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Tag: Kalabari

  • Late Amanyanabo of Kalabari inspiration to all, says INC

    Late Amanyanabo of Kalabari inspiration to all, says INC

    The Ijaw National Congress, INC, has said that the late Amanayabo of Kalahari Kingdom, His Imperial Majesty, King TJT Princewill, the Amachre the XI, the Amanyanabo of Kalabari kingdom as a rear gem and an inspiration to many Nigerians.

    Speaking during a condolence visit to the Son of the late Monarch, Tonye Princewill, President General of the INC, Prof. Benjamin Ogale Okaba said considering the contributions of the the late King to the Ijaw nations, the INC wants to participate fully in all activities leading to his intermeny.

    Represented by the Chairman of Eastern Zone of INC, His Royal Majesty, King NLA Iraron, Ede Obolo II, commended the son of the late King for setting up a high powered PAN IJAW Central Burial Committee to oversee the burial arrangements of the late Kalabari-Ijaw Monarch.

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    The delegation was however not happy about the non-inclusion of INC Worldwide in the burial committee and expressed readiness to participate with the inclusion of some INC members in the burial committee by the Prince.

    He the late King was not just a father but a pioneer pillar of INC and a father to many Ijaw sons and daughters; adding that it is the responsibility of Ijaw National Congress Inc, Worldwide to fully participate in the burial process of the Ijaw Monarch.  In his response, the chief mourner and Prince of Kalabari Kingdom and Niger Delta, Prince Tonye Princewill thanked the Ijaw National Congress INC for finding time to pay this epochal condolence visit to him and by extension the entire Kalabari People.

    He said that the burial dates of 29th and 30th November, 2023 has not changed, and asked that the Ijaw National Congress INC send in three names which will be formally included in the burial committee.

  • Rivers Kalabari insist on governor from coast

    Ahead of today’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary in Rivers State, a social political organization in Kalabari kingdom in the state, the Kalabari Ene-Bate, has insisted that a candidate from the coastal area should be given the ticket.

    The group, which has respected people of Kalabari kingdom, said its decision to back Chief Ibinabo Michael West, a governorship aspirant from the coastal area, was taken after consultations and the assessment of other Kalabari aspirants.

    The group spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt when they endorsed Michael West as the consensus candidate.

    The leader of Kalabari Ene Bate, Chief Festus Igbikialabo, said the group discovered that West was the most acceptable among the aspirants.

    He said the aspirant had demonstrated his pedigree when he represented Asari-Toru II in the Rivers State House of Assembly from 2003 till 2011.

    The spokesman added that West’s legacy still spoke for him.

    Igbikialabo said: “We have a vision and a mission. One of them is to have a governor from Kalabari. Though we have many aspirants in the race, but the most important thing is to have a Kalabari as governor.

    “Of course, other aspirants are good, but one is outstanding. That is why we have taken the decision to adopt one of our sons as our candidate. We are backing him, starting from the primaries, because we have a common goal to ensure that a Kalabari becomes governor in 2015.”

  • Kalabari eye Rivers governor

    Kalabari eye Rivers governor

    The Kalabari in Rivers State yesterday staged a rally in Buguma to support President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term ambition.

    The Kalabari, who have been at the centre of the Soku oil-well dispute between Rivers and Bayelsa states, said they could not allow the fight over oil fields to affect their support for a larger Niger Delta interest.

    Speaking at the rally, organised by the Kengema Unity Forum (KUF), the founder and leader of the group, Soboma Jackrish, said the emergence of Dr. Jonathan as the President was providential.

    He said: “God ordained it to happen; it has nothing to do with the power of any man. Although we voted for him, he did not ask us to campaign for him. We saw his activities when he was a deputy governor; when he became a governor and vice president. If you look at his track records, you will see the finger of God in it.”

    Jackrish said KUF and its sister body, Network for the Defence of Democracy and Good Governance, were committed to ensuring that President Jonathan was re-elected in 2015.

    He said the Kalabari were using the KUF platform to sensitise and mobilise the people to demand their rights, including producing the next governor.

    According to him, the Kalabari have suffered neglect since the creation of the state in 1967.

    “Given our contributions to the wealth of Nigeria, we think it is time for us to produce an elected governor in Rivers State,” he added.

    Jackrish decried the political tension in the state and urged politicians to toe the path of peace and unity.

  • Soku oil wells: Jonathan, Kalabari leaders in closed-door meeting

    Soku oil wells: Jonathan, Kalabari leaders in closed-door meeting

    • President pledges amicable resolution of row

     

    The fierce war of words between Bayelsa and Rivers States over the disputed five oil wells in Soku may have been doused,at least for now.

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday met with Kalabari traditional rulers and elders from Rivers State at the State House in Abuja in the first of the series of effort to resolve the dispute.

    Kalabari elders had stormed the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the National Boundaries Commission (NBC),Abuja last week to protest alleged ceding of oil wells in Kula,Soku,Ehem-Sarama,Idama and Abose communities to Bayelsa State.

    The five wells jointly produce 300000 barrels of crude oil daily.

    They insinuated that the two agencies were being manipulated by the Presidency to favour Bayelsa,President Jonathn’s home state.

    The Presidency immediately denied the allegation and berated those peddling the insinuation.

    The two state governments soon joined the fray throwing barbs at each other’s direction.

    Worried by the development,President Jonathan invited the Kalabari traditional rulers and elders as well as other stakeholders with a view to thrashing out the issues.

    At the head of the Kalabari delegation was the Amanyanabo of Kalabari, who was represented by Amanyanabo of Abonnema, Disrael Gbobo Bob-Manuel (II).

    Others in attendance were Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, Minister of Petroleum Resources, Deziani Allison-Madueke, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ama Pepple, former Foreign Affairs Minister Odein Ajumogobia; and Professor Nimi Briggs, among others.

    Shortly before the commencement of the one hour closed door meeting, Jonathan said : “we have come here to resolve the crisis.”

    The leader of the Kalabari delegation told reporters at the end of the deliberation that it was a cordial and friendly family meeting.

    He also said the delegation was now convinced that the President was not taking sides in the dispute.

    He said: “Mr. President has told us clearly that he is not taking sides, and we do believe him.

    “We are happy that he called us with a view to looking at the possibility of resolving the situation. I think it was a friendly and family meeting.

    “The situation, as you know, is bordering on boundary issues and we felt that certain delineations ought not be done, and we have made this expressly clear to Mr President and to the press.

    “He promised that the matter will be looked into, and we verily believe that it will be looked into.”

    On what format will the president be looking into it, Bob-Manuel said: “when these issues are to be discussed, it will not be just us coming here to sit down. Maybe they will form groups that will look into the issue”.

    On the role played by Rivers state governor, Bob-Manuel said: “the Kalabari nation felt that they were not well treated and they decided to come out and speak their minds, it has nothing to do with the state government.”

    Sources close to the meeting said further discussions will be held involving the RMAFC, NBC, the two state governors and other stakeholders so that all the issues can be resolved.

    President Jonathan was said to have told the Kalabari that he was neutral in the matter and that in any case the two were one before the creation of Bayelsa and that he was in Rivers before moving to Bayelsa to serve.

     

  • Kalabari protest moves to cede five Rivers oil communities to Bayelsa

    The Kalabari National Forum yesterday protested alleged moves to excise five oil producing Kalabari communities from Rivers States to Bayelsa.

    It urged President Goodluck Jonathan to stop those behind it in the interest of peace.

    Speaking with reporters after submitting petitions to the National Boundary Commission (NBC) and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in Abuja, the Forum alleged surreptitious moves by some federal government officials to take away the affected communities from rivers and give them to Bayelsa for political reasons.

    The communities are: Kula, Soku, Elem-Sangama, Idama and Abissa.

    The communities host the Soku Oil Fields and produce about 300,000 barrels of crude oil daily, making them one of the richest areas in the Niger Delta.

    The Chairman of the Akukutoru Local government Area Traditional Council of Rivers State, Engr. Emmanuel Awoyesuau-Jack, who spoke for the forum, said the protests became necessary owing to glaring unwillingness of federal government functionaries to ensure justice in the matter which has been before relevant federal government agencies for several years.

    The agencies involved included the Office of the Suveyor-General of the Federation, the NBC, RMAFC and the Supreme Court.

    He added that from available information, the correction to the 11th edition of the Nigerian Administrative Map which gave the communities to Bayelsa, might not be effected in the 12th edition of the map being expected without president Jonathan’s intervention.

    Engr. Awoyesuau-Jack said, “the self-explanatory effort was perceived to assuage the initial provocation of the Rivers State government. While Rivers state government patiently awaited the promised correction, of the error laden 11th edition of the Administrative map of Nigeria, which ordinarily should have redressed the acknