The Nation Newspaper

Category: Niger Delta

My life at 60, by Otunyo

Chief Amaziah Walter Otunyo, a chartered engineer, recently celebrated his 60th birthday with his family, friends and well-wishers. In this interview with PRECIOUS DIKEWOHA, he reflects on his love for golf and how he juggles the many parts of his life.

How do you feel being at the age of 60?

I am delighted and graceful to God for giving me the opportunity to see today. I give God the glory for who I am. But as a sports lover, specifically golf, I decided to fix a golf tournament in commemoration of my birthday for my friends in the golf world. Prior to this time, I thought when one is 60, he will be probably confined to the bed but frankly speaking there is no difference from the way I used to feel when I was 40 years old and now. I am still strong and healthy at 60. During the last golf game, I beat my opponents who are yet to clock 60. So, I feel no difference in me. I still feel inside me the way I used to feel when I was 40 years. I can say I am 45 years now, though I thank God for Good health and for keeping me alive to see this day.

How have you contributed to your society?

Right from when I was in Shell, I started taking active part in community development, through community meeting and contribution to community union. My grandfather was a community leader; he donated one of his buildings for the community’s postal agency. And when the government wanted to build a secondary school, he donated a massive land and that was how the community Secondary School was built in our land. One thing is certain; if we didn’t give out the lands, we would have made enough profits from the lands. From the contribution of my family, I was challenged to start from where they stopped. I was elected as the President of Umutu Development Union, Port Harcourt branch. There is this activity we called Igili Day where we assembled to make our contributions. So, from electricity, roads, water in the area, I played a major role. Apart from my contributions at the village level, I also moved to make impact at Ndokwa National Congress and I was the pioneer chairman of the congress worldwide. These efforts metamorphosed to Ndokwa National Union, which is the apex body of the whole Ndokwa congress where I was elected as the second Vice President three years ago. My contributions to my community and other achievements made it possible for my people to crown me as Eze Omenka of Umutu in Ukwuani Local government Area of Delta State in December 2013.

As an expert in oil and gas, what informed your investment into hotel business?

When I was in Shell, I met a lot of contractors who have got to the peak of contracting in Shell. I discovered that some contractors left Shell and after a shot while they became broke. So, personally after seeing that trend in the environment, I decided to set up something that can continue to move on, even when I am no longer sitting here. As an oil and gas engineer, it is not that I am running away from my profession or I cannot get contract and execute. But, I just feel I should go into hospitality business. I also pick up lecturing job at Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST). This is because all my life I have been on double scholarships starting from the sponsorship of old Bendel State. Then I got another scholarship that aided my study in Nsuka and even when I travelled abroad for my Master’s Degree. The government of Nigeria has done a lot for me through those scholarships. In fact, the first car I bought while I was in United States was from the proceeds of my scholarship. I was given $20,000 as a balance from my scholarship account. That was the highest money I received at the age of 25 years. I almost ran into a moving vehicle over the excitement. This prompted me to accept a lecturing job to impart knowledge to others.

When did you develop interest for the game of golf?

I wasn’t a sports man when I was in Secondary School. I was a bookworm. I watched sports men and women and was always in support of my school during football matches and that was all. When I joined Shell, I began to socialise with people around me. I have a friend, Professor Bola Afolabi, though he later left Shell to NNPC. We used to play badminton. One day I went to look for him, they said he was at lawn tennis court. I tried to play tennis, it was strenuous. I couldn’t play it. After sometimes, Bola himself went into golf, I went there to play though. One thing about golf is that if you don’t play it, you will not appreciate it. But the interest for golf suddenly came. I played handicap 15 and later I played handicap 18. One thing about the game is the responsible friends you meet. I enjoy the game and I have given up other games; I play golf three times in a week.

Where and how did you meet the half part of you?

I met her when she was teaching in my village after her teachers’ training collage. Then I was just preparing to go to United States, but I was alone in the United States of Americas she didn’t go with me, but I assisted her to get her Master’s degree in Education and she is doing perfectly well.

August 1, 2014
‘Delta is safe for foreign investment, tourists’

A former Delta State Commissioner for Information and Senior Special Assistant to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan on Foreign Affairs, Mr Oma Djebah, has said the state is safe for diplomats and foreign investors.

Djebah spoke when the Political Secretary and Senior Political Adviser at the British High Commission, Abuja, Edward Dunn and Osaro Odemwingie visited the state at the weekend.

He said: “Look at Seplat Nigeria that is in Sapele, people are talking about the security situation in Warri and its environs but Seplat is operating here and they have upgraded in their production capacity. Today, they are producing up to 62,000 barrels of oil per day, which is a huge success.

“Look at the teaching hospital in Oghara, it is a huge success too because it is building the human capital development of the people. Look at what we are doing in the health sector. And all these have effect in crime and criminality. If you are healthy and strong, you will not have time for crime. If you are engaged you will not want to go and do crime.”

Djebah noted that the state was not different from the situation in the United Kingdom during the Irish Resistance Army (IRA) era, adding that that the violence did not stop foreign investors from setting up businesses in the UK.

