The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Itsekiri youths

  • 2019: Ijaw, Itsekiri youths march in support of Okowa, Otuaro

    Hundreds of Ijaw and Itsekiri youths from Warri South-West council area of Delta state have vowed their resolve to return the Dr Ifeanyi Okowa/Barr. Kingsley Otuaro-led administration in next year’s election.

    The youths, under the aegis of the Warri South-West Youths for Okowa/Otuaro, comprising of various youths groups in the council area, in a statement signed by the chairman of the Warri South-West Mega Rally For Okowa/ Otuaro 2019 Planning Committee, Ambassador Edwin Aken, said they were supporting the Okowa because it is the right thing to do.

    According to the state, Governor Okowa happened to be the most youths-friendly governor in the history of Delta state, adding that it was just the right thing to do to ensure the continuity of the administration, especially as it had committed so much into the future of the state.

    To signify their support for the governor and his desire to serve a second term in office, the youths have organised a mega rally in Warri, to be held on Saturday, December 22, 2018.

    Read Also: Okowa lauds road projects in Delta

    “In view of the visible achievements of His Excellency, Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Aurthur Okowa and his amiable deputy, Deacon Barr. Kingsley Burutu Otuaro in the administration of the state, we the youths of Warri South West will be coming out in our large numbers to support the re-election bid of the duo on December 22nd 2018 at the Atuwatse primary school, rice farm, Warri.

    “The Warri South-West Youths for Okowa/Otuaro rally is a coalition of different youth groups in the Local Government Area. Our coming together under this rally is to demonstrate to the world our readiness to deliver PDP in Delta state, especially the governor and his deputy.

    “Posterity will not judge us right if at this point of our existence as youths, we fail to acknowledge and cue behind what is good for us as a people. The fact cannot be contested anywhere that Okowa is the most youth friendly government since the creation of Delta as a political entity within Nigeria.

    “We have no other choice than to support the continuity of Okowa who had demonstrated over the years his unquenchable thirst for prosperity and development. Ekweme! You are truly a road master and a guru of development. Your Excellency, we can assure you that come 2019, your return to the Government House Asaba is already a done deal”, the statement said.

  • Ijaw, Itsekiri youths pledge to protect Escravos-Warri dredging

    As the dredging of Escravos-Warri Port draws closer, Ijaw and Itsekiri youths have urged the Federal Government to ensure the completion of the project.

    Pledging to ensure a smooth execution, youths at the launch of sensitisation for the project at Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) in Warri, Delta State, noted that reviving the port will boost the economy of the area, state and others.

    President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Eric Omare described the economic potential of the port as capable of feeding Delta State and Niger Delta.

    The youth leader said both ethnic nationalities were determined to ensure that peace prevails in the cause of executing the project.

    He said: “The Federal Government has made efforts by awarding the contract for the Escravos Bar to Warri Port dredging. The IYC and the INYC met to say we cannot allow any crisis to hinder our growth.

    “Today, we are here to demonstrate to the world that Warri is safe for economic activities. We are here to show to the world that this port is ready for business; that all tribes are ready to accept the project.

    “The days of communal clashes are gone; the days when communities chased away companies are gone. We are to demonstrate that we all have one mind.”

    President of the Itsekiri National Youth Council (INYC) Weyinmi Agbateyiniro also pledged that youths will protect the project “jealously”.

    He said: “We are going to jealously guard this project to its full execution. We are sensitising all communities and traditional rulers in the right of way for this project to be executed. We want to appeal to the Federal Government not to abandon this project.”

    Also, NPA’s manager in Warri, Mr. Simon Okeke, stressed the need for all communities and stakeholders to support the dredging.

    Okeke, who recalled the promise of NPA’s Managing Director, Ms. Hadiza Usman, during a visit, to facilitate the dredging of the Escravos-Warri Port channel, added that it is central to the Southeast and North.

     

  • Warri crisis: Ijaw youths urge Olu to restrain Itsekiri youths

    Warri crisis: Ijaw youths urge Olu to restrain Itsekiri youths

    Ijaw youths, under the aegis of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and Ogbe-Ijoh Clan Youth Council (OCYC), have urged the Olu of Warri to caution Itsekiri youths against worsening the communal conflict arising from the ownership of Ogbe-Ijoh Market in Warri South Local Government Area.

    The inter-ethnic relationship among youths of the three mjor ethnic groups in Warri – the Ijaw, Urhobo and Itsekiri – has worsened because of the ownership claims to the market among them.

    The National President of the Itsekiri National Youths Council (INYC), Agbaterinero Weyinmi, said the market belonged to the Itsekiri.

    At a recent media briefing in Warri, the INYC leader urged the Delta State Government to intervene in the inter-ethnic misunderstanding over the ownership and control of the market.

    He said the Agbasa (Urhobo) and Ogbe-Ijoh (Ijaw) youths, who had contested the claim, were trespassers.

    But a statement yesterday in Warri, Delta State, yesterday, Chairman of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Clan’s youths in IYC, Smart Okosu and Ogbe-Ijoh Clan Youth Council President Edwin Aken, noted that Weyinmi’s alleged statement could further dampen the frosty relationship among Warri youths.

    Ogbe-Ijoh youths, who presented documents to prove their clan’s ownership of the part of Warri town where the disputed market is located, noted that the Itsekiri youths’ claim could compound the negative tribal sentiments in the town.

