The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide has called on all politicians involved in the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa State, saying the council would not tolerate any form of bloodshed before, during and after the poll.
Rising from its executive council meeting on September 18, the IYC also appealed to the federal and state governments to prioritise lasting solutions to floods in the Niger Delta region.
The council in a communique it issued after the meeting said political actors and gladiators must shun any act that could escalate tension in Bayelsa during the forthcoming poll.
The IYC in the communique signed by its President, Dr. Alayi Theophilus, asked politicians to shun hate speeches and focus on selling their manifestoes to the people.
The IYC said: “It is our firm belief that the lives and safety of Ijaw citizens should always supersede political considerations and electoral processes. We shall hold politicians responsible if any Ijaw life is lost during and after the election.
“The IYC shall not fold its arms to see that the existing peace we enjoy in the state is damaged. We advise all politicians to shun hate speeches and focus on telling us their manifestos. Our lives are worth more than any political ambition.”
While commending the Federal Government and other organisations for their support for flood victims in the region, IYC said to permanently address the problem, there must be construction of critical drainage systems and dredging of flood-prone communities of the region.
He said: “Recognising the recurring nature of these disasters, we urgently call upon both federal and state governments to prioritize and implement enduring solutions. This includes the construction of various drainage systems to the tributaries that will offload the water to the sea and initiating comprehensive coastline dredging.
“The Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government must make our abandoned dam in Adamawa functional and create additional three dams within the flood channels to cushion the effect of flood in subsequent years. These dams when completed and made functional, will not just serve as water reservoir but also as a source of hydropower that will add to the national grid.
“Ijaw people are yet to recover from the trauma caused by the last year flooding. Goods worth billions of naira were destroyed and strange diseases are being experienced till date. The palliative can never be compared to the disaster we are experiencing.”
The IYC accused the Delta State government of marginalizing Ijaw communities in the state in its recent award of N78bn contracts.
The council said: “While we acknowledge and commend the Delta State Governor for his efforts in awarding a significant N78bn contract, we find it disheartening to observe the marginalization of the Ijaw territories. Projects like the Ayakoromo bridge which is barely N6bn to completion is begging for attention.
“The Ojobo road is abandoned. It is therefore unjust to exclude Ijaw territories in the N78bn contract awarded by the Delta State Government. The IYC calls on the Delt Government to review his move to include Ijaw communities. We assert that the interests of all communities must be earnestly considered in development initiatives.”
The council further condemned all forms of police brutality within the Niger Delta region particularly recent incidents in Delta State and Rivers State and demanded justice for victims.
The IYC warned against external interference in the surveillance activities of the Federal Government and NNPC insisting that Tompolo had demonstrated effectiveness in handling contracts awarded to his company.
Some chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa, including the party’s Youth Leader, Nunieh Odede, have dumped the party.
Odede and others switched allegiance from Gov. Douye Diri to the Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva, ahead of the November 11 poll in the state.
In a handwritten letter sighted on Monday in Yenagoa, Odede announced his resignation from PDP while other principal aides of the governor also resigned their positions to campaign for Sylva.
A statement signed on Monday by Sylva’s Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Julius Bokoru, confirmed that Odede held a meeting with the APC governorship hopeful.
Bokoru quoted Odede as saying at the meeting: “We have spent years with the PDP and we built the party to where it is.
“It is imperative we move on now in the light of what is happening in the state.
“Bayelsa is in comatose and we cannot keep doing the old things and expect to get it right.
“Our resignation from PDP, honestly, is to save our dear state from further ruins.”
The statement also quoted Sylva to have commended the courage of Odede and other defectors, who chose the progress and development of the state over selfish gains.
According to the statement, Sylva said: “Youths are always the driving force of every society, youths also embody and give a trajectory of what the future would look like.
“Your decisions today is heroic and selfless.
“You have placed state over self and beyond even the elections.
“You instil in us all that Bayelsa state is bound to do well”.
The statement listed those who defected from PDP to APC to include the Director, Bayelsa State Evironmental Authority, Abiah Oyisor, the Governor’s Representative, Yenegoa Local Government Area, Ayaye Obuma.
The other aides to the governor were Itu Goodluck, Timipa Ile and Olali.
Bokoru also stated that the defectors would be formally received with thousands of their supporters at a formal endorsement ceremony.
He added that the defection further dimished Diri’s chances of winning Yenagoa, the capital city, especially the Epie/Atissa kingdoms, where he claimed that Sylva was making significant inroad.
The statement also confirmed that the APC Deputy Governorship Candidate, Joshua Maciver, recently received thousands of defectors from Sagbama LGA and the home of Diri’s Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo. (NAN)
The immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has accused Bayelsa state governor, Douye Diri of recruiting spies to monitor his movements.
Sylva, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11 governorship election in the state, made the accusation in a statement on Sunday, September 17, through his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Julius Bokoru.
He claimed that credible intelligence available to him indicated that the spies operating across the state, especially the Bayelsa International Cargo Airport were asked to document and report his movements in the state to some off-grid security architecture in Bayelsa.
The former governor said the spy activities were being coordinated by a close security aide to Governor Diri with the aim of compromising his convoy.
He called on security agencies and members of the public to take note of Diri’s strategy of violence against him and the people of Bayelsa with special focus on Opu-Nembe.
He said any serving governor hoping for reelection adopts the strategy of commissioning and inaugurating projects to convince the people but that Diri had resorted to desperation, violence and underhand practices following his failure in office.
The statement said: “Credible reports available to H.E Chief Timipre Sylva, governorship candidate of the APC in Bayelsa State suggests that Governor Douye Diri has commissioned spies across the state, especially at the Bayelsa International Cargo Airport, to document and report Chief Sylva’s movements in Bayelsa and environs to some off-grid security architecture in the state.
“This desperate, illegitimate security operation is headed by a close security aide to Governor Diri and the end game, as is known, is to compromise the convoy and security of Chief Sylva.
“This is to alert the general public, especially the security agencies across the nation, to take note of Diri’s strategy of violence against Sylva and the Bayelsa people with special focus being Opu-Nembe.
“A serving Governor’s chief campaign strategy, naturally, is to reel out achievements and milestones, not investing in an orgy of violence. Diri should be commissioning projects, not commissioning spies.
“Sylva’s push to Creek Haven is an act of liberation and Bayelsans are massively aligned. The change is soon, the change is inevitable and the soul of Bayelsa state will be salvaged from the jaws of characters whose futile way of masking their inefficiency is violence.”
But in a swift reaction to the accusation, Governor Douye Diri said Sylva was only crying wolf where none existed, contending that Sylva was the one planning what he was accusing him of.
The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, said Sylva is a drowning man seeking claws to hang on to or trying to make excuses for his failed governorship project.
He reiterated that Sylva’s rejection by his party chieftains, his Nembe/Brass people and indeed the Bayelsa electorate is total.
The statement read: “Governor Douye Diri is a well-known pacifist and an advocate of politics without bitterness. He has said he won’t spill blood to get re-elected into office.
“It is on record that for the first time in the history of elections in Bayelsa State, the February/March general election in the country was so peaceful in the state that there were no reported cases of bloodshed and killings unlike in the past. This was due to the governor’s peaceful disposition that has permeated the politics of the state.
“So, Chief Sylva is only crying wolf where there is none. Going by his antecedents, we believe he is the one planning what he is accusing the governor of. But it is better to ignore the rantings of a drowning man seeking claws to hang on to or trying to make excuses for his failed governorship project.
*His rejection by his party chieftains, his Nembe/Brass people and indeed the Bayelsa electorate is total.”
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, the Ohanaze Ndigbo, Bayelsa State chapter, has endorsed Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri for a second term in office.
The group gave the endorsement after engaging in a solidarity march to rally support for Diri and his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, ahead of the November 11, 2023 governorship election in the state.
The Ohanaeze leadership said though the group is apolitical, the Igbos in Bayelsa had resolved to work with the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his running mate in the forthcoming poll due to their track record of achievements since assumption of office almost four years ago.
Speaking with reporters yesterday shortly after their meeting and solidarity march, the National Financial Secretary, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing (Worldwide), Hon. Chinedu Arthur-Ugwa, said the unity of the Igbo in the state was paramount.
He noted that though there was leadership crisis which had hitherto rocked the state chapter of the group, the national secretariat of the Ohanaze Ndigbo had waded in and therefore accorded recognition to the Ekwem Remitus-led chapter of the apex Igbo group in the state upon fulfilling the mandatory requirements for registration.
Arthur-Ugwa stated: “As a national Executive of the Ohanaze Ndigbo Youth Wing (Worldwide) and the Southsouth Coordinator of the Ohanaze Ndigbo Youth Wing, I told the leadership of the body here in the state that I would not work with any unregistered group or affiliate body of the Ohanaze Ndigbo until they’re registered with a proof.
“However, while the Mr Onuma Johnson’s led faction of the Ohanaze Ndigbo went about parading itself without registration even after being suspended, the other group led by Mr Ekwem Remitus was able to secure registration from the national secretariat of the Ohanaze Ndigbo, and so I will like to work with them as the authentic Ohanaeze body.
“I have been suing for peace among the Igbo in Bayelsa and other places across the country. I took the matter to the Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, and he had been doing all within his powers to bring lasting peace and unity to the Ohanaze Ndigbo, Bayelsa State Chapter.
“Our unity as an ethnic group is important to us as a people. I have always called on all to work together for a peaceful and united Ohanaze Ndigbo in the state.”
The body also endorsed Barrister Agama Vitus Okonkwo as the Chairman of 2023 Igbo Day celebration in the state, urging all the Igbos in Bayelsa to come out en masse to celebrate the event with pomp.
In his acceptance speech, Okonkwo promised to give the group a befitting Igbo Day celebration, saying the event would be held on the 29th of September, 2023 in the state.
He advised Igbos to be wary of any body or group that came under the guise of Igbo Day celebration to collect levies or demand money from any person of Igbo extraction in the state.
Also, the Chairman, Igbo Traders Association, Bayelsa State Chapter, who also doubles as the Chairman of Phone Village, Yenagoa, Prince Williams Eze, and the Ohanaze Ndigbo Women Wing Coordinator, Gbarain Clan, Mrs Chika Okonkwo, had restated their continued commitment to the unity and progress of the Igbo ethnic nationality in the state.
In their separate responses while fielding questions from newsmen during the meeting of the group, they thanked Hon. Arthur-Ugwa and others for ensuring a peaceful resolution of the lingering crises in the state chapter of the Ohanaze Ndigbo.
They also called on the Onuma Johnson’s faction of the group to toe the path of peaceful coexistence for the Igbo in Bayelsa to speak in one voice and contribute their quota in the development of the chief host state.
They also aligned with the resolution of the leadership of the body in Bayelsa to vote massively for Diri and Ewhrudjakpo during the governorship election in the state.
The pan-Ijaw socio-cultural cum economic group, Ijaw National Congress (INC), has admonished politicians ahead of the governorship election in Bayelsa State that they should remember that election is not war and should play politics according to the rules.
The President, INC, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, gave the advice during the visit of delegation from the British High Commission to the INC at Ijaw House, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, during the week.
He said that instead of the political actors to raise their machetes or pull the triggers, they should use legal weapons such as the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and vote wisely to guarantee a good future for themselves and their children.
He stated that the leadership of the INC had, at several public fora, rigorously appealed to all concerned to shun bitterness and other divisive tendencies, and instead work together in unison in the overall interest of the peace and development of the state.
Okaba, also a Professor of Sociology at the Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, said: “We have developed a ‘Violent Free Election Advocacy message’ which reads thus: “We as Ogbia, Epie, Nembe, Tarakiri, Kolokuma, Egbema, Mein etc. are all one Ijaw family with a common destiny, equal rights and privileges in Bayelsa and Ijaw land.
“We are first and foremost Ijaws and Bayelsans, before anything party i.e. (APC, PDP, Labour Party etc.) Parties will come and go, but Ijaw and Bayelsa shall remain. Do not disrespect, insult or assassinate someone’s character or provoke and sponsor violence before, during and after elections. It is unijawic to destroy in order to survive or progress.”
“Don’t fight or kill anyone for anyone. Remember that those you intend to kill for are not enemies, but friends who are merely pursuing personal interest, differently and momentarily. These leaders shall be friends again as they identify another common interest.
“Therefore, let love lead in the November 11, 2023 elections. The Ijaw National Congress, share in your worries and noble desire for a free, fair, peaceful and credible elections as a veritable means of fostering sustainable peace and development in Bayelsa and Nigeria at large.
“This visit is therefore timely and laudable for it will surely afford all stakeholders the opportunity to interact and cross-fertilize ideas which will be useful in dealing with the current challenges as already spotted in the early warning signals presented by the Opu–Nembe scenario.”
He also said the INC was constrained in the light of recent happenings in the state, to request the British High Commission delegation to lend their voice to the group’s strong plea to the government (at all levels) and the security agencies to stay neutral in the discharge of their assignments before, during and after the forthcoming election in the state.
He said the INC as a responsible and responsive socio–cultural organisation made up of patriotic citizens, the Ijaw, in spite of all the ill-treatment meted to them continually by the hegemonic Nigeria state, they shared in the anxiety of the Commission concerning the present state of the Nigerian nation.
He stated: “The truth remains that Nigeria is getting more polarised with every passing day as the cleavages and the fault-lines of ethnocentrism, sectionalism, parochialism, religious extremism, class differentials and multidimensional poverty and insecurity etc. are pushing the nation to the brink of disintegration.
“The national security is apocalyptic with its structures and operations heavily compromised. This explains the reasons for our earlier call on the present administration to focus more on her internal security challenges, revamping the ailing economy and dealing decisively with issues of unbearable hardship caused by her inability to cushion the effect of the sudden fuel subsidy removal and other policies.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Administration has honestly acknowledged the overwhelming enormity of the nation’s present economic, political and security deficiencies and is in dire need for support from the local and international institutions for proactive, innovative and reformatory strategic measures to deal with its hydra-headed crises of nation building.
“The spate of coup d’états spreading across our international neighborhood calls for urgent steps from friends of Nigeria to help her address some of the maladies to avert impending doom.
“It is sad to note that but for the lethargic disposition of former President Goodluck Jonathan (who was under severe pressure) that informed the non-implementation of the 2014 CONFAB report in which, the issue of restructuring the country became not only a compelling need but was identified as the panacea for addressing the nation’s critical challenges, the prevailing political strangulation, economic woes and social disorder would have been significantly dealt with.
“We must recall that the 2014 CONFAB created an avenue where cheated, disinherited, deprived and the various warring ethnic nationalities disagree to agree to work together to manage their differences and unity in diversity.
“We implore your Commission to leverage the experiences garnered from this CONFAB and provide solutions for urgent national reconciliation and integration.”
Okaba appreciated the British Commission’s immediate concern for a peaceful and credible election in Bayelsa state, reminding the team that the Ijaw people found themselves in the mess (underdeveloped, pauperised, hopeless and hapless etc.) not by their choice.
