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DESOPADEC dredger: the rot amid sinking Itsekiri towns

Hundreds of Itsekiri communities from Koko, Obaghoro, Ijaghalla, Ogidigben, Ajudaibo, Usele, Deghele and others were at the mercy of coastal erosion and vanishing shoreline. The acquisition of a dredger by DESOPADEC was expected to resettle thousands of members of the ethnic groups who fled their homes in the aftermath of the Ijaw/Itsekiri crisis. SHOLA O’NEIL writes that nearly two years after the multi-million dollar equipment was acquired, the beauty of Eregwa is fast fading without the communities feeling its impact.

There were huge expectations among the people of Itsekiri in 2013 when their representatives on the board of the Delta State Oil-Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) announced a plan to acquire a gigantic dredger. The equipment, they were told, was to be used to dredge creeks, waterways and to sand-fill their riverside communities that are fast being eroded by erosion.

The joy that trailed the announcement stemmed from the deplorable state of towns in Warri South, South-west and North local government areas.

Hundreds of Itsekiri communities from Koko, Obaghoro, Ijaghalla, Ogidigben, Ajudaibo, Usele, Deghele and others were at the mercy of coastal erosion and vanishing shoreline.

The acquisition of the dredger was also expected to resettle thousands of members of the ethnic groups who fled their homes in the aftermath of the Ijaw/Itsekiri crisis between the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The hope brightened on a lively day in April last year when the then Chairman of the Commission, Mr Oritsuwa Kpogho, an Itsekiri man, inaugurated the dredger with fanfare and back-parting in Koko, headquarters of Warri North Local Government Area.

Aptly named ‘EREGWA’ (Itsekiri word for a beautiful woman or object), the glimmering monster of an equipment was a beauty to behold.

Kpogho stated that DESOPADEC went for the best dredger in the world, adding that the equipment would last beyond three decades.

Commenting on the issue, the commission’s secretary, Sir Augustine Oghoro promised that the dredger would be deployed to save and restore communities that are being washed away by erosion.

•Diden

A news report on DESOPADEC website entitled “Jubilation as DESOPADEC Acquires Dredger”, quoted Hon. Michale Diden (aka Ejele) as saying, “the waterlogged communities can be reclaimed”.

However, nearly two years after the multi-million dollar equipment was acquired, the beauty of Eregwa is fast fading without the communities feeling its impact.

Creeks and rivers are still blocked by silts; communities are endangered more than ever before while the Ellicott 1270 Dragon dredger is rotting away at a private dockyard in Koko.

Niger Delta Report learnt that, apart from the initial test-run of the equipment to fill the private jetty where it is kept, the N1 billion worth of equipment is yet to leave the scene where its components were unwrapped and assembled over a year ago.

Our investigations revealed that the contract for the dredger was awarded to a company known as Mawona Atlantic Limited for N985, 000,000 for “purchase of dredger/accessories”.

Attempts by our reporter to get further details from Ellicott Dredgers LLC Maryland, USA were not fruitful, as the company was unwilling to make any comment.

alter Mather, who responded to our e-mail enquiry, neither denied nor confirmed that the equipment was bought from them. He also would not go into details of the price.

He said: “Ellicott does build and offer an 18-inch dredger with model Dragon 1270. Several have been sold in Nigeria.

“With respect to your underlying questions, please understand that we do not discuss our private business with the media without prior approval of any related client,” Walter added.

Information sourced from the company’s websites indicated that the one sighted by our reporter in Koko is indeed an Ellicott Dragon 1270, an 18″, 460mm diameter portable cutter-head type dredger with a maximum digging depth of 15.24m.

The manufacturer boasts that the dredger is “tailored to suit the requirements of the purchaser”, adding, “It is made to give the greatest return on the investment dollar.”

Unfortunately for Itsekiri communities, rather than give value for the N1 billion paid to acquire it, the dredger has been rotting away in Koko and accruing more expenses, including a princely N1.6 million monthly warehouse cost.

Expectant community leaders who thought its deployment would ease their pains have since given up.

“The euphoria over the dredger is gone; like most projects by those claiming to represent us. It is only they and their cronies who supplied it that have seen its gain. Not one Itsekiri community, even here in Warri North Local Government Area or the oil communities, has used it. How can people be so wicked?” Mr Eyitemi Kingsway Eyoyibo, told our report.

Eyoyibo, who hails from erosion-prone Ajudaibo in Ugborodo, called for a full scale investigation into, not just the dredger, but also into several other projects awarded over the years by Itsekiri representatives in the board of DESOPADEC.

“All those found culpable of short-changing our people should refund all monies and be sent to jail. Itsekiri nation has suffered too much because of the greed and avarice of a few who find themselves in the corridors of power,” he stressed.

Reliable sources in DESOPADEC said the state and the Itsekiri have lost heavily due to the wasting equipment. It was learnt that benefits from training, operation and others that was built into the contract have been lost along with the guarantee against defects.

The recently inaugurated Commissioner Representing Itsekiri in the commission, Chief Thomas Ereyitomi, who was contacted by our reporter, said he was yet to get the full brief and details on the dredger.

Ereyitomi, in a telephone conversation with our reporter said: “As you are aware, we are just coming on board (DESOPADEC) and there are so many things that we need to look at. I am yet to get the full brief on the dredger so I might not be able to say much – at least for now.”

The DESOPADEC Executive Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Mr Victor Oritsetinmeyin Wood, could not be reached for comment. The director, who insisted on a face-to-face chat with our reporter, was said to be on project inspection when our reporter visited the commission.

Mr Tsewo Edema, the Head of Security at DESOPADEC at the time, confirmed that the commission pays N19.2 million (N1.6 million monthly) annually to a private firm, which owns the jetty where the equipment is kept since about 2012.

Edema, in a chat with Niger Delta Report, explained that the N1.6m monthly payment was not only for the use of the jetty, but also for safekeeping of the dredger.

But beyond the cost of ‘safekeeping’ the dredger, the loss of add-ons and warrantee could come to haunt the commission.

“If and when they decide to use it, if any challenge is discovered with the dredger, huge sums of money would again be needed to procure the parts and maybe bring in expert from the United States (US),” Kingsway-Eyoyibo lamented.

At the time of our reporter’s visit to Koko on Sunday, October 18, the huge pipes and suction hoses procured with the dredger were rotting away due to lack of use and maintenance. Huge containers and caravans which were used to freight the equipment to the Itsekiri riverside communities laid idle.

A prominent Itsekiri staff of the commission, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security reasons, said only Messrs. Oritsuwa Kpokgho and Michael Diden (now a member of the Delta State House of Assembly) respectively and Edema, could throw more light on the debacle surrounding the contract of the dredger.

“The purchase was between them; they were the all and all as far as the Itsekiri nation was concern in DESOPADEC at that time. So, any question about the dredger should be directed to them,” our source said.

Diden was yet to respond to our reporter’s text message inquiry at the time of filing this report. Attempts to get through to him through a third party were also not fruitful two weeks afterwards.

Edema, however, denied being involved in the procurement of the dredger. Although he conceded that he was aware that the contract involved training of Itsekiri engineers to man it, he said beyond securing the equipment, he knew nothing else.

A very angry community leader however said: “Even at the time the contract was awarded, there was fear apart from not being what the Itsekiri need to spend money on at the time, the issue of how it was going to operate needed to be fully addressed. But nobody gave heed to wise advice then because some persons were more interested in the contract than how it would benefit the Itsekiri nation.”

Further investigations revealed that the dredger is a victim of the clash of political interests among prominent Itsekiri politicians and various group leaders who wanted to convert it to their personal assets.

Confirming this, Edema described the dredger as a victim of a clash of “big interests. He revealed that various efforts to put the dredger to use was frustrated by unnamed key players and inability of private firms that indicated interest to lease it to provide firm guarantee of their commitment.

“For instance,” he said, “one private firm handling road construction work in Koko area offered to take it on lease; although their offer was way below the commission’s estimation, the deal fell through because they could not provide bank guarantee. Everybody wants to take and convert it to private use.”

Edema said but for his vigilance, the multi-million dollar equipment would have ended up as a private asset.

“By now, there would be no longer dredger to talk about; it might have been taken as far as to Cotonou (Benin Republic),” he added.

November 6, 2015
N150b DESOPADEC projects: Itsekiri probe opens ‘can of worms’

A group, the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought (ILOT) in Delta State, has begun the verification of projects said to have been executed by the State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC).

The projects are located in Itsekiri communities, comprising Warri North, Warri South and Warri Southwest local government areas.

DESOPADEC claimed it executed projects worth N150 billion in the last five to six years in Itsekiri, Ijaw, Isoko, Urhobo and Ndokwa nations as well as other parts of the state.

The verification followed the setting up of a committee, headed by Mr Sunny Amorighoye Mene, with Prof J. N. Omatseye, Joseph Edema-Silo and Mr Ray Mene, as members, to examine the execution of projects valued at N35 billion in Itsekiri land.

The committee has visited Ugborodo; it was at Ode-Itsekiri at the time of filing this report yesterday.

ILOT’s Chairman J. O. S. Ayomike urged our correspondent to contact Mene for further enquiry.

But speaking with our correspondent, Mene said: “The Itsekiri Leaders of Thought needs to know how the funds are being expended, because we were at the forefront of agitation for the 13 per cent derivation fund.

“We aim to find out if the projects, which have been carried out, are what the communities need. Also, the ones executed and completed: do they meet expectation? Have the projects been done and at what cost? Do the projects justify the cost? These are some of the issues.”

On the committee’s findings so far, Mene said: “It is too early to tell you what we have found. But the investigation is ongoing.”

Our correspondent’s independent investigation revealed that the verification could be a precursor to a wider probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), targeting some representatives on the DESOPADEC board over the years.

A summary of DESOPADEC’s expenditure obtained by our correspondent showed that of the N35.47 billion, there was a N21,651,130,858.24 cumulative payment while N1,463,855,654.55 had not been settled from the cumulative certificate of N23,114,986,512.79.

An Itsekiri leader, who spoke in confidence, said: “We are unimpressed by the figures bandied about, because we feel that what is on ground far under-weighs the huge sums of money.

“For instance, the office of the ‘Honourable Commissioner’ received N1 billion for the development of the ‘New Ugborodo Town’. Although the project was listed as 100 per cent completed, Ugborodo residents say there is nothing on ground.

“From my layman assessment, what is at the site is barely N50 million. There are just a few building foundations and they are far less than the 200 housing units envisaged.

“This is the situation in other communities. We are worried about how so much money was expended in our communities without much on ground to show for it.”

The projects examined in Ugborodo communities included the N1 billion new town; a primary health centre at Madangho, at the cost of N59.436 million; Ajudaibo Primary School’s fence, at the cost of N23.938 million and the building of the reinforced concrete landing jetty at Arunton Ugborodo, for N68.433 million.

The contracts were listed as 100 per cent completed in DESOPADEC’s books.

Others are: the building of a concrete landing jetty at Obodo community, at the cost of N184.161 million;

a project for the ‘Fencing, Landscaping of 13 per cent Derivation Housing Estate’ at Ogidigben at the cost of N213.408 million; it was recorded as attaining 87 per cent completion. The construction of staff quarters in the same community, at the cost of N40.419 million, was recorded to have reached 57 per cent completion.

At Ajudaibo, the contract for building a six-classroom block at Akpakpa, at the cost of N45.749 million, was recorded to be at 89 per cent completion while the construction of a Welding and Fabrication workshop at Ogidigben, at N74.169 million, was put at 60 per cent completion.

A N25 million contract for the installation of a cold room at Ugborodo was said to be 100 per cent completed with the N40 million furnishing and equipping of Ogidigben Cottage Hospital.

A source close to the committee told our correspondent that even the maiden assessment visit revealed so much.

The source said: “What we have seen is indeed mind-blowing. We are not going to say much at this stage because we are just starting. But the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought is not treating this matter with levity; that’s because this involves the collective funds for the nation. It is the commonwealth of the Itsekiri man, woman and child. Anybody found to have stolen from the people will be brought to book.”

The source added: “Some of the contracts were merely completed on paper; others are nowhere near the level of completion for which contractors have received payments. We (ILOT) could not do much under the past administrations because of the level of impunity. But we are poised to seek accountability, not just for new contracts but also for those they have ‘done’.”

October 23, 2015
Youths hail Okowa’s agenda for DESOPADEC

The Ijaw Youth Council in Edo State has hailed Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for restructuring the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) despite the hiccups that trailed it.

It said the restructuring would ensure that the aspirations of oil producing communities would be realised.

Chairman of IYC in Egbema Kingdom, Prince Igiriki Brakaimi, who spoke at a press briefing, said the four executive directors particularly Philip Gbasin appointed to the commission was a pointer that the commission was poised to deliver.

September 6, 2015
DESOPADEC and the Island called Naifor

How come an Island in Delta State has three names in the books of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) and similar contracts are executed in each of them? SHOLA O’NEIL and BOLAJI OGUNDELE shed light on the matter

The Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, known mostly by its acronym DESOPADEC, has been in the news for several reasons these past few months. Unfortunately, not many of those reasons have been positive.

The commission, a special intervention agency established by former Governor James Ibori in 2006 to develop the oil-bearing communities of the state, has over the past eight years of its existence become synonymous with graft.

From the days of its pioneer Chairman, Chief Wellington Okirika to the recently dissolved board, the commission merely ‘developed’ a few individuals and officials of the state government and House of Assembly members to the detriment of the people.

An Ogbe-Ijoh Warri community leader told our reporter: “Since the establishment of the commission, allocations of projects as it concerns Ogbe-Ijoh were characterised with fraud, corruption and impunity, which is at variance with the spirit and tenet of its establishment.”

•Okowa

A petition to the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, which was made available to Niger Delta Report before the dissolution of the board, introduces an interesting dimension to the DESOPADEC debacle.

It details how a small, non-oil bearing community located barely a mile from DESOPADEC’s headquarters in Warri metropolis was allegedly used by some politicians and their cronies in the commission to siphon several millions (possibly billions) of naira through duplication of contracts and manipulation of the community’s name and obtaining payments for contracts awarded and executed by other agencies.

Attempts by our reporter to get the reaction of the commission to the weighty allegations were futile. From the head of the media and communications department, Rutherford Adowei, the Acting Head of Infrastructure, James Eclarke and the office of the Secretary of the commission, mum was the word.

When Adowei was contacted over a week ago, he said he had nothing to offer as far as the inquiry into the matter was concerned. According to him, being the head of media does not guarantee that he would have the details of every transaction involving the body at his fingertips. He referred our Warri Correspondent to Adowei.

The kernel of the Ogbe-Ijoh petition to Okowa, which was signed by Clement Oromoni and Elvis Wurusibewei, Chairman and Secretary of Ogbe-Ijoh Governing Council, hinted of discrepancies in projects awarded in Naifor, Naifor Island or Naiforgbene.

According to figures revealed in the document, which Niger Delta Report reliably gathered had been received by the governor, the three ‘communities’ are one small island but received budgetary allocations within the five-year period under review – 2009/2010 to 2014/15 – more than established and known communities in the clan.

The leaders of Ogbe-Ijoh believed that the name joggling was a gimmick used to siphon their funds. They said: “For instance, we discovered that several numbers of projects awarded so far in Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom are cited in Naifor, Naifor Island or Naiforgbene through manipulation and corruption done with collaborative elements within the system.

“It is interesting to note that the name of this community appears in three different forms as mentioned above; however, it refers to a particular community. It suffices to say that the inter-change of the name of this community is deliberately done to mislead DESOPADEC in other to attract ghost projects to it.

“Worst still, the said community (opposite Miller Waterside in Warri) is a non-oil producing community yet it received more projects than oil producing communities. What an irony!

“The truth is that we are not against non-oil producing communities from benefiting from the commission; however, such benefits should not be at the detriment of oil producing communities that have suffered so much from pollution and degradation.”

Another leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the contracts were targeted at ‘empowering’ few individuals rather than the generality of the community.

Independent investigations by Niger Delta Report, backed by documents sourced from the commission, indicated that about 20 projects were allotted to the tiny community in DESOPADEC’s budget from 2010 – 2015. The projects ranged from solar-powered street lights, school blocks, construction of healthcare centres, nurses quarters etc.

For instance, in 2010/2011 budgetary year, contract was awarded to a company (names withheld) for the supply of standby generating set at Naifor. In the same year the community with the same name also got allocation for the construction of teachers’ quarter at its primary school (Naifor Primary School).

Using the name Naiforgbene, contracts were awarded to supply school desks, lockers and chairs to Naiforgbene Primary School as well as the supply of furniture, chairs, tables and hospital beds to Naiforgbene Community Health Centre. There was also supply of medical equipment for Naiforgbene Health Centre and construction of teachers’ quarters at Naifor Primary School and construction of Naifor Primary School in Naiforgbene

In the 2011/2012, Naiforgbene got contract allocation for supply of solar-powered streetlights; construction of Naiforgbene teachers’ quarters with furniture and water distribution as well as construction of one unit of 2-bedroom bungalow.

In 2013/14, contracts awarded for the community were: water pipeline distribution at Naiforgbene; construction of Naifor Island Secondary School toilet and principal’s office; and construction of six-block of classrooms at Naifor Island Primary School 2, Ogbe-Ijoh. Some of the communities leaders were particular rankled by the last project, because they say it creates the misconception that the project was located in the mainland Ogbe-Ijoh town.

“You can see the deception, they said Naifor Island Primary School 2, Ogbe-Ijoh, by that it is assumed that Ogbe-Ijoh had gotten a project and it is added to the list of projects sited in Ogbe-Ijoh town when it is not,” the source stated.

Similarly, in 2014/15, there were allocations for construction of doctors/nurses’ quarters at Naiforgbene; construction of concrete link bridge at Naifor and construction of concrete landing Jetty at Naifor Island.

Prior to these contracts, the community had in 2009/2010 got various contracts, including for construction of the Naifor Primary School, Naiforgbene and renovation of six classroom blocks and teachers’ office. It was further learnt that seven projects have been earmarked for the island in the current budget.

Although the unwillingness of DESOPADEC’s officials to open its doors to Niger Delta Report at the time of this report made it difficult to ascertain if the repetition of contracts were due to non-payment or partial payments in the previous years, Hon Clement Oromoni insisted that there was “fraudulent practice” in the commission’s board.

“Our investigation and fact finding mission reveal that most of the contracts as they appeared in the budgets are fictitious and unverifiable. Not only are they fictitious and unverifiable, contractors in respect of these projects have been paid up to 80-90 percent of budgetary sum yet they have not executed the said projects. Also, a good number of these contracts were repeatedly awarded to the same set of companies,” they said.

Oromoni and Wurusibewei claimed that some of those behind the purported scams “obtained payment for contract they did not execute” and they gave the example of the 2010/2011 contract for the “Installation of solar-powered street light at Naifor” as an instance. They said the contract had earlier been awarded and executed by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), claiming that the benefiting contractor merely took photographs of the NDDC projects and used them to obtain payment.

“This (solar-powered streetlight) project was executed by NDDC and not DESOPADEC. But this project was manipulated and presented as DESOPADEC project by the contractors which contract sum were paid, but in reality the one awarded by DESOPADEC, which money was paid for, was never executed.

“Also, a critical survey of the DESOPADEC past and present budgets unveil that cost of projects sum in respect of NAIFOR is far higher than similar projects awarded to other communities in Ogb-Ijoh Warri Kingdom,” they added.

DESOPADEC’s Acting Head of Infrastructure department, James Eclarke, refused to offer any defence, pushing the bulk to the secretary.

“You know this is a government establishment and there are appropriate channels for everything you want to do. The secretary is the only one with the authority to interface on matters like this; if he needs to get details on any issue from any department, he can always call for details or direct interactions”.

Our mission to the commission’s secretary’s office yielded no result. He was said not to be available. The last has certainly not been heard of this matter.

August 14, 2015
‘Delta oil-bearing communities unhappy with Okowa over DESOPADEC’

Sandys Omadeli-Uvwoh is a member of the EPZ committee which is to oversee peace process in the Deep Sea Project in the disputed land between the Itsekiris and the Ijaws in Delta State. In this interview with reporters in Benin City, Sandys said the fracas over the naming of the project was unnecessary. Osagie Otabor was there

You are a member of the EPZ committee. The siting of the project has been a source of problem between the Itsekiris and the Ijaws. Why has it been so?

It was not properly managed. That shouldn’t have brought any disagreement between the Itsekiris and the Ijaws because there has been a land case for the past 39 years. The case was started in 1976 and the Ugborodo won. When the Ijaws went on appeal, the appeal court reversed the case to the lower court and the Ugborodo went to the Supreme Court. Right from when the first judgment was delivered, there was no crisis over the land. We maintained the peace. Now that the EPZ project is sited there, what would have happened is to determine how to manage the economic gains. It is a question of coming together on how to manage the project. Based on the lower court judgment, Ugborodo people are the landlord while the other people are customary tenants. Whichever way, we are all impacted as far the project is concern. That should not have brought up drums of war. The problem is not the land, it is how each ethnic group will benefit from the economic gains They are already doing the clearing. Itsekiris are doing their part of the clearing while the Ijaws are doing theirs. There is no fight.

EPZ issue was one of the problems of Jonathan’s administration based on which community it should be named after. What is your stand?

I didn’t see it as a problem but rather they brought in ethnicity. If Jonathan’s administration was serious, what they should have done is to look at the legality of the whole issue. We went to court in 1976 over this land. If this issue has been on for over 39 years and there was no fight, it shows you that the problem is not the land but the major issue bringing uprising is the financial benefits in terms of employment, contracts and other benefits. The Itsekiris and the Ijaws should reach sharing formula with other impacted communities so that everybody will benefit from it so that peace will be maintained.

Ayiri recently secure a court injunction which some Ugborodo chieftains saw as a hindrance to peace process…

I don’t see Ayiri as a troublemaker the way he is being painted. Ayiri’s stand is that Ugborodo people own the land. The matter is in court. Ayiri’s position is that it should not be named Gbaramatu in the first place. He has been against it. He has been publishing articles in favor of Ugborodo. When they were signing the memorandum for understanding, he said he was not part of it and that he would go to court.

He has every right to go to court. He is an interested party. I supported his court processes. Ayiri is stopping the naming of the Deep Seaport after any community until the Supreme Court decides on who owns the land. He has gotten ruling from the lower court and that should not cause any problem because the ruling was not in favour of any of the parties involved. My Ijaw brothers should wait for the Supreme Court decision and for now let us think of how to make the environment peaceful for the investor and the government will have confidence in all the parties.

Do you think going to court will solve the problem?

Ayiri did not sue the Gbaramatu people. He sued the Federal Government and all the agencies surrounding the EPZ to stop them from naming the project after any community to avert chaos. Anybody going to court wants peace and is a law abiding citizen.

A spokesman for the Ijaws said the naming of the project has been concluded.

It has not been concluded. The Ugborodo people have not said they are not the owner of the land while the Ijaws are saying they are the owner. If Ayiri had said the Ijaws should not be given anything, that is when I think it would bring problem.

What is the way forward as the Ijaws and Itsekiris have always fought wars? Will this not bring another war?

I will not go to war when I know that I am the legitimate owner of the property and also when the matter is in court. I do not think this will bring war. The case in hand is like the biblical case solved by King Solomon over the ownership of a child. If the Ijaw believes that they own the land, they should wait for the Supreme Court to decide. The suggestion is that there should be a broad interface committee that embraces all stakeholders whether you are landlord or customary tenants. The immediate issue is surface benefit of what is on ground. It can be settled by both parties reaching a compromised. They should use the formula used for bush clearing to determine other benefits until Supreme Court determines the owner of the land. They are doing clearing there and nobody is fighting each other.

Chairman of the EPZ committee has taken a decision on the issue. Why are you opposing him?

I am not opposing him but I am entitled to my opinion based on my experience and my age. The issue on ground is not about being educated with many degrees. When Ayiri was writing and putting paid advert, nobody called him to order. Now that he has gone to court, they are making noise over it. In law, you don’t sleep over your rights because he wants peace. He has done the right thing as a civilized Itsekiris man by going to court instead of going to war as a committed patriotic son of Ugborodo. And he is taking after his maternal great grandfather, Olueh, who stood against late Chief Dore Numa over Ugborodo land. Any committed patriotic sons of Ugborodo should be proud of Chief Ayiri. That last meeting we held over this issue, Ayiri was invited and when he stated his own side of the story, he said he would consult his lawyers. The chairman was in court the day the injunction was granted that the place should not be named after any community. When you look at Ayiri’s case, nothing has been done. If the Supreme Court decides to rule in favour of Ugborodo, will the chairman now say sorry, the place has been named after Gbaramatu or the ruling of the Supreme Court has no value because an agreement has been reached? Nobody should bring sentiments. The matter is in court and nobody should beat drums of war. The Itsekiris/Ijaw crisis was not based on ownership of land. The origin of that crisis started with bunkering. It was bunkering that sparked the war before local government issue came up. The whole fighting was based on bunkering.

An Ijaw chieftain has said that the present DESOPADEC bill presented by Okowa will created crisis among oil producing communities.

Okrika is a friend and I have regard for him. Even if what Okrika is trying to say is right but he should not be the one because he started the illegality as pioneer chairman of DESOPADEC that Okowa is trying to legalize. He aided them because he was a pioneer chairman of DESOPADEC. I was a member of the host communities who fought for the establishment of DESOPADEC. We made Okrika our leader. Every ethnic nationality contributed to press for the 13 percent. The purpose is to douse tension in the oil communities. What Obasanjo agreed was for each oil producing community to get according to what is produced from their areas. This was to enable the communities protect their areas. That will put the communities to check pipeline vandalisation and bunkering. We felt we must be the ones to be appointed. We asked Okrika to be the chairman and he instead abandoned us and connived with the government to do what Okowa is trying to legalize. For Okirika to be shouting now means he is seeking relevance. He wants the government to negotiate with him. He is not shouting on behalf of the oil producing communities.

How would the change in the bill bring about crisis?

What Uduaghan tried to do was in line with the original concept which was for each ethnic nationality to have their person. People felt Uduaghan did not attempt to effect the changes during his eight years in office and wanted to bring it in in the dying days of his administration. Right now, what Okowa is trying to do is to legalize the illegalities they have been practicing. Okrika started the illegality. As far as I am concern, we will go to court. We are not going to fight. If they pass the law and it is not okay with the people, we will fight it in court.

Are the Itsekiris okay with the bill as proposed?

Not at all; unless you are not from oil producing areas. If the bill is passed, DESOPADEC will become government agency that takes care of every part of the state and no longer that of the oil producing communities. Okowa can decide to use 60 percent of the money to develop any area he likes. The bill is anti-oil producing communities. They should not pass that bill. All the oil producing communities in the country should come together and take RMFC to court or a commission should be set up for the oil producing communities. They should demand that the 13 percent should be given to the host communities directly and not through the State Governments. House of Assembly members from oil producing communities should not pass that bill. By doing that, the government should ask those oil companies whom they acquired land from in 1970 before the Warri crisis.

August 7, 2015
Desopadec: Intrigues, politics and fight over a law

Indications that the planned restructuring of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission may not be easy appeared after Governor Arthur Okowa presented an executive bill to the House of Assembly for amendment of its law. Okowa’s predecessor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, also failed a similar attempt.

DESOPADEC is very dear to the people of oil-bearing communities in the state, despite its shortcomings and turbulent eight-year existence, they see the commission as a half bread that is better than none.

•Protesting Ijaw host communities

It was against this background that Ijaw youths threatened to shut down oil facilities in Warri, Ogulagha, Egbema, Odidi, Batan, Ogbe-Ijoh and other parts of the state over part of the new law that they view as being against their interests.

DESOPADEC came into existence in 2005, pursuant to Section 162(2) of the Nigerian Constitution, which deals revenue paid into the Federation Account, which provided for the development of oil producing communities. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had directed states receiving the 13 per cent derivation fund to establish agencies, similar to NDDC, to cater for the communities.

Yet, the commission was not constituted until the last weeks of the ex- Governor Ibori administration in 2007. Uduaghan, who succeed him, incessantly complained of financial shortfall emanating from give half of oil revenue to the commission.

Chief Wellington Okirika, a founding member of the Host Communities Oil and Gas of Nigeria (HOSTCOM), which fought for the creation of the commission, was made the chairman, while Andi Osawota, lawyer, was appointed secretary.

In 2009, Uduaghan appointed a commissioner to oversee the activities of the commission due to infighting between board members, allegations of administrative ineptitude, financial recklessness and corruption. Yet, reports of mind-boggling expenditures on hotel and medical bills continued. Uduaghan once cried out over a bill of over N10million presented to the commission for the treatment of malaria which was beautifully wrapped in the medical term Plasmodiasis.

It was not only such scandal that dogged the commission under the Okirika-led board.

Due to the huge fund accruing to it, top official of the state government and House of Assembly members inundated chairman and other members with financial requests.

A member of the Assembly abandoned his legislative duties and ‘decamped’ to the commission headquarters in Warri as soon as he became chairman of the House Committee on DESOPADEC.

Allegation of underpayment

It was against this backdrop that at the expiration of the three-year tenure of Chief Okirika board in July 2010, a caretaker committee headed by Mr Reginald Bayoko, was set up to clear its mess.

After cleaning the Augean stable, a new board-led by Oritsua Kpogho, was inaugurated, with Henry Offa, Joseph Ogeh, Michael Diden, Johnson Boro, Rev.Chukwudi Eke, Benedicta Osakunih Izuegbu, Mr. Kingsley Otuaro (now Deputy Governor) and Dr. Peter Egedegbe representing the various nationalities.

Through all these processes, the leaders of oil-bearing communities had constantly checkmated the government and commission; they raised alarm when they felt the government was taking step detrimental to the commission and their interests.

