The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ita-Giwa

  • Bakassi gone for good, says Ita-Giwa

    Bakassi gone for good, says Ita-Giwa

    Bakassi political leader Senator Florence Ita-Giwa has said efforts at reclaiming the ceded Bakassi peninsula are fruitless.

    She said energy should be channelled towards proper resettlement of displaced persons.

    Ita-Giwa, who is a delegate to the national conference, said: “I heard that someone made a presentation and recommended that the matter of reclaiming Bakassi be revisited.

    “I don’t want anybody to deceive us into developing false hope. That we are likely to return to Cameroon to go and live in Abana is not possible. The 10-year period we had to appeal had elapsed.

    “That territory now belongs to Cameroon and our people have been relocated to Ikang. But we need proper resettlement.

    “As I speak now, we have 3, 000 refugees in that camp. We need for them to be resettled. You cannot be a refugee in your own country.

    “The only way Bakassi can be brought back is if the country goes to war.

    “Remember we subjected ourselves to the jurisdiction and we also allowed ourselves to be used as guinea pigs that two countries can settle scores without blood letting.

    “I think I am too old in politics to deceive people. I am too old to give people false hope.

    “I wear the shoes and I know where it hurts and for now my people want compensation and to be taken out of the refugee camp.”

    Ms Ita-Giwa, who is the chairman of the Committee on Environment at the conference, said her mandate is to ensure that Cross River State is compensated in perpetuity.

    “I am impressed that based on our submission on the mandate we came with from our state, the Southsouth has agreed that the people of Bakassi be compensated in perpetuity, not only for the mental dislocation and trauma arising from the ceding of Bakassi peninsula but also for loss of economic and financial potential and opportunities.

    “Loss of resources is not only oil but also of aquatic wealth because hitherto the crayfish that the country uses comes from Bakassi and it is gone. Also all the big lobsters from there are gone too.

    “Fortunately, the mandate the state gave me is also my mandate. It is a mandate that if the Federal Government is serious can be achieved. But if you come here and tell us that we should go back to court to bring back Bakassi, it is not possible.”

  • Bakassi resettlement committee thrills Ita-Giwa

    For the longsuffering people Bakassi as well as their champion, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, the cloud of despair has lifted following the constitution of a presidentiall committee on the resettlement of the islanders.

    The people have seen the roughest of times. Their ancestral land was once the subject of a protracted ownership struggle between Nigeria of which they have been part, and Cameroon which claimed the island was part of its territory.

    The Court of International Justice sitting at the Hague ceded the island to Cameroon in the early 90s.

    Then came more worries: where to resettle the Bakassi people who preferred to remain in Nigeria.

    All this while, Princess Ita-Giwa remained the only face and voice of the people, pleading their case at the National Assembly, the Presidency and sometimes leading protest marches, all for the welfare of her people.

    Even though her efforts popularised the people and their struggle, the result they sought did not come easily or quickly. But eventually, smething god has started happening. President Goodluck Jonathan has set up a committee to look into the Bakassi issue especially with a view to resettling them where they really want to be.

    And where is that? Dayspring 1 and 2 and the Kwa Island.

    That has pleased the Senator, especially considering also that her choice candidate for the chairmanship the Bakassi local council has overwhelming acceptance.

    It was gathered that Mrs. Edisuwa Usang Isong, preferred by Ita-Giwa, is the consensus candidate.

    Senator Ita-Giwa has always said that all she wants is peaceful co-existence between her people and the host community as well as the restoration of their dignity.

  • Ita-Giwa urges FG to quicken resettlement of displaced Bakassi people at Dayspring

    Ita-Giwa urges FG to quicken resettlement of displaced Bakassi people at Dayspring

    Sen. Florence Ita-Giwa, popularly known as “Mama Bakassi” has renewed an appeal to the Federal Government to expedite action on resettling the displaced people of the area at Dayspring Island.

    Dayspring is said to be owned by communities in Calabar.

    Ita-Giwa, a former Presidential Adviser on National Assembly Matters, made the call on Tuesday at the Akwa Ikot Edem Primary School in Akpabuyo Local Government of Cross River.

    She said that the people also needed tents for shelter as the school where they were at the moment would resume classes in a couple of weeks.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the school is temporally serving as a refugee camp for Nigerians who were allegedly evicted by Cameroonians on March 7.

    Ita-Giwa said that the only way to remedy the recurring Bakassi problem permanently was proper resettlement of the displaced people.

    Ita-Giwa, who also provided the refugees with tanks of water, called on good spirited Nigerians, government and the international community, to urgently assist the displaced persons by providing them with basic amenities.

    NAN also reports that the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) had presented some relief materials to the people at the camp.

    NAN recalls that the Federal Government recently set up a committee on the resettlement of the Bakassi people.

    Meanwhile, the Paramount Ruler of Bakassi, Dr Etim Okon Edet, has also urges the government and international community to assist the people and hasten the process of proper resettlement .

    Mr Saviour Nyong, the member representing Bakassi constituency in the State House of Assembly, wants the Federal Government to urgently resettle the displaced persons.

    A Cameroon/Nigeria liaison officer, Prince Aston Joseph, claimed that Nigerians living in the ceded peninsula were constantly being harrassed by the Cameroonian gendarmes.

    Meanwhile, another baby has been born at the Akwa Ikot Edem Primary School in Akpabuyo, temporally serving as a camp for Nigerians who were allegedly evicted by Cameroonians on March 7.