He urged the international community to be considerate when issuing travel warning and advice to visitors to the state and the Niger Delta.

The team visited the Sapele office of indigenous oil firm, Seplat Nigeria Limited, where the management told them it had quadrupled production from facilities it acquired from Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) within four years.

Seplat’s Head of Community Affairs, Mr Godwin Obiuwvbi, told the visitors that the company increased production from the 14,000bpd it inherited in 2010 to 62,000bpd from OMLs 4, 38 and 41, adding that it is already targeting 100,000bpd before 2017.

He said: “From four producing communities in 2010, we have increased to 10 and by 2017, we hope to reach 100,000pbd. This year we should get to 72,000 from there we will take it to 85,000 and in the next two, three years we will get 100,000bpd.”

Obiuwevbi added that the three OMLs hold up to 500 million barrels, adding that the company, which recently listed on the London Stock Exchange, planned on acquiring additional oil wells and also revealed that Seplat is planning a massive investment in gas at the company Oben field in Edo state and LTF and green field development programmes in Amukpe, Sapele.

Obiuwevbi, who was accompanied by the company’s Security Manager, Mr William Akolo, a former employee of SPDC, Tony Owumi and other top staff of the firm, said the company was bullish because since it commenced operation in 2010, it had experience “no significant disruption in operation”, adding that crude oil theft had also been drastically reduced.

He said the robust Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) with host communities has complimented their internal security and build confidence across board, adding, “There were four MoU and a trust fund of N250 million down payments gave communities a stake and helped build confidence and trust.”

The Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Mr Mofe Pirah, debunked the reasons given by SPDC for divesting from the facilities: “They said Delta State was not secured, you cannot do business in Delta State.”

Pirah said the team was interested in knowing how Seplat managed to achieve so much and better SPDC in spite of the allegation of insecurity in the region, adding that it showed that there is something the local firm was doing that Shell did not do.

Speaking with reporters after the two-day visit at Osubi Airport on his way to Abuja, Dunn expressed satisfaction with Uduaghan’s development drive, particularly in the education and health sector, where the governor had investment hugely in the past years.

Odemwingie noted that the projects were first class and urged Deltans to support the government’s efforts by maintaining them.

Djebah described Uduaghan’s vision of Delta Beyond Oil as rightwards to keeping a lasting legacy for posterity in the state, stressing that the citizenries’ support is important to achieving the dream.

August 1, 2014
Ken Saro-Wiwa resurrects in award-winning story

When Peter Ukwa, an undergraduate of Political Science at the Bayelsa State-owned Niger Delta University (NDU), Wilberforce Island, wrote True Independence, he thought he was simply embarking on a mere literary voyage. But the piece, a short story eventually metamorphosed into an award winner.

In fact, the subject matter, setting and the theme of the story appealed to the judges who constituted an award panel for Bayelsa State chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).

Centred around the oil curse of the Niger Delta and illustrated vividly by pipeline rupture, environmental pollution, gas flaring, sheer neglect by the government and murder of an environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, the story was sure to capture the interests of ANA judges.

Ukwa, in his story, attempted to illustrate the dramatic irony that accompanied the execution of Saro-Wiwa by the despotic ruler, late Gen. Sani Abacha. In his True Independence, set in Ikara, an imaginary community in the Niger Delta region, Abacha created Bayelsa State from the old Rivers State, a day after the activist was executed. It was indeed a good illustration of irony of a situation.

Ukwa, who hails from Idumu-ogo in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, vividly narrated the story employing simple diction that won the hearts of the judges. So, he won the short story award in the adult category. His work was published in the Mariner, a monthly journal of the state ANA.

He said: “There is a decent hope for Nigeria as Nigeria has her own equivalence of good and promising youths. For every bad guy, there is another intelligent chap waiting on the wind of happening, someday, somehow, anyhow.

“ If for anything the award has good things to say of the quality of teaching and scholarship going on in the young institution NDU and of the young creative writer who is coming in no time to take the stage and bring hope and succuor to his famished generation and nation; especially now that our youths are drifting: no aim, no purpose, no pursuit”.

In the spirits of his story’s title, he queried: “Can Nigeria in her one hundred years existence and less than a couple of weeks to her fifty four years independence as a nation beat her chest with her present challenges and proclaim True Independence?”

Ukwa described the award with a cash reward of N20,000 as a huge encouragement to him. He said he had prepared other stories for his readers. “It is a kind of encouragement to me. This is my first entry for a prize and l got it. It is a huge encouragement. I have other stories coming up. I have prepared a story similar to this which l entitled Rivers People. It will be produced very soon”, he said.

Throwing more light on the story, he said it depicted the happenings in the Niger Delta region especially issues of resource control, oil spillage and compensation.

“The message is that Bayelsa State was created the year after Saro-Wiwa was executed. Bayelsa was created in 1996 while he was executed in 1995. It was the same administration of Abacha which executed Saro-Wiwa that created the state. I wonder if it was compensation.

“The people of the Niger Delta have suffered so much from the activities of the oil companies. In most communities, we have oil spillage, destruction of aquatic lives and the story dramatized an oil spillage that killed many people”, he added.

Also, the state Chairman of ANA, Mr. Emmanuel Frank-Opigo, congratulated Ukwa on his award. He spoke at the monthly reading of ANA members which was held at the Prof. Azaiki Library and Museum recently in Yenagoa.

“Ukwa was one of the six winners in the competition organised by the state ANA and he won the prose prize. His works was very good and published in our magazine.

August 1, 2014
Tears,anger as govt demolishes popular Yenagoa relaxation centre

A Bayelsa government agency renders over 100 jobless demolishing a popular Yenegoa joint in an exercise meant “to rid the state of illegal structures”, reports MIKE ODIEGWU

Sickedness and insensitivity. These were the words used by passers-by and fun-seekers to describe the action of the Bayelsa State Capital City Development Authority (CCDA) against Bolex, a popular relaxation joint in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

Residents were angry that the CCDA chose no other day but Thursday, a day business experts, tourists and politicians from Nigeria and around the world gathered in Yenagoa for the first Investment and Economic Forum organised by Governor Seriake Dickson to demolish Bolex.

While the governor was dissipating his energy highlighting business potentials in Bayelsa to woo foreign and local investors, officials of CCDA led by the authority’s Executive Secretary, Mr. Idaba Eje, moved into the premises of Bolex, believed by many fun seekers to be a success story in local investment, with a bulldozer.

Officials of CCDA heavily protected by a truckload of armed policemen invaded Bolex, put their bulldozer to work and pulverized facilities in the bar. There was panic among customers who trooped to the bar for relaxation and to wash their vehicles.

Bolex is a known brand and a household name located on the Isaac Adaka Boro expressway Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. It has existed in the area for about six years even before a gigantic hotel believed to be owned by Dame Patience, the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan rose close to it. It has a business mix of a car wash, open bar and a night club.

In fact, many residents believe that Bolex is synonymous to nightlife in Yenagoa. But the bubbling Bolex, a business venture that has employed over 150 people, came under attack by officials of the CCDA.

In dexterity, the CCDA officials destroyed over six fanciful car ports, perimeter fences, chairs, erected concretised pavements, riser beams and other equipment used for car wash. Nothing was spared, not even the electrical wiring and plumbing line.

When Niger Delta Report visited the scene, Bolex was a shadow of itself. The Manager, Mr. Preye Boligha, was devastated. He was simply ruminating on the reason behind the action of CCDA.

“We really do not understand the reason behind this destruction. Bolex is genuine business. We wash cars, run a snacks bar, club and night bars. This is a business that has given employment to about 150 jobless people, especially youths.

“What could we have done wrong?” Boligha kept pondering. “We don’t have a problem with the government. No part of our premises was marked for demolition and no prior notice of the destruction was given to us. We are not owing the government because we pay all our dues and taxes to the government,” he said.

The Director and Founder of Bolex, Amos Boligha, was also dumbfounded. He said he lost over N6million to the destruction. The demoralised Boligha wondered why the CCDA came to destroy a business he suffered very hard to build.

“I was not around when it happened. I was at the airport when I got information that members of CCDA were here with their bulldozer to come and demolish the car wash. This is the business I have been operating for the past six years here.

“The business is out of the right of way. We have been operating here and we have not got notification from anybody. Nobody has written us to inform us about illegal structures. If the CCDA has any issue with any part of our premises, they should have at least given us a notice,” he said.

In fact, the founder of Bolex was not alone in his request for an explanation. Employees and beneficiaries of the Bolex business were confused and stranded. They wondered why the government was interested in their job, their only source of livelihood.

“When we go to the government for jobs, they close their door behind us and tell us there is no job. But Bolex has given us jobs and the same government has come to take them away. Bolex doesn’t owe us.

“There is no worker here that earns below N30,000 monthly. This is where I have been making a living and taking care of my wife and five children,” one of the workers lamented.

Also, Mr. Ziki Charles, who hails from Nembe Local Government Area and works as a security man at Bolex said the business made him what he was. “Bolex has made me who l am today. I am surprised at what the CCDA did today,” he said.

Ahmed Ismaila, who washes vehicles at Bolex to make a living said the business gave him the money and opportunities to begin and finish his Ordinary National Degree (OND) programme.

“I have worked here for five years. I finished my OND while working here and I want to go for my HND. This man has helped many people in Yenagoa. I feel pained. It was like a dream”, he said.

But, Eje, while defending the action of the CCDA on a local radio station, said it was carried out to rid the state of illegal structures.

July 25, 2014
Worry over Cross River’s untapped goldmines

Cross River State is endowed with so many solid minerals scattered across its 18 local government areas. But, no thanks to the law, little is being tapped, writes NICHOLAS KALU

It is the proverbial land flowing with milk and honey. At the last count, there are 28 solid minerals in parts of the state. But, unfortunately, Cross River has not felt the impact of these minerals on its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

The minerals include gold, uranium, iron ore, tin ore, manganese, titanium, limestone, salt, coal, muscovite, kaoline, crude oil, lead zinc and feldspar.