In spite of their close watch, rumours of underpayment to the coffers of the commission were rife; there were also allegations of government ‘releasing funds with the right hand and taking it back with the left hand’. Various sources say the past administrations underfunded it by N300billion.

It was against the backdrop that Uduaghan’s amendment bill faced stiff opposition from the oil-producing communities. While some accused Uduaghan of attempting to cover up alleged misappropriation of its fund, contractors who had executed jobs for the commission feared sinister plot to avoid payment for jobs they did.

However, the resistance against the Uduaghan amendment bill has been a child’s play when compared to the vituperations and reactions toward Okowa’s. The incumbent governor hails from the non-oil producing Ika area of the state and it was against this backdrop that some parts of his bill were viewed with intense scrutiny and suspicion, particularly in the face of rumours that he planned to scarp the fund to free up fund for the development of his area and the state capital.

His bill proposes the scrapping of the office of the executive secretary, while appointing a managing director, with executive powers to carry out day to day running of the commission. The hazy details of how the MD would be appointment led opponents of the bill fearing an ominous plot and agenda. They prefer the old system where communities have a voice in appointees

The amendment recommends: “The MD shall be the Chief Executive and Accounting Officer…responsible for the day to day running of the commission… Executive Director shall be in charge of the three directorates.”

“What this means”, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, spokesperson of the Ijaw Wellhead and Flowstation host communities youths, told Niger Delta Report, “is that management of the oil fund is again shifting back into the hands of the governor and politicians who have being mismanaging the oil revenue over the past decades.”

Also, the replacement of ‘Oil Producing Communities’ with ‘Oil Producing Ethnic Nationalities’ is a contentious issue in the proposed law. Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko host communities view it as a move to rob them in favour of the governor’s area.

Documents sourced from the commission indicate that Itsekiri produces about 29 percent of the state’s oil; closely followed by Ijaw and Urhobo with 27 and 23 percent respectively with (12) Isoko and Ndokwa (nine) percent.

In view of the above, the southern part of the state accounts for 68 per cent of the state’s oil revenue, while the central and north have 23 and nine percent. This too explains why the south is against part of the bill which provides for the appointment of directors from across the three senatorial districts on equal basis.

A leader of the Delta Ijaw Oil Producing Communities, Chief Favour O Izoukumor, who spoke with Niger Delta Report when he led a protest to the House of Assembly, explained: “What this means is that although the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko produce the bulk of the oil revenue, we will be at disadvantage in the sharing of position, as it is already being done.

“The bill does not address the present injustice were Urhobos have three commissioners, Ndokwa has two and Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko together have one each on DESOPADEC board. What this means is that the people that produce about 70percent of the oil revenue enjoy less than 40percent appointments, employment and contracts while those with will barely 30 enjoy over 60percent.”

The Urhobo ethnic group, on their part, viewed the amendment as a move to rob them of their right to produce the executive chairman of the commission. By the provisions of the existing law, the position is rotated among the oil producing nationalities. With the Ijaw (Okirika) and Itsekiri (Kpogho) having produced chairmen, the next in line is Urhobo.

Public hearing turned public combat

But no arena has produced as much anger towards the amendment as the public hearing, which was dogged by protest, scuffle and violence. Blood literarily flowed at the House of Assembly with various interest groups clashing among themselves and with security operatives.

The Chairman, HOSTCOM Delta Chapter, Benjamin Eweta sustained injuries from attacks by members of a faction of HOSTCOM. Police had hectic times containing stakeholders who insisted on being part of the public hearing. In more than one occasion, they police had to wield the stick and throw punches.

Proceedings suffered incessant disruptions as various interest groups held entrenched positions refusing to budge. Inside the chamber, the Chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Hon Dennis Omovie, threatened to send those who breached the peace to jail.

In a presentation, on behalf of Host Communities Oil and Gas, Ndokwa Chapter, former Speaker, Dr Olise Imegwu, noted that the problem with interventionist body was not its structure, but inadequate funding.

A leader of the Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko Elders and Leaders Forum (I3S), Mr Amorighoye Mene, argued that the interventionist body has been unfair to the three ethnic groups, adding that projects and social works to benefitting communities should be based on volume of oil produced by such communities.

Izuokumor, agreed with that position and also reaffirmed his group’s opposition to the bill’s lack of equity in representation on the board of DESOPADEC. He also rejected the overbearing influence of the State government in the affairs of the interventionist agency.

Who produces what, how much?

An underlying grievance brought to light in the latest attempt to amend the DESOPADEC is about the production of each ethnic nationality. Some of those who spoke at the public hearing and others who confided in Niger Delta Report expressed concern that their groups were not credited with their true production value.

For instance, a representative of Ndokwa Elders and Leaders Council, Mr Oyibosochukwu Nwabueze, noted that the current nine percent allocated to the Ndokwa nation is incorrect. He said available data suggested that Ndokwa nation contributes 18 per cent. He urged the legislators to investigate the reduction.

The Ijaw and Itsekiri also expressed suspicions about the 23 per cent allotted to the Urhobo ethnic nationality. An anonymous source hinted that the figure was inflated by former Governor James Ibori to favour his kinsmen, to which he also allotted three (highest) commissioners slots.

An Ijaw further said, “Before Uduaghan became governor (2007), the Ijaw had the highest production; how did the Itsekiri jump from number two to one? Did they discover new oil wells in Itsekiri land?”

An Itsekiri leader insisted that Ijaw are not a close second as records indicate, insisting that oil wells in Jones Creek, Odidi and other parts of Warri South West Local Government Area are owned by the Itsekiri of Omadino.

Okowa’s peace shuttle, suspension of ultimatum

Worried by the avalanche of opposition to the bill, Okowa tried to calm fray nerves by meeting with the various interest groups.

“We are not repealing the old law. It is not a new bill. The amendment we are proposing is to structure DESOPADEC in line with the NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission) model.

“This is democracy and I am not expecting that the amendment bill will come out exactly as we proposed it. There will be public hearing and people will make their contributions. I don’t believe in forcing the hands of the legislators,” he explained.

Last Friday, two days before the expiration of the Ijaw’s ultimatum, he met with traditional rulers and leaders of the Ijaw Oil Producing Communities.

A reliable source at the Friday meeting disclosed that Okwa expressed shock at opposition from the Ijaws, who passionately supported him during his race to become governor.

“One of the revelations from our meeting with the governor was that some prominent members of the House of Assembly are trying to take advantage of the bill for their selfish interests.”

It was gathered that the Ijaws reaffirmed their opposition to the change of nomenclature of the law to oil producing nationalities, instead of communities and they also insisted on fair representation, overbearing influence of government official and misapplication of fund accruing to each group.

“A situation whereby a member of the board, because of his powers, corners funds for a particularly group to his group would not be tolerated. We have made that absolutely clear.”

Based on the meeting with the traditional rulers, the Ijaw youths agreed to suspend their ultimatum. Confirming the development, Izoukumor told Niger Delta Report, “Due to the intervention of the Ijaw traditional rulers and some Ijaw leaders, which culminated in a meeting with the governor, the traditional rulers pleaded with the Ijaw Oil Producing Communities and those that gave the ultimatum to shelve the ultimatum and give room for further dialogue.”

Mulade also confirmed the development, adding that the group had relaxed its warning to foreign missions and urged oil firms to go about their normal duties.

At the time of going to press, peace had returned to the state, yet many are skeptical that the controversies will continue unabated regardless of the final outcome.

July 31, 2015
DESOPADEC law: Ijaw youths send foreign nationals, Chevron, others packing

Oil bearing communities in Delta State have warned the state government and the House of Assembly to tread carefully on the state’s Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) amendment Bill.

An executive bill was recently sent to the House of Assembly by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for the amendment of the DESOPADEC law

But oil bearing communities are kicking against the perceived sectional agenda of the proposed amendment.

Flowstation and Wellhead Ijaw host communities yesterday gave foreign nationals and oil multinationals operating in the state seven days to vacate their personnel and contractors.

The host communities warned that they would not guarantee the safety of those who remained after the ultimatum.

Comrade Sheriff Mulade, John Bebeapere, Isaac Ikoroware, Faith Mamamu and Dickson Ogugu, representing Gbaramatu, Ogulagha, Egbema, Ogbe-Ijoh and Diebri, gave the ultimatum at the weekend after a meeting of the host communities in Warri.

In a communiqué after the meeting, the host communities said: “The proposed amendment bill is like a keg of gun powder, which can explode any day and engulf the state with devastating consequences.

“We call on the foreign embassies to advise their nationals in the above Ijaw territories as their safety shall not be guaranteed.

“We hereby call on the major oil companies, including Chevron Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Neconde Energy Limited, Shell Development Petroleum Company (SPDC) and AGIP within the above Ijaw territories, to vacate their personnel and contractors from their various facilities within seven days effective from the date of this publication.”

They said instead of amending the DESOPADEC law, the government should release N300 billion underpaid to the commission over the years, to enable it begin an aggressive development of their areas.

The Ijaw community leaders condemned the amendment, adding that the focus of DESOPADEC would no longer be restricted to the oil bearing communities, which have peculiar development challenges because of oil and gas exploration and production activities.

“The negative effect of this arrangement is that politicians who are not from oil bearing communities would be the ones to determine the direction of the Commission to the detriment of the oil and gas producing communities,” the communiqué said.

The group faulted last Thursday’s public hearing organised by the House of Assembly, alleging that it was stage-managed and members of the ad hoc committee carefully.

They called for a new sharing formula that would give the host communities 50 per cent and impacted communities 30 per cent.

That would leave 20 per cent to the state government.

The host comunities urged the state government to source funds for the development of the state capital and other parts of the state from other sources.

July 20, 2015
DESOPADEC law: Clashes, protests rock public hearing

There was pandemonium yesterday at the Delta State House of Assembly when host communities stormed the venue of the public hearing on an executive bill for the amendment to the State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC).

Proceedings were halted. Various interest groups insisted on going into the main chamber to express their positions.

There were clashes between the communities and security agents.

The Delta Ijaw Oil Producing Communities threatened to “challenge the law with all the strategies” at their disposal, if the lawmakers passed the amendment bill presented to them by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.

Over 350 protesters, carried placards with inscriptions, such as: “Give us our 13 per cent derivation”; “Do not deny us of our rights and entitlement”; “The bill by Governor Okowa is not the best” and “Okowa, do not cause confusion in DESOPADEC”.

Their leader and spokesperson for Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom, Favour Izoukumor, described the bill as anti-oil producing communities.

He said DESOPADEC was established to cater for oil producing communities and not for the entire state, as proposed by Okowa.

Izoukumor noted that one of the major challenges the commission should revisit is that DESOPADEC should have five commissioners representing Urhobo, Ndokwa, Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko.

The spokesman said the earlier eight, where Ijaw, Itsekiri and Isoko had one each and Urhobo and Ndowka had three and two was not proper.

A fight broke out before the hearing started.

The Chairman of the Host Communities (Hostcom), Delta chapter, Benjamin Eweta, was injured.

Twenty-five groups presented memoranda to the Assembly.

Tempers flared when the Chairman of the House Committee on DESOPADEC, Dennis Omovie, allowed a member of the factional group to speak.

Angry factional members shouted him down.

Law enforcement agencies restrained youths from opposing camps from confronting one another.

But the police restored peace.

A youth leader, Gabriel Mene Ejegi, from Hostcom, Itsekiri chapter, was ordered out of the gallery.

Security operatives had a hectic time controlling the crowd.

Omovie threatened to jail anyone, who breached the peace.

He said: “Let me say that this committee reserves the right to send anyone to jail.

“We have the full powers of the House. The committee has resolved that it will give everyone the opportunity to speak. Everyone is a member of Hostcom. As such, everyone has a right to contribute.”

Former Speaker Olise Imegwu, representing host community in the Oil and Gas for Ndokwa chapter, noted that the problem with DESOPADEC was insufficient funds.

A leader of the Delta South Oil and Gas nationalities, A. S. Mene, said the agency had been unfair to the Ijaw, Isoko and Itsekiri.

According to him, the sites of projects and social works should be based on the quantity of oil produced by such communities.

Mene said the infighting among DESOPADEC board members had hampered its effectiveness.

He condemned what he called “the unrealistic salaries of staff of DESOPADEC”.

Izoukumor, representing Delta Ijaw Oil and Gas Producing community, opposed the bill.

He regretted the lack of equity in DESOPADEC’s board representation.

The representative rejected the “overbearing influence” of the government in the agency’s affairs.

The representative of Ndokwa Elders and Leaders’ Council, Oyibosochukwu Nwabueze, supported the amendment to the bill.

July 17, 2015
Okowa and politics of DESOPADEC Law amendment

The honeymoon period between Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and the people of the state, particularly the Ijaw ethnic nationality, from where he picked his deputy, seems to be over. Kinsmen of Chief Kingsley Otuaro, who fervently supported the governor, may soon be at daggers drawn with the Ika-born governor.

The bone of contention is the plan by the governor to amend the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC). Although infamous for fraud, there is no doubt that the commission has gone a long way to assuage the feeling of neglect, underdevelopment and pervading poverty of oil bearing communities in the state.

Interestingly, Otuaro, a lawyer, who is Okowa’s deputy, was the immediate past Commissioner representing the Ijaw ethnic group in DESOPADEC and his above board handling of the group’s affairs during his stint endeared him to the people.

The proposed amendment before the House of Assembly is generating concerns. It seeks, among others, to alter the configuration of the primary beneficiaries which is oil bearing communities to oil bearing ethnic nationalities, a move a section of the state sees as a deliberate ploy by the governor, who hails from the Delta North Senatorial District of the state, to put his mostly non-oil bearing area at par with the oil-bearing communities in the Central and South districts.

In the run-up to the governorship election, opponents of the governor had accused him of planning to scrap DESOPADEC to free up funds for the development of his part of the state. Politicians from other parts of the state said Okowa and aspirants from his district were seeking the highest position in the state as a means of settling scores.

But no issue has upset the other ethnic groups as the DESOPADEC amendment bill.

Ijaws leaders from Diebiri, Egbema, Gbaramatu, Ogbe-Ijoh and Ogulagha kingdoms in Warri South, South West and North as well as Burutu Local Government Areas of the state, met at the BB Hotels, Warri on Monday with a stern warning to the governor and the House to tread softly on DESOPADEC .

The Fie-Owei of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom, Chief Favour O. Izoukumor, who spent money and stake his reputation to back Okowa, led Sheriff Mulade (Gbaramatu), Dickson Asoki (Egbema), Chief Prefugha Karawei (Ogulagha) and Pastor Samuel Ako (Diebiri) and 20 others to the meeting. They were unequivocal in their plea to the governor that the amendment cannot stand.

While assuring the governor of their readiness to support any efforts aimed at bringing good governance to the impoverished people of oil producing communities and Deltans in general, the Ijaw leaders urge the Rt Hon Monday Igbuya-led House to “reject those proposals that would undermine the interest of oil and gas producing communities”, cautioning that those amendments, “may likely provide basis for insurgency in the creeks of Delta State that might impede oil production”.

Among the vexing proposal in the amendments, according the ethnic leaders, was a plan to have a Managing Director and three Executive Directors to run the day-to-day activities of the commission, a move they posited would not only further burden the finances of the commission through increase salaries and emoluments, but would undermine the functions and duties of the Chairman and representatives of the board, who are chosen by members of the oil bearing communities.

Rather than carry out the wholesale change in the organogram of the commission, the Ijaw leaders urged the governor to rather look into the problems of transparency and overbearing influence of government officials who are clog in the wheel of its progress.

To this end, they demanded that the commission’s 50per cent share of the derivation fund should go straight to DESOPADEC’s coffers rather than through a shady detour through the state government’s account as well as reduction of the current commissioners to five (one per oil bearing ethnic nation).

It is difficult to determine who is going to blink first, but the prognoses are not in anybody’s favour.

July 17, 2015
Tension in Delta over DESOPADEC law

The face-off between Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and oil-bearing communities over the amendment to the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) law, worsened yesterday.

Ijaw and Urhobo youths urged the governor to drop the proposed amendment or face their wrath.

Urhobo youths, under the aegis of Urhobo Youth Alliance for Equity and Justice (UYAFEJ), urged Okowa to withdraw the bill within two weeks or face the consequence of his action.

The Ijaw youths gave the governor three days to backtrack, if he does not want them to cripple oil production.

The Urhobo youths frowned at Okowa’s perceived plan to rob them of their chance to produce the next chairman of the board and to give his (Okowa’s) district undue an advantage in the management of oil funds.

An Urhobo leader, Emmanuel Skido, in an online statement, warned: “UYAFEJ will make Delta State ungovernable for Okowa,” if he went ahead with the plan.

Skido accused the governor of acting a tribal agenda.

Also, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, Chief Moscow Johnny and other chairmen and members of oil producing communities of Gbaramatu Kingdom, who are hosts to Abiteye, Otuunana, Makaraba, Jones Creeks and Egwa I flow stations, warned the governor against amending the DESOPADEC law.

They said Okowa would face their anger, if he failed to retrace his steps within 72 hours, starting from Tuesday evening.

A statement yesterday in Effurun, after the Ijaw youths’ meeting, reads: “We are giving the Delta State Government and the House of Assembly a 72-hour ultimatum to halt the bill or face the wrath of oil communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom.”

The host communities condemned the proposed amendment to the DESOPADEC bill.

They noted that “the bill clearly seeks to rip us off of the 13 per cent derivation fund given to oil and gas producing communities in the state”.

The statement added: “As host communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom, we want to vehemently say that the bill is not only inimical to the principle of derivation but it is an explicit display of wickedness by the governor.

“Therefore, we will not fold our arms and watch Dr. Okowa take away our economic and political rights by politicising the 13 per cent derivation fund meant to develop our communities through DESOPADEC.”

They urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call Okowa to order and make the House of Assembly to halt proceedings on the bill.

The communities said this was the only way peace and uninterrupted oil and gas production could be guaranteed.

July 16, 2015