    The baby, born to Mrs Mary Archibong, on March 30, 2013, would be the third to be delivered since the displaced persons found refuge in Akpabuyo.

    Red Cross officials told NAN on Tuesday that apart from the new born baby, there were close to 30 babies in the camp.

    The officials, who pleaded anonymity, said they were worried by the poor sanitary condition in the area.

    They also complained about the lack of potable water, which they said, could lead to the outbreak of an epidemic.

  • Florence Ita-Giwa celebrates 67

    Florence Ita-Giwa celebrates 67

    It was another opportunity for the high and mighty to gather as Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, former Special Adviser to President Umaru Yar’Adua on National Assembly Matters, celebrated her 67th birthday on Tuesday.

    At the birthday bash held inside Sky Restaurant at Eko Hotel and Suites, Mrs Abba Folawiyo, Tuface and Annie Idibia, Iyanya, Patrick Doyle, Oge Okoye and over 100 other celebrities were on hand to grace the occasion.

    At 67, Ita-Giwa is blessed with a lovely skin, glowing smiles and kind words. Younger ladies aspire to look as pleasant as she is at 67. She also remains fashionable and is a role model with a multitude of followers. She is the founder of Children of Bakassi Foundation, which caters for hundreds of displaced Bakassi children.

  • Ita-Giwa okays APC

    The ex-Special Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on National Assembly Matters and the political leader of the Bakassi people, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, has welcomed the merging of political parties ahead of the 2015 general elections. She described the move as an ingredient that would sustain the nation’s democratic principles.

    Rather than seeing the merger as a threat to the ruling party, Senator Ita-Giwa asserted that it would be myopic to see it from that perspective, adding that a strong opposition would strengthen democratic institutions.

    In a statement made available yesterday, she said the merger of four parties was in the interest of the nation, adding that it was not strange since parties had always merged to position themselves against ruling parties.

    The statement reads: “The furore and controversies raised by the merger of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is unnecessary.

    This development is a welcome one. My take is that it will strengthen our political system.

    “Globally, opposition parties consolidate democratic ideals. It enables the ruling party to deliver more on its electoral promises to the people.

    “It allows for a healthy competition between the opposition and the ruling party and the benefits cannot be overemphasised. I am keen at all efforts aimed at sustaining our democracy and ensuring that the masses benefit accordingly.”

  • Resettle people in Dayspring, Kwa Island, Ita-Giwa pleads

    Resettle people in Dayspring, Kwa Island, Ita-Giwa pleads

    A  Political leader of the Bakassi people, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, has urged the Federal Government to resettle of the people rather than pursue a review which, she said, is coming “suspiciously” late and not likely to have a headway.

    She spoke in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, yesterday, urging the Federal Government to consider compensating Cross River State and Bakassi people in perpetuity for the loss of their land and its attendant resources.

    Mrs Ita-Giwa said: “You are aware that the Nigerian media space for the past three months or thereabout has been awash with the Bakassi issue.

    “At about this time 10 years ago, the ICJ gave a landmark judgement which handed over the sovereignty of Bakassi to the Republic of Cameroon. This judgement triggered lots of events, with far-reaching consequences on the lives of the Bakassi people.

    “Starting with the Green Tree Agreement, the judgement culminated in the mass exodus of the Bakassi people who refused to surrender their sovereignty to the Republic of Cameroon.

    “Many well-meaning Nigerians, organisations and groups have severely advocated for the revisit of the ICJ judgement. Quite recently, the National Assembly even passed a resolution asking for a revisit of the judgement. We equally remember that two members of the National Assembly representing Cross River State namely Hon Essien Ayi and Senator Prince Bassey Otu, at different times moved relating motions on the floor of the National Assembly sometime in 2006. As we speak, all these efforts seem to be in futility.

    “While acknowledging these efforts by these spirited Nigerians and the press, for bringing the plight of the Bakassi people to the front burner, we wish this issue of ICJ revisit had come much earlier.

    “We the Bakassi people have had to contend with becoming Internally Displaced People in our country for the past six years with no particular place of proper relocation and settlement. The purported place for our resettlement was impossible as it meant fostering us on a densely populated and landlocked area.

    “We unequivocally reject to be treated as slaves in our country, believing and knowing we have a right to be treated with dignity. By the Grace of God Almighty, in our quest to restore our dignity and fundamental human right, we registered our right to vote and indeed voted at Dayspring 1, 2 and Kwa Islands to reflect the traditional 10 wards of Bakassi. We duly registered and voted in these wards as Bakassi Local Government Area in the state House of Assembly, National Assembly and presidential elections, only to be disenfranchised in the rescheduled election of February 2012 by some spurious court injunction.”

    “Arising from Independent National Electoral Commission delineation, we urge all political parties to continue with the political structures in Dayspring 1, 2 and Kwa Islands to enable our people partake in all political activities.

    “While standing on the promise of the former president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to relocate and resettle the Bakassi people with their economic, social, political and traditional institutions intact, we appeal to the federal government of Nigeria to immediately commence the process of developing the Dayspring 1, 2 and Kwa Islands to enable the Bakassi people to properly resettle putting roofs over their heads.

    “We know that no amount of monetary compensation can make up for the loss of our homes and ancient/cultural value, prizeless artefacts, shrines and our expansive land rich in flora and fauna, but at least developing the islands will bring succour to the people.”