“We were merely lumped into the Nigeria union by your forefathers without the consent of our forebears who at no time signed any treaty to surrender our sovereignty. You therefore owe us, beyond a moral obligation to facilitate our peaceful exit from this fragile, skewed and unproductive unity.
“In the meantime, the INC is willing and also well prepared to partner with you in promoting sustainable peace and building capacity for development and in any other area (e.g., Inter – cultural studies, exchange and scholarship that will be of mutual benefit to you and Ijaw Nation and the region.”
Ocean encroachment ravages area, pulls down buildings, displaces inhabitants
Ancestral shrine, cemetery, electric poles, others washed away
Questions trail multi-billion naira ecological funds received by state
Odioama, a coastal community in Brass Local Government area of Bayelsa State, is back in the mournful mood it found itself in 2005 when it was invaded by a Joint Task Force team on a reprisal mission. At the end of the invasion, many inhabitants lay dead while the community was left in ruins. Today, Odioama is suffering a worse form of invasion at the hands of nature which had previously beautified the area. The community is being ravaged by ocean surge that has pulled down many houses, including cemetery, ancestral shrines and other cultural landmarks. Fears are rife that the area and adjoining communities may soon be swallowed up if nothing urgent is done to check the fury of the ocean. INNOCENT DURU reports.
Ladstone Amabebe, a prominent member of Odioama, a community in coastal area of Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, suffered a debilitating loss recently when his exquisite one storey building was pulled down by a rampaging ocean surge that has ravaged the area.
Like every other house owner in the area, Gladstone had laboured hard and spent a fortune to complete the structure as it costs much more to build in the coastal area than plain land.
“I owned a very big building at the seashore area that was pulled down by ocean surge,” he said as he began to relive his ordeal.
The house, Gladstone said, was almost about 200 metres from the sea when he built it, adding: “Just within my line, about 70 buildings were washed down by the sea encroachment.
“We lost virtually everything to the incident. We didn’t expect that the incident would happen in the manner it did.”
He added: “Many people have been displaced. Just within my compound, over 15 people were displaced. It is difficult to explain how much other victims and I have suffered as a result of the incident.
“It is not easy to cater for the family now. The challenge is biting us seriously and there is nobody to run to.”
In spite of his predicament, Gladstone was glad that nobody was trapped in the incident. “The only luck we had was that nobody was trapped inside. That was the only saving grace. The children were inside the house playing and shortly after they moved out, the whole one storey building went down.”
Recounting how the incident happened, he said: “We didn’t know that it (sea encroachment) was digging from the under. We thought that when the wave comes, the water will just flash in and when the tide goes down it will dry up. We didn’t really know that it was digging from inside, causing the building to collapse.
“If nothing happens between now and let me say in the next two years, I don’t think the community will continue to exist.”
He further feared that the history, culture and everything about the community will be wiped away if it goes into extinction as he expressed concerns about the loss of livelihood by the community’s inhabitants.
“The main occupation of the community is fishing. There is no hope for the fishermen if the encroachment continues the way it has been coming. The sea is 10 times more ferocious than it used to be and the waves are getting stronger and coming close to the shore.
“It is going to be worse this rainy season. Nobody will even go fishing. The tide is going to be higher and there will be nothing like fishing again.
“Some will go to the creeks to fish, but those who usually go to the ocean will not be able to do so.
“Most of them are leaving for other areas.”
The menace often referred to as oceanification evokes fears in the minds of the people. The sight of it sparks anxiety. The thought of it pierces the heart and shatters the soul. The sight of the people standing with arms folded and helplessly watching the tide menacingly invading their buildings to wreak untold havoc forces tears down the eyes.
The Secretary of Odioma Council of Chiefs, Chief Ambrose Alfred Akierite, described the ocean surge as devastating and its impact on the community as unfortunate.
He said: “When we were younger, where the sea shore is right now, used to be far away from the community.
“But right now, because of the unprecedented sea encroachment on the land, places that used to be bushes are now part of the community, and it has eaten deep into the centre of the community.
“If nothing is done in the quickest possible time, the community will go into extinction.”
Asked about the fate of vulnerable members of the community, Chief Ambrose retorted: “I will consider everybody in the community vulnerable. The effect is not only on pregnant women or on the aged or the less privileged; it is on everybody.
“One of the best buildings in the community was washed away. The owner, by any standard, is not a poor man. The effect is on the whole community.”
Following the huge losses suffered by the people, the Odioama Council of Chiefs’ scribe said: “At a time, people were even considering relocating the entire community, but that is going to be very capital intensive. How long will that take and how long will the government agency handling that put up structures that will move people away from the community.
“What I think is the best bet is what I think the state government is considering doing, probably in partnership with the federal government and other international environmental bodies.”
In spite of the terror constantly unleashed on the community by the ocean, Chief Ambrose does not have any fears that the yearly flooding that has to do with the opening of the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon would compound their woes. “You can see its signs but not in the seriousness with which it ravages other areas,” he said.
“It could be because we are at the bank of the ocean. Maybe the water filters into the ocean and it doesn’t always rise to that level where it gives us concern.
“The one that is really disturbing us is the ferocity from the ocean itself. It is possible that there could be some reaction due to climatic changes and all that.
“We think that as the sand is being washed away, it is being deposited somewhere.”
We are afraid of what could happen in the next 10 years – Council of Chiefs Chairman
Chairman of the Council of Chiefs, Chief Marlean Walter Omieh-Munafa, told The Nation that the challenges posed by the ocean surge are so many.
“You know the ocean has washed away about 200 metres of our land that hosts some residential buildings.
“We have lost many residential buildings to the ocean encroachment. Part of the cemetery too has been washed away. Electric poles, parts of tarred roads and other things, including a juju shrine, have also been washed away.
“The encroachment of the ocean is continuing. We are afraid of what could happen in the next 10 years about the challenge we have.
“The challenge started about 10 years ago but no life has been lost to it.”
Many displaced people, according to the chairman, are squatting with their family members in the community.
“Some have left the community to live in Yenagoa,” he said.
The chairman also noted that the incident has affected the education of the children. “Like I said before, some of the people have packed to Yenagoa. They must have gone with some of their children that are schooling here.
“They may have financial problems looking for admission for their children.
“That is how it can affect the education of the children, because the menace has not washed away any school within the community.”
He added that no corpse or casket was washed out when the surge swept through the cemetery. “It is an old cemetery,” he said. “You cannot see the caskets. The only thing you would see are bones.
“Because of the encroachment of the sea, people now go deep inside and not nearer to the sea to bury their loved ones.”
As a community, the chairman said, “we have been making a lot of efforts on how to solve the problem.
“Last year, one of our community members attended many seminars and even travelled to one of the west African countries to represent the state on this.
“We are hoping that the federal government will do something, but that is not yet forthcoming.
“After the state governor came here, our matter was presented in the House of Assembly.
“They said the piling is too much for them but that they will do the dredging. That is the promise they made to us. That is how far we have gone on the issue.”
Tracing the history of the community, he said: “Ours is one of the oldest communities in Nembe Kingdom. We don’t know the first phase of our history, but the second phase dates back to when the Portuguese were exploring the West African coast.”
Ex-CDC chairman makes clarification between Odi and Odioama
Making a distinction between Odi and Odioama, the Community Development Committee Chairman, Samson James, said: “Odi is quite different from Odioama. Odi is in Kolokuma Local Government while Odioama is in Brass Local Government. Odi invasion was in the 90s or so but ours was in 2005.
“People were killed, houses were razed and the community was totally burnt down then. It was after that, that the community started rebuilding to the standard we find ourselves now. The rebuilding was done through self help.”
After the invasion, he said a committee was set up and it was headed by former Senate President David Mark.
“They said the government had made money available to us but we didn’t get any money,” he said.
The CDC feared that “what happened to Koluama in 1950 may happen to our community if urgent steps are not taken. Koluama is a community in Bayelsa. It was eroded by ocean surge. We would have to migrate to wherever nature says we should if our community is eroded.
“There is no hope as the government does not intervene.”
He noted that the problem confronting the community is beyond the state government, and called on the federal government to come in to help, especially the interventionist agencies like NDDC, Ecological Fund and others.
“When the one storey building fell, it was as if somebody had died. The community gathered around it crying and appealing to God and the government,” he said.
Menace also ecological, not just environmental – Activist Alagoa
Programme Manager of Environmental Rights Action (ERA) and head of ERA Resource Centre in Yenagoa, Alagoa Morris, said the significance of the ocean encroachment, just like desertification, cannot be overemphasised from the point of the economic importance, health, and psychological wise.
His words: “The issue is not just an environmental issue. It is equally an ecological issue. The last time I visited Odioama, I saw a number of trees that had been going down because of the ocean surge as it encroached on the land.”
Recently, he said, “we saw houses going down and building houses in those places isn’t cheap. Building a house in such coastal area is not easy as they are far from the city.
“It takes so much courage, financial and other resources such as time for people to put up good buildings there.
“Watching such buildings go down is very frustrating. The problem is beyond any community’s power to deal with from any perspective you want to view it.
“The people’s properties, ancestral graves, forests, land, and so on are washed into the ocean, and it is still raging day and night.
“The prowling waves of the Atlantic Ocean come to hit the shoreline and go back every now and then.
“It is worse when the tide is high. It is a very big blow when you talk about the environmental and ecological impacts.
“It is ecological in the sense that it can cause relocation.”
Continuing, Alagoa said: “The last time I was discussing with some natives, they were worried because Odioama has another river behind them. In front of them is the ocean and at another side is the St Nicholas River which is also very big and fearful to cross.
“St Nicholas empties into the Atlantic Ocean and where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean is where Odioama is settled.
“It is a very tough situation and it is even leading to relocation of some persons. People are now apprehensive to build houses because houses that were about 1,000 far away from the sandy shoreline have been washed away.
“The ocean encroachment is not abating. It is not like the wind that comes and goes; it is constant. For 24 hours you are hearing the roaring sound of the Atlantic. It will deny them of that environment if nothing is done to address the problem.
If nothing is done, they may lose that community in the not too distant future.”
Speaking on the psychological effects of the challenge on the people, the environmentalist said: “The psychological effects on the people are better imagined than experienced.
“There is a community in Sagbama Local Government called Anibeze; an Isoko speaking community in Bayelsa. It is located at the bank of River Forcados.
“We had a very shocking bad news there. A certain man had left his community for a while but by the time he retired home, this coastal encroachment occurred and washed down his house.
“Immediately, he got paralysed and eventually died. That is the kind of psychological impact on the people who are losing their properties when there is no hope of getting a replacement.
“As we speak, other communities are also suffering the problem along the rivers and creeks of Bayelsa State. One of them is very close to the Government House in Yenagoa.
“The way the erosion is eating up that community is faster than one can imagine. Just within a space of a year, a whole football field is gone.”
Looking at the relationship between the menace and climate crisis, Alagoa said: “The climate change phenomenon cannot be over emphasised. We hear that the ices are melting and the sea level is rising.
“In some areas, there are more rains and in some drought. It is very disturbing that it appears that the sea level is rising.
“In Lagos, around the Bar Beach, they experienced this kind of thing in the past and they were able to do some kind of containment.
“The rising level of the sea is part of the problem. When God created the world and talking about the ocean, in the scriptures, it is said that God asked the prowling waves of the ocean not to go beyond their bounds.
“They were supposed to stop somewhere, but now they are going over their boundaries and wreaking havoc just as it is happening in Ayetoro community in Ondo State.
“Climate crisis cannot be absolved from what is happening along the coastal areas in connection with the ocean surge. The sea is getting warmer, according to scientists, and getting more voracious.”
In spite of the magnitude of the challenge, he assured that all hope is not lost. “With proper scientific interrogation and application of science and financial resources with expert knowledge, Odioama can be saved.
“There is hope if there is the political will to deal with communities like Odioama, Tom Brass, Sangana and others on the fringes of the Atlantic Ocean.”
Failed promises by successive governments
Checks showed that failure of past governments in the state to keep to their promises has been largely responsible for the crisis in the community.
According to Gladstone, “The encroachment was happening gradually. From 2013, we started seeing the approach. It continued in 2014. In 2015, we saw it coming and complained to the state government.
“Then, the former governor, Seriake Dickson, came for his campaign and I think that was the campaign promise he made.
“He said he was going to call the federal government to come because it was not something the state government alone could do. 2015 passed and the whole administration passed without any action taken.
“We later started approaching international oil companies because we are also an oil producing community, we wrote a series of letters to the NDDC and the federal ministry of the environment but nobody listened to us.
“We also did a series of appearances on television but nobody listened to us but … I don’t know, … it is gone, it is gone.”
Going down memory lane, Chief Ambrose said: “In 2005, the community was destroyed and a committee of enquiry was set up and some recommendations were made towards the rebuilding of the community. I think about N2 billion was recommended by the commission of enquiry.
“Unfortunately, nothing happened. I led the delegation to the National Assembly with a petition and the resolution was passed. The money was not paid.
“The community was destroyed as a result of military invasion. There was an allegation that some youths of the community carried out a dastardly act where some persons were killed along the waterways. They pointed fingers at our community.
“The then governor, the late Alamieyeseigha, invited the joint task force and they entered the community. You know what happens when the military enters a community.
“I am sure you may have been told that the governor recently visited the community, and seeing things for himself, has made promises that the state government will do something about it. We are hoping and praying that it should not be one of those political gimmicks where promises would be made and nothing would happen. Although not too confident we want to say that we are relieved because the governor has made promises.”
Questions trail utilisation of ecological funds received by state
Following the crisis faced by various communities in the state, there have been questions about what the government does with the ecological and other funds, including the 13 per cent derivation it receives from the federation account.
Checks showed that the state has received about N1.2 billion in the last three years as ecological funds. Between 2021 and 2022, it received N1.2 billion and N700 million in 2023.
Failure of some state governments to alleviate the plight of their citizens when there was flood disaster last year triggered heated debate about the utilisation of the ecological funds.
The immediate past government of Muhammed Buhari had challenged states to give an account of how they spent amounts in excess of one trillion naira, allocated to them from the ecological fund to tackle floods and other ecological problems.
Roughly N1 trillion, representing 2.2 per cent of the total budget for 2018, 2019 and 2023, was budgeted for ecological and disaster management.
In 2018, 2.2 per cent of the estimated N9.120 trillion budget, amounting to N198 billion was set aside for the Ecological Fund. In 2019, 2.2 per cent of the budget of N132 billion was allocated to the fund, while in 2023, 2.2 per cent of the N21 trillion budget indicated N462 billion allocation for ecological funds.
No meaningful result came from the House of Representatives probe last year into the utilization of the funds for the past 10 years.
Diri allays residents’ fears
The state governor, Douye Diri, on August 8 visited the community, promising the people that the state government was going to make immediate intervention to prevent further damage to infrastructure.
