s efforts at resettling the displaced persons.

    Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta, Navy Capt Musa Gemu, who led the naval team’s mission to resettle the displaced persons, expressed frustration at the attitude of Aruton youths and leaders, saying there was hardly any indication that the people wanted peace in Ugborodo.

    His lamentation: “I met with leaders of the two sides the day before. They assured that they will be on ground to talk to their people where they are in control to allow all displaced persons return in peace. Now only Isaac Botosan and Ayiri Emami of Thomas Ereyitomi bloc were on hand to lead displaced persons to Ogidigben and Ajudaibo where they are in control.

    “David Tonwe, who gave his word, never showed up to talk to the boys at Aruton to resettle displaced persons there. These same youths at Madangho and Aruton, who refused to allow displaced persons return home, also scared people from leaving to Ogidigben and Ajudaibo.

    “It is not like the Aruton youths can resist me. Applying force now is not the spirit of the peace process. So, I asked my men to pull back. I went in with just two men and interacted with the community elders and youths. Their feeling is that the said displaced persons committed sacrilege against the community and they need to appease the land and atone for their action before being allowed back in the community.

    “They said the only condition for peace is that all the people that have been jailed, even six years back, must be released. Do I know their offences? Were they offences against the state? Also that all those that were killed, they must bring their corpses back for burial, that all those who committed crimes against the community must come back to apologise and that proper punishment would be meted on them by the community.”

    So, it was not a surprise when just the day after the failed effort to bring the displaced back  properties worth hundreds of millions of naira, including houses and cars, were destroyed. The madness that started in January was here again.

    The two camps have come up with counter-claims. Both camps are blaming the other  for the display of brawns.

    A leader in the Ereyitomi camp, Emami, said contrary to speculations that the acts of arson were done by supporters of Ereyitomi, the acts were carried out by angry members of the Tonwe camp who felt they had been used and dumped.

    Whoever is right, the truth remains that this ding-dong can only stop if a compromise is reached. If both parties are not ready to shift grounds, where is room for settlement?  

  • ‘Police must reinstate me before I die’

    ‘Police must reinstate me before I die’

    Mr. Martin Kayode is not a happy man. For years, he served the police in Delta State. He was supposed to have retired from the Nigerian Police Force in February  but he was dismissed before then and not even a 2005 Federal High Court judgement ordering his reinstatement worked in his favour.

    Nine years after the court judgment, Martin, who was a Sergeant as at the time he was dismissed, is battling to be reinstated. The Police Service Commission, in a letter by its Secretary,  E Gonda and dated June 7th 2010, asked Martin to report to the Inspector General of Police for deployment.

    The letter reads,:“In line with the policy of the Commission to obey all court Judgments and in compliance with the Order of the Federal High Court in Suit No. FHC/B/CS/112/2003 issued on the 12th day of April 2005, the Commission hereby reinstates you into the Nigeria Police Force with effect from 04/04/2001, the day you were dismissed.”

    In another letter to the IG, the PSC requested that Martin be made to undergo refresher course with a view to updating him.

    Martin, in an interview,  said he was not told what his crimes were after he was arrested while serving as a member of a Federal Tax Force of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) and was in charge of posting policemen on duty to guard pipelines in Warri.

    According to him, “I joined the police in 1979 as a Constable and I was dismissed from the police through a signal with Ref No. DT03112 on May 2001. I joined to serve my country. I served in Federal Tax Force in Delta State and other places. My problems started when I posted some policemen to Oregha River beat.

    “I ordered the arrest and detention of four out of the five police that went out for duty that night for not arresting pipeline vandals that came to vandalise pipelines at their beat. I was later arrested and was asked to resume duty after an orderly room trial.”

    Sgt. Thomas said the police officer who reviewed the case dismissed him and others from the Nigerian Police for conspiracy and economic sabotage.

    He said he filed a writ of summons at the Federal High Court in Benin and court gave judgment in his favor in 2005.

    He said, “After waiting for reinstatement, I filed contempt against them. The PSC went to court with my reinstatement letter, the letter was sent to the IG, till today, the IG has refused to obey the PSC or the court.”

    “I don’t want to die like this. The police must reinstate me and pay me my full benefits as a DSP.”