Others are quartz, barite, diamond, graphite, pyrite, talc schist, rutile, tourmaline, amethyst, spring water, granite, bentonite, clay and iron ore (hermatite).

Of all of these, the only ones exploited are limestone, which is found in Akampka, Odukpnai, Ikom, Obubra, Ogoja and Biase; granite found in Akamkpa, Boki, Obudu, Obubra, Yala and Obanliku; barite found in Yala, Biase, Ikom, Obubra, Yakurr and Obanliku; and sand/gravel, which is all over the state.

Mining of limestone and granite is concentrated in Akamkpa. Bsarite, which is seasonal depending on the rains, is mainly exploited in Obubra.

At the moment, there is only one limestone company, the United Cement Company of Nigeria (UNICEM) in Mfamosing community in Akamkpa which mines the limestone for cement which it sells to customers mainly in the south-south and south east regions of the country.

Also there are 41 granite companies with quarries, especially in Akamkpa, and 22 sand/gravel mining associations.

Information for barite miners could not be ascertained as they just come and go whenever the season favours them.

It was gathered that except for UNICEM, the operations of these other miners are not in the interest of the host communities and the state government.

Governor Liyel Imoke, in an interaction with reporters, said: “If you see what is happening in Akamkpa at the quarry site. You need to go there and see the ecological havoc that quarrying is causing and what is the benefit of quarrying to the people? Nothing. We don’t know what the exercise is causing. That is a major issue, but you know quarries, when they finish quarrying, they just move to the next site, create valleys, create environmental disaster areas, pollution. Nothing is done. When I write and say address this problem, the Federal Ministry will say it is on the exclusive list, that I have no business addressing environmental problems.

“We have barite, but we have no capacity as a state because the power does not belong to us to even determine the quantity. So, when I listen to people say there is so much barite in Cross River State, I just say, nobody has determined the reserves and private sector will not come unless they know the reserves. And whose responsibility is it to determine those reserves? The Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals which is the owner since it is on the exclusive list. So, you find that there can hardly be serious investment in solid minerals in Nigeria, not just in Cross River State.

“You have countries in East Africa making a fortune from tin and copper. For us as a state we have always insisted that solid minerals be taken of the exclusive list. The reason I argue this is that they are in every state. There is no state in Nigeria that doesn’t have one solid mineral or the other. So, if we are given the opportunity to determine the reserves and determine the quantities and to invite private sector to make those investments, then we can see another sector of the economy develop. But, until that happens, as far as solid minerals remains in the exclusive list and we are a major oil producing country, we will focus on oil production to their detriment. For us as a state, we have been canvassing a strong argument for solid minerals to be taken off the exclusive list.

“States that exploit solid minerals it can now pay royalties to the Federal Government. That way there will be a veritable source for employment for our people. There will be income and revenue for the people and state from the investors coming in to exploit. Today, anybody that goes to mine limestone does not even pass through any office in Cross River State, not even the Ministry of Lands. They just have to get to Abuja and get a licence. We don’t know what the quarry companies pay to the Ministry of Solid Minerals, we don’t know what they pay to the Federal Government. Anybody exploiting all kinds of minerals and have gotten an approval from Abuja, while we suffer the environmental degradation, and every other degradation that goes with it, we carry it.

“Some people have always asked why I say the Federal Government should take crude oil and leave solid minerals. And I say crude oil is in only eight or nine states of the federation, whereas solid minerals are available in all the 36 states. So, you can’t treat the two the same and if you treated the two the same, then there will be no Ministry of Solid Minerals. We would just have the Ministry Petroleum and Solid Minerals as one. But because we recognise the difference, we have different ministries. It means there is something different about solid minerals from crude. So, to my mind, it is something that can bring rapid growth and development if we can take it off the exclusive list. It will really create opportunities for us and our people across the country. The economies of the place where you have the solid minerals will just blossom but I have never understood the argument as to why it should be on the exclusive list.”

A representative of UNICEM said, although they have a licence from the Federal Government, it still has to work with the realities of the environment they find themselves.

He said: “We have had a cordial relationship with our communities. For any areas we want to start exploration, the ministry of lands and housing go in there do assessment and we pay the appropriate compensations before we even go in there for our activities.

“Besides the fact that we get licences from the Federal Government, for every activity we carry out there is what we call Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which we do and is approved by the federal and state ministries of environment and then after that a review bring all stakeholders together to see impact of what we are going to do and address them. It becomes a basis for monitoring for ministries from time. So, if you are not following the recommendations given to you then you are violating. We don’t want to pose a threat through our actions to the communities or animals within that environment.”

Due to how lucrative business is, the cement company, which is Nigeria’s third largest cement manufacturer, is investing N84 billion in an additional 2.5million metric tons cement line to double its capacity to 5 million metric tons.

Its Managing Director, Mr Olivier Lenoir, said work on the project has started and it is expected to be completed in 2016.

Most of the granite quarrying companies visited would not volunteer any information about their operations, but it was learnt they are doing well for themselves. The granite quarrying companies, it was learnt, have a strong market base in the Southsouth and Southeast .

Barite miners, though inconsistent, sell mostly to oil companies.

Director of Operations in the Department of Mineral Resources in Cross River State, Dr Gabe Akpeke, said although most of these companies have licences to operate in the state legally.

“Mining has been going on in this state for as long as I can remember. As it is, we cannot even question any of them. They say mining is on the exclusive list. It is unfair that somebody is in Abuja giving a licence all the way to this place and harvest and go and even the governor of the state has no hands there.

“There was a case that came from the forestry commission complaining that quarries are inside the Forest reserves, not only devastating the trees, but also scaring endangered species. Some of them are too close to houses because when they blast it is so strong and some buildings you see them cracking.

“Take, for instance, the way they mine barite in Nyametit in Obubra. They use pick and shovel method. When they dig to about 10 metres deep, they abandon it and that mineral is wasted forever.

“We have cases of effluent discharges and pollutions. Some of them are abandoned mines and they create situations that make it dangerous to both the humans, plants and animals.”

At Nyamoynong in Obubra, residents complained about the activities of the company that mine barite in the area.

They told this reporter that the excavations, which are mostly abandoned, pose challenges to them and their livestock.

A resident of the community, Richard Owan, said: “when they dig hold like this and abandon them, you realise that when it gets filled up with water, most of our animals and even unsuspecting persons come to get the water for various use, not know the water has been contaminated by the minerals they were digging for and other chemicals too.”

July 25, 2014
Stalemate in Delta over $16b project

On the beginning, it elicited excitement. It was a piece of good news that got many hopeful of a better tomorrow. Prayers were said for the initiator of what was seen as a marvelous project. But, no thanks to controversies of various hues, the Federal Government’s $16 billion Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in Delta State is no longer good news. It has generated bad blood, bred hatred and made many fear blood-letting.

The EPZ project shares home with the multibillion dollar Escravos Gas to Liquid project of Chevron Nigeria Limited. Analysts are concerned about the fate of the project. On one hand, they wonder if the project will ever be allowed to take off; on the other, they wonder if it will be allowed to function optimally and achieve its objectives.

The project was not unconnected with a communal strife among the Itsekiri of the Ugborodo communities, which left several people killed or injured and properties worth millions of naira destroyed. Then the issue was who was going to represent host communities’ interests. This gave rise to two Itsekiri factions, which received funding from wealthy interested parties for arms and ammunition. The story of that bitter experience lasted several blistering months and the marks of the experience are still wounds, not scarred yet; a heavy cloud of seething resentment and distrust in Ugborodo.

There is, however, a more ugly scenario gathering storm over and around the project, which if not well handled and properly dispelled, might consume more than just the multibillion dollar project, but might topple the delicate balance on which the Warri is based. Just as the dust created by the Ugborodo communities’ strife were settling, stakeholders of the Ijaw communities in Warri Southwest started expressing displeasure over the handling of the project.

The nature of the relationship between the two ethnic groups, Ijaw and Itsekiri, is well known; they are neighbours in more than one local government area of the state. They share a lot in common, but again, they have been involved in a long-drawn strife, which claimed several lives and destroyed multimillion naira properties. The nature of their relationship has left most of the places where they cohabit to remain the all-time read spots of Delta State, where an unprovoked fight can easily break out.

The Ijaw said the handlers of the project have skewed the process in favour of their Itsekiri neighbours. During the week, representatives of communities in Gbaramatu-Ijaw kingdom, led by Chief Godspower Gbenekama, the Benemowei of the kingdom, re-echoed the position of the Ijaw groups in Warri Southwest Council Area. The stakeholders, who addressed a news conference in Warri, alleged deliberate exclusion of the Ijaw in the preparation and near take-off of the project.

Gbenekama said outstanding issues must be resolved before the take-off. Their number one case against the project is the appellation tagged on it; ‘EPZ Ogidigben’. Ogidigben is an Itsekiri community in Ugborodo and is one of the many communities providing the large expanse for the EPZ. Ijaw people’s problem with this name is that it presupposes that the project ‘belongs’ to the Itsekiri.

According to the representatives of Gbaramatu kingdom, including Mr. Godwin Akori, Hon Mathew Diofelo, Mr. Williams Tortor, Dr. Clement Tonfawei, Odudu Edward, Lucky Bebenimibo, Edwin Ayetonghan, Tangbe Andrew and Orubu Emmanuel, this development is both dubious and dangerous. They said it was a similar issue that gave rise to the bitter Ijaw/Itsekiri war of the past. They added that it is dubious because the Ijaw are contributing more of the land being used.

The people, who accused the Delta State government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of playing games capable of reigniting the bitter Ijaw/Itsekiri strife of 1997 to 2004, demanded that the state government must set up two more interface committees for both Gbaramatu and Ogulagha kingdoms, for the sake of equity and peace. According to the group, more than ten communities of Gbaramatu Kingdom would be losing land to the project.

They said: “It is pertinent to state that the site for the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) is spread across lands and communities belonging to both the Ijaw of Gbaramatu and Ogulagha kingdoms and the Itsekiri of Ugborodo community. In fact, one can safely say that about 70 per cent of the land belongs to the Ijaws, contrary to the impression being bandied about by the Itsekiri and the Delta State government, under Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, who is an Itsekiri man.

“While the purpose of this news conference is not to take up the case of the Ogulagha Ijaw, we state without fear of contradiction that the bulk of the land is provided by the Ijaw and over ten Gbaramatu Ijaw communities namely; Ikpokpo, Atanba, Opuede, Opuede Bubor, Tebijor/Okpelama, Okerenkokogbene, Gan-ama, Oporoza community land, New Jerusalem, Joula and several others are hosts to the project

“The people of Ikpokpo community, which is the site for the proposed seaport and entry port to the proposed EPZ project, will suffer the most because its entire land will be swallowed up by the project. What this means is that Ikpokpo will cease to exist. The people will become homeless and strangers in other communities, while only the bushes and the peripheries of Ugborodo communities of Madangho, Ajudaibo and Ogidigben, which the project is now named after, will be affected.”

The Itsekiri, on the other hand, have long buttressed their ownership of a large portion of the land, citing several landmark court judgments and documents. An Itsekiri group, Warri Study Group, in an advertorial in a national daily of June 13, further highlighted this. The group described the Ijaw as their customary tenants.

Gbenekama debunked the claim, saying: “Most of these cases referred to by the Warri Study Group are still being litigated upon while a number of them have been remitted back to the appellate court for trial to commence de novo. One of the court cases is presently before the Court of Appeal in Benin Division.

“If the Gbaramatu Kingdom is their tenants, how much tenement rate have they paid to the Itsekiri of Ugborodo or any other Itsekiri community for that matter? If we are their neighbours, where do these neighbours live? The Ijaw of Gbaramatu are tenants to nobody. These assertions are very provocative and enough to cause a breach of the pace we currently enjoy in the area.”

Gbenekama said while the Ijaw are not claiming sole ownership of the lands for the EPZ, they want their due to be given them.

“The name of the project must be changed from EPZ Ogidigben to another name that reflects the joint ownership of the Ijaw and Itsekiri in the project. We align with GIBABU, as suggestion by the Gbaramatu Traditional Council of Chiefs. We totally reject the present name because of past experiences and antics of the Itsekiri of Ugborodo in bastardising our communities’ name.

“We demand that two interface committees be set up for the Ijaw of Gbaramatu and those of Ogulagha respectively. We have a 23-man committee in place to negotiate Gbaramatu interest in the EPZ project. The committee’s list and names of members have since been submitted to the Delta State government and the NNPC.

“In the interest of peace and unhindered operation in the area, the NNPC should immediately open up channel of discussion with the various Ijaw groups, especially the host communities of Gbramatu kingdom. If the NNPC has its own secret agenda to sideline the Ijaw and Gbaramatu people in particular, they should be aware that we are prepared and they will not have an easy ride.

“NNPC should change the name as suggested above and have an MOU with the communities of Gbaramatu Kingdom before groundbreaking ceremony of the project.

“We also demand that Julius Berger Nigeria Limited, henceforth, stop its wicked divide-and-rule antics in the EPZ project and carry the Ijaw along in whatever they are doing. We have written several letters to them on our position and have so far refused to open a channel for discussion. Enough is enough,” they said.

He added: “How can the place take off without our demands being met? I am telling you that my grandfather’s grave will be no more. He was buried in Ikpokpo, the seaport into the EPZ, a community which has lost its entire land to this project and they didn’t deem it worthy of being immortalised by naming the project after it. Ikpokpo is the entry port into the project. How can it takeoff? It’s not possible. It’s possible for them not to listen to our demands, it’s not possible.”

Dates had been set in the past for President Goodluck Jonathan to perform the groundbreaking ceremony, but it had been shelved because of these disagreements. And the way things are, it does not look that the issues can be sorted out anytime soon. So, the stalemate stays.

July 25, 2014
Traders jubilate as govt removes abandoned truck

It was jubilation galore at the Imgbi junction of Amarata Road, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on Saturday. A day earlier, Niger Delta Report had published a commentary on traders’ anger over an abandoned truck. The government took the cue and removed the truck, which was abandoned for over two months after ramming into their business premises.

They were also grateful to Niger Delta Report for relentlessly calling on the state government to remove the truck. Beaming with smiles, the traders watched as officials of the state government pulled out the wreckage of the truck.

The articulated vehicle was dangerously suspended on pavements threatening to collapse on them and their shops.

The truck marked XA 419 KTD was involved in a lone accident on May 21. It was gathered that the Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Inuro Wills, ordered the removal of the abandoned truck.

Shortly after pulling out the truck, Wills called this reporter to commend the Niger Delta Report for bringing the matter to his attention.

“I had earlier directed that this truck should be removed. I didn’t know that it was still there until I read it in The Nation on Friday. We have now removed it. Thank you for the report,” he said.

Marshals of the Federal Road Safety Corps monitored the removal which temporarily obstructed traffic along the busy Amarata Road. They diverted traffic to one side of the dual carriage road. An earth-moving equipment belonging to the construction giant, Juilus Berger, was used to pull out the abandoned truck.

July 25, 2014
Construction giant protects Akwa Ibom kids against malaria

AS parts of its Corporate Social Responsibility, Julius Berger Plc has donated over 3,000 insecticide-treated bed nets to school children in a bid to fight and win the war against malaria.

The donation was done at St. Saviour Afrian Church School, Uruk Uso, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, where each pupil smiled home with one insecticide treated bed net and a pamphlet on how to use it to prevent mosquito bite and malaria.

Over 1,000 pupils received it while pregnant women and children received one each of the nets at Primary Health Centre, West Itam, Itu local government area and Primary Health Care Centre, Wellington Bassey Way, Uyo.

Addressing teachers and pupils at St. Saviour African Church Primary

School, Uruk Uso, Ikot Ekpene, the Public Affairs Manager of Julius

Berger, Clement Iloba, who led the CSR team of the company, said the audience that apart from building roads, bridges and other infrastructure for the development of Akwa Ibom, Julius Berger is also interested in helping to secure the health of the people.

Iloba said this was why the company decided to donate insecticide treated bed nets to pregnant women and chidlren to protect them from malaria related deaths.

Explaining that malaria kills many children before they reach five years, attacks pregnant women and other individuals, Iloba, however, said with the proper use of the insecticide treated bed nets Mosquito bite could be prevented and lives preserved.

Revealing that Nigeria has a prevalence of malaria leading to 25 per cent childhood mortality rate and 11 per cent maternal mortality,

Iloba said the company’s intervention through insecticide treated bed nets is to bring down this alarmingfigures and give children the opportunity to grow up and contribute to development.

Demonstrating the use of the net, the Public Affairs Manager said it should be hung over a bed, tightly fited to prevent access to mosquito noting that five persons could sleep under one of the nets, which has a life span of five years.

He said since the company started the malaria prevention campaign,

8000 nets have been distributed to pregnant and nursing women and students in local schools.

The CSR team also visited West Itam Secodnary School, to donate fifty footballs as part of its contributions to sports development. Receiving the items on behalf of the school, the principal, Dr. Patrick Edem, thanked the company, saying that it has proved to be a responsible corporate citizen in Akwa Ibom State.

July 25, 2014
Mr Will’s metamorphosis

Something hit him. Something uncommon. Something out of the ordinary. Until that day, it had never happened that he would fall asleep in his office while sitting on a swivel chair. Was he tired? No. The night before, he did not do anything tiring and since the day broke, he had not done anything serious.

He had a dream during the sleep. In the dream, he saw some people in all white attires. There was another group in all black dresses. There was a huge barricade separating them all. And in between the barricade was a security guard who was preventing the people in black from escaping to the zone of those in white. Those in white were in comfort. The weather was fantastic. Life, in short, was good and beautiful. And just a barricade away the people in black were going through hell. So, they were doing all possible to cross to the section occupied by those in white.

Mr Will soon found himself discussing with the security man, who was trying to prevent him from entering either side of the divide. His reason for preventing him was that he was not qualified to enter either side. As he was struggling to get in, the security man thundered:”Go back to the world. Correct all the bad things you have done. That way, when it is time for you to come here, you will be able to stay with the people in white. If you return here without amending your ways, there are no two ways around it, you will be with the people in black. Going by what the Almighty has allowed me to see, you still have another 41 years on earth. Go back and live in accordance with His rules. Don’t play God.”

It was at this point that he woke up, sweating and wondering what hit him. In a rush, all the things he had done of recent started coming to him. Only seven days ago he predicted death for people trying to get power through the back-door. His statement that all those who betrayed him would not get the key to Power House also came to his memory. He also remembered that two months ago, he fired some high-ranking members of his government. Their sin: failure to be part of his plan to anoint a successor.

He was soon clutching his phone to dial Main Man’s number. As he wrestled with the phone, his eyes met with the photo frame of hand power fist on the sparkling white wall. The frame was a gift from an old friend, who was an activist in his lifetime. Putting it here was his way of keeping his memory alive. The friend was a true democrat, who would not support anything dictatorial.

“See me immediately,” he said to Main Man.

Few minutes later, Main Man was with Mr Will.

“Good morning, Your Excellency!” Main Man said.

“Good morning,” Mr Will said. “How is the campaign going?”

Main Man looked at him smiling.

“The campaign is going on well. Thank you, Your Excellency. What you did during the sod turning ceremony really did it. It has put fear in them. Who wants to die? They are running helter-skelter now. I am sure they will allow us have our way now. Stupid people. They were daring His Excellency. They seem not to realise that as far as this Abasi State is concerned, you are God and it is His will that you install me as your successor.”

“Okay. I want you to do something for me. I want a shortlist of people who want to succeed me on the platform of our great Umbrella Peoples Party (UPP). I want it on my table tomorrow,” Mr Will said.

He added: “Make sure you leave out nobody even the pretenders.”

As the Main Man left, the scene at the sod turning ceremony for the secretariat of the UPP replayed on his mind’s frame.

His voice boomed: “This party of ours is not where anybody can just come and dictate how we do things. Anyone who wants to take power through the back-door will die. Those who betray me will never get to Power House. They will die if they try to and UPP will continue.”

He felt bad hearing himself speak that way, speaking as though he were God with the power to give life and take it.

His attention was soon diverted by Second-in-Command.

“Good morning, Your Excellency!”

“Good morning.”

He offered him a seat.

“What do you think of the way I am running our party?” Mr Will asked.

There was a surprise on Second-in-Command’s face.

“And give me a sincere answer. No boot-licking. Don’t be afraid of being victimised.”

Second-in-Command could not find his voice for a long time and when he eventually did, all he could mutter was: “Your Excellency, you are not doing badly.”

He smiled and said: “That will be all for now.”

Mr Will grabbed his gold-plated android and called Main Man.

“I don’t think I have the patience to wait till tomorrow. Meet me at the party’s secretariat in 30 minutes,” Mr Will said.

He put a call through to the party chairman and asked him to call other Exco members.

He was thereafter driven to the secretariat. He insisted no siren must be used. Only one patrol vehicle led the way.

The chairman, Main Man and Exco members were waiting when he got there. Straight they went to the conference hall.

“My brothers, I am sure you are all confused. There is no need to be. I have come here to tell you all that our party is going to organise free and fair primaries to choose our party’s governorship torch-bearer. I am not going to force anybody on the party or on the people. Let the best man have the job.”

Main Man wanted to voice an objection, but he cut him short: “I will not be party to imposition. If imposition had worked in 2007, I will not be governor today.”

He bade them farewell. He thereafter paid personal visits to everybody he had offended either on account of Mr Main Man or any other matter. He asked for their forgiveness. And he vowed that for the rest of his second term and life, he would live right. He simply carried on as though this life mattered not— working to find a space among the people in white. It was, indeed, an uncommon transformation.

July 25, 2014
NPDC’s questionable hide-and-seek

If threats are anything to go by, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) may soon have to close shops. The fate of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Ogoniland may befall it. For some time now, it has run into turbulent waters with many of its host communities in Delta State. Protests now characterise the company’s daily dealings with many of its host communities. Things have, indeed, fallen apart and the centre will soon give way.

NPDC, which operates most of the divested oil facilities of the SPDC, is the oil prospecting and exploitation arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).

Of recent, not less than three communities in different parts of the state demanded the company’s exit over alleged agreement breaches. The people of Otu-Jeremi community, Ughelli South Local Government Area last week threatened to shut down the company’s facilities if its management failed to repair a pipeline, which has been leaking gas into the community. They claim many residents have fled to avert sicknesses.

The Otu-Jeremi issue was occasioned by an integrity test on the Abura line from the Utorogun Flow station. The leak has negatively impacted the environment in Iwhrekan, Iyara, Okpare and Agbowhiame, Otu-Jeremi’s neighbours, forcing many residents to seek refuge in safer places.

The company is also in trouble in Opuama (Ikpotogbene) community, Warri North. Tuesday last week, it demanded that the company halt its operations in their area, citing the company’s failure to follow due process. Addressing reporters in Sapele, members of the community, under the aegis of the Concerned Oloduwa Descendants (COD), alleged that the company entered their “native-land and commenced clearing as well as dredging work without conducting the necessary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)”.

They also said the company failed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with them. The community’s list of grouses, which was titled “Our Demand”, was signed by Mr French O. Ukuto, Chief Samuel Peggy, Chief Stephen Ukulor, Elisha Ukuto, Mrs Alero Ugedi, Ati Reach, Mrs Evelyn Ukulor, DSP (retired) Abel Sule, Ebipade Elisha and Damage-Clark Aboh.

A neighbouring community to Opuama, Polobubo (Tsekelewu) earlier gave a six-day ultimatum to the company to either enter into what it called a “proper agreement” on how to use its land or wind up its activities. It threatened to deal with it if it did not heed their words.

The company has dodged this reporter’s attempts to respond to the allegations against. All official channels explored were frustrated. When this reporter called its Manager (External Relations Department), Ugo Atugbokoh, on phone, he said he was in a meeting and promised to get back. He never did. A repeat call to Atugbokoh was unanswered. He also did not respond to a message sent to persuade him to respond to the growing opposition to his company’s interest in the state.

The way things are: the company is dodging its hosts and the media, raising the poser: what does it have to hide? Issues, such as the ones raised against it by the host communities, should be addressed. When gas leaks into the atmosphere, like the communities allege, it has dire consequence on the ozone layer and the people’s health. These are things that should not be toyed with. And dodging press enquiries also give the impression that the company has something to hide. Atugbokoh has done the company a disservice by shunning enquiries.

July 25, 2014