The governor noted that the scope of work was beyond the state government but said “we must take our destinies into our hands.
“There is hope for our people. The sea encroachment, which is the perennial problem of Odioama will now begin to have a solution from your state government.
“Be rest assured that your government will be shoulder to shoulder with you to tackle this encroachment that is hitting our land and our houses.
“So we call on all our developmental partners to join the state government to keep Odioama safe. And not only Odioama, we have the same instances in Koluama, Sangana.
“So we have so much to do, which is beyond the scope of the state government.”
105 communities at risk -Don
Prof. Ambily Etekpe of the Department of Political Science, Niger Delta University, Amassoma, Bayelsa State, in 2021 raised the alarm that about 105 coastal communities in Bayelsa State could face extinction in the next 30 years if nothing is done to halt the rampaging effects of ocean encroachment.
Etekpe noted that oil exploration activities of some multinational oil companies have moved too deep into the sea, with their attendant negative impacts on the environment.
His words: “Desertification is equivalent to oceanification. But while nobody talks about oceanification, desertification is attracting not only national but international interest.
“Oceanification has thus become very important because the effects of ocean encroachment in Bayelsa in particular and other states that are also very close to the ocean generally are more devastating than those of forest encroachment.
“Most of where we used to have towns and communities have been taken over by the ocean. So, the towns and communities continue to shift and you find that the extreme end of that shifting is another river.
“If something is not done, in the next 30 years, a lot of our towns and communities will be taken over by the ocean.
“In Bayelsa, we have more than 500 communities out of which 105, representing 46 per cent, live near the ocean, and if they are disorganised or dislocated, where else can they go?” he queried.
The British High Commission has vowed to support free, fair, and credible elections ahead of the November 11, 2023 governorship election in Bayelsa state.
The Commission’s political secretary, Abuja, Hamish Tye, made the appeal during a meeting with the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Udengs Eradiri, at his residence in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Tye said his team visited Bayelsa to meet with the governorship candidates, get a better idea of the issues shaping the poll as well as a better understanding of the manifestoes of each governorship candidate.
He said: “We have come to Bayelsa to meet with the governorship candidates and to get a better idea of the issues they are going to be contesting in the election and what the people are going to be voting on the basis of and to get a better idea of what each governorship candidate will like to do while in office.
“We don’t have any demands per se but our view is that the election should be peaceful and credible. We also discussed the idea of a peace accord and that will be followed up on.”
In his remarks, the LP candidate, Udengs Eradiri, said the visit was to assess the personalities of each candidate and their dispositions towards peace and security.
He noted: “Generally, they wanted to know why I wanted to be governor and what I am bringing on the table. It afforded me the opportunity to express the Labour Party agenda for the leadership of Bayelsa State.
“For me, the concerns that I raised and I keep raising them, is about vote buying which is already ongoing by appointments that are being dished out by the government of the day. They promised 17 members per polling unit, they are paying N100,000 each.
“As for me, I am creating a lot of jobs for young people. Since I came into this race, the jittery nature of the government, I have seen them coming to the Labour Party to appoint Bayelsans, Labour Party members into government. Most of them have been employed, and most of them have been appointed.
“So I am grateful that I am not governor yet, I am creating Jobs for young people. This is what he should have done months ago, doing it now amounts to vote buying, it amounts to inducing gullible Bayelsans to think that their life wants to start whereas it’s just for three months.
“Some of them won’t even get a salary, it is just a show of desperation to use the people’s wealth to buy them. It is the responsibility of the government to appoint aides who will work for the progress of the state. Appointing them now, what happened all these three years and a half, what has been happening to those positions?
“It means that authority not used is authority lost. For three and half years, we didn’t have those positions, it means that we failed in our responsibility, we violated the oath of office and the constitution of Bayelsa and the federal republic by not filling those positions that are being filled today as a result of the election.”
The Bayelsa state government has banned the activities of the Council of Chiefs and Youths’ Council in Opu-Nembe (Bassambiri) in the Nembe Local Government Area of the state.
The government through a statement issued on Tuesday, September 2, by the Commissioner for Information, Orientation, and Strategy, Ayiba Duba, said the ban, a decision reached after the state Security Council meeting, was taken to restore public peace and order in Opu-Nembe.
Recall that Opu-Nembe has been enmeshed in lingering political violence which has led to killings, destruction of lives and property, and breakdown of law and order.
Duba said the ban became necessary because the current state of affairs in Nembe could not be divorced from unmeasured youth and chiefs’ council activities
The commissioner said: “For the avoidance of doubt, the ban on Youth and Chiefs’ Councils activities is still in force and will continue to subsist until further notice.
“In view of this, no member of the Opu Nembe community under whatever guise is allowed to stand as representative of the community at any place or in any circumstance. Whoever does will be committing an offence and shall face the wrath of the law.
“Oil multinationals, corporate organizations, and individuals operating in Opu-Nembe have also been directed to abort any liaison with any group or individuals in the name of Opu-Nembe under any circumstance whatsoever, as such would be considered as a sabotage of government’s efforts at restoring peace and resettling those who were frightened of the community.”
Duba said a joint task force had been set up to instill confidence in residents of Opu-Nembe so that those who ran for their lives could return to their ancestral homes with dignity.
He said the task force would also ensure that the resolutions of the State Security Council are effectively implemented.
The Ijaw under the auspices of Pan Ijaw Political Action Group (PIPAG) have drummed up support for the re-election of Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri.
They said he deserved second term based on his sterling performances.
PIPAG in a news conference yesterday at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, Yenagoa, said the group’s endorsement of Diri for re-election was anchored on the achievements recorded by his administration since inception in 2020.
Reading the group’s position, a one-time House of Representatives member representing Yenagoa/ Kolokuma/Opokuma, Bolous Indiamaowei, said the peaceful disposition of Diri had been acknowledged by the opposition.
He said: “Senator Diri is an exemplary political leader with strong commitment to service delivery and infrastructural development. He has exceeded expectations of the good people of Bayelsa State and Ijaw nation as a whole.
“As you know, Bayelsa State was once characterised by politically- motivated killings, insecurity, cult-related violence, massive infrastructural deficit and poverty.
“However, upon assumption of office, he embraced all political divides in the state as one big family with a disposition to peace, humility, good governance and capacity for development.”
PIPAG, which reeled out the projects being executed by Diri across the three senatorial districts, recalled the killings in the build-up to the 2019 election and cautioned opposition elements against violence.
It warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against any attempt to compromise the electoral process.
The group said: “Barely two months to the November 11 off-cycle governorship election, the opposition merchants of violence in their usual characteristic have been fanning the embers of political instability, thuggery, ballot snatching and voter intimidation. We condemn these premeditated political hostilities from the opposition and warn that election is not do-or-die, as it has been in Bayelsa State.
“We wish to warn INEC and its collaborators not to indulge in actions and activities that will undermine the credibility, peace and security during and after the election.”
PIPAG said in demonstration of its support for the re-election of Senator Diri, it would organise a mega Ijaw rally in October to drum up support for Governor Diri, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the coming election.
Hundreds of supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, yesterday shut down Sagbama, Bayelsa State, the local government area of Senator Seriake Dickson for the party’s governorship rally.
Loyalists of Sylva and his running mate, Chief Joshua MacIver, in various camps, dressed in different campaign clothes, T-shirts and fez caps of various colours were busy blowing trumpets, waving brooms, waving caps, and other symbols of the party, awaiting the arrival of Sylva and his entourage.
The event, which brought together APC leaders, members, support groups in Sagbama and supporters from neighbouring Ekeremor, shut down the Sagbama town which triggered gridlock on East-West Road.
The rally, tagged, ‘Sagbama Wake Up!’ was powered by the leadership of the APC in Sagbama under Hon. Yekini Nabena and coordinated by the Deputy Chairman of the party from the LGA, Barrister Francis kolokolo.
Though Sylva was not physically present at the Sagbama campaign rally, the deputy governorship candidate, Joshua MacIver, held sway for him and received hordes of defectors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties.
A grassroots mobiliser cum social media influencer, Apostle Bodmas Prince Kemepadei, who was a former Special Assistant to the Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, who earlier resigned his appointment, formally defected to the APC at the rally.
Kemepadei, an indigene of Agoro community in Sagbama Ward 11, who was accompanied by a host of other defectors, including a serving special assistant to the Governor, Doubara Benjamin, from Ebedebiri and the Chairman, Labour Party (LP) of Sagbama Ward 11, Mr. Diepriye Apelebiri.
Other principal defectors and their followers were Gideon Ogufe, a former Assistant Police Commissioner from Ofoni, Bayelsa deputy governor’s community; former Youth President from Okumbiri, Akposeye Odoni; an activist, Oweifabo Felix Ebikeme, former State Chairman, Change Advocacy Party (CAP); Hon. Dime Jonah, a chief in Agorogbene Community, Ward 11 and Goodluck Dime, Youth President of Agorogbene Community Ward 11, among others.
Receiving the defectors into the broom party, MacIver welcomed them into the party, saying they had taken the boldest steps to liberate themselves from the shackles of the opposition.
He reminded the people Sagbama that it was a Sagbama son that made Diri a governor but he only won two LGAs, Sagbama and Kolokuma/Kolokuma, but by Providence, he became governor yet he had not done anything for the people of Sagbama.
MacIver stated: “When we were coming to this rally, we did not know we were coming to receive defectors. We thought we were coming to thank the people and canvas for their votes. But when we got here, we saw many opposition members dumping their parties for the APC. It goes without saying that APC is a party to beat in Bayelsa.”
“In Bayelsa State, two months to the election, you already know who is winning the election. Let us not deceive ourselves, this one is already clear that the APC has already won the election.
“Everybody knows that we are going to win Brass, we will win Nembe, we will win Ogbia, Southern Ijaw is a no-go area, we will win Ekeremor, Yenagoa is everybody’s place. The only two LGAs likely to go to them are contestable. We enjoin the people of Sagbama to come out en masse to cast their votes as we are very sure that the APC will sweep the poll on November 11, 2023.”