    The statement said: “In the first place, contrary to the report, the Ogbe-Ijoh territory is in Warri South Local Government Area and Warri South West Local Government Area. While the traditional headquarters of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom is also the administrative headquarters of Warri South West Local Government Area, the part of Ogbe-Ijoh, including the Ogbe-Ijoh Market, from where the township Warri was established, is in Warri South Local Government Area.

    “This fact is recognised in several legal instruments, including the instrument establishing The Delta State Traditional Rulers and Chiefs Edict of 1999, which gazetted the Amakosu (Pere) of Ogbe-Ijoh in Warri South Local Government Area, the Warri Urban District Council, WRLN 177 of 1955, where Ogbe-Ijoh areas were represented as Alders Town B3, Ogbe-Ijoh C1, C2 and Government Area F1 in Warri township, The Chiefs Laws, Cap 19 of 1957 of the former Western Region, later Cap 37 of 1977, says the Olu is the prescribed authority of the Itsekiri in Warri, excluding the territories of Ogbe-Ijoh, Gbaramatu and Egbema.

    “It is simple logic that the paramount ruler of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom could not have been recognised and gazetted as a traditional ruler in Warri South Local Government Area if Ogbe-Ijoh people and territory were not part of Warri South Local Government Area. Those claiming to the contrary are simply ignorant of the history and geography of Warri township.”

    “We call on the Itsekiri paramount ruler to prevail on the likes of Weyinmi not to remind us of our no-good distant past as the Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom Youth Council will not tolerate irresponsible and careless statement that is capably of undermining the prevailing peace in Warri.

    “We also use this medium to appeal to the Delta State Government to complete the Ogbe-Ijoh Market to avoid the persistent problems arising from the management of the market.

    “Warri today has lost its glory because of ethnic rivalry and illegal land-grabbing tendencies. It is better for all ethnic groups to respect each other and live as one instead of embarking on daylight frivolous claims and creating unnecessary tension. It is our collective responsibility to make Warri great again through unity and togetherness.”

     

  • Itsekiri youths will not succumb to blackmail, says INYC President

    Itsekiri youths will not succumb to blackmail, says INYC President

    The President of Itsekiri National Youth Council, (INYC), David Tonwe spoke has vowed that the apex body of Itsekiri youth groups will not be cowed by blackmail and propaganda in its quest to reposition for the good of the Itsekiri people.

    Tonwe, a former Warri South West Local Government Area chairman and factional leader in the Ugborodo Community crisis, when the leadership of various Itsekiri youth groups paid him and INYC leaders a courtesy visit last weekend.

    The visit was in reaction to an advertorial in a national daily, which claimed that the tenure of his executive had elapsed.

    He described the authors of the document as “fifth columnist” and warned that the Itsekiri Nation and INYC were not for sale at any price.

    Earlier, the leaders of Iwere Development Association (IDA), Warri Social, National Association of Itsekiri Graduates (NAIG) and the National Association of Itsekiri Students (NAIS) had dissociated themselves from the advertorial, stressing that those who purportedly signed it on their behalf did so without due consultation.

    The Secretary of IDA, Comrade Weyinmi Agbateyiniro, in his remarks, described the advertorial as disturbing but assured that the signatories and their sponsors do not belong to any of the INYC sub groups: NAIG, NAIS, IDA

    Agbateyiniro said the INYC under the leadership of Tonwe had done a lot in improving the lots of Itsekiri youths and commended it for its effort in ensuring that their kinsmen benefited from the Federal Government amnesty programme.

    Speaking in the same vein, National President of NAIG, Comrade Alero Tenumah, Chairman Board of Trustees of Warri Social, Comrade Sonny Bodor as well as the National President of NAIS, corroborated the views of Comrade Agbateyiniro and pledged their unalloyed support to Hon. Tonwe’s leadership.

    Sonny Bodor thereafter moved for a confidence vote of the Tonwe-led executive of INYC. The vote was seconded by Tenumah and unanimously accepted by all members of the various youth groups that attended the meeting.

    Earlier, the Legal Adviser of the INYC, Mr. Robinson Ariyo, faulted the call for the dissolution of the INYC leadership under Tonwe remarking that the call betrayed the ignorance of the masterminds about the constitution of the group.

    Ariyo said the executive was duly constituted in line with the constitution of the INYC and said the sponsors of the said advertorial ought to had  understood the working organ of the council before taking any action

    “It is interesting that people aspiring to lead a group do not seem to understand the constitution. People cannot just wake up from the wrong side of their beds and decide that an executive should be dissolved.

    “The action betrayed a total ignorance of the constitution of the INYC, which is duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC),” he added.

    The Secretary of the INYC, Isaac Dorsu, said the advertorial was not unconnected with the Ugborodo leadership crisis, but maintained that the umbrella body of Itsekiri youths group was greater than any single community.

    He said: “The INYC draws membership from over 100 Itsekiri communities and the INYC is bigger than Ugborodo. The crisis in Ugborodo should not be mixed with INYC. People should not be misinformed.”

    While appealing for calm, he said the group was working with the relevant organs in the Itsekiri nation to resolve the lingering crisis in Ugborodo.

    He commended the leadership of their maturity in handling the matter and urged them to continue to be decorous and civil in running their affairs.

    Various Itsekiri leaders, including Gbubemi Abigor, INYC PRO, Lucky Pessu, Wealth Erebo and Mike Odeli, were present at the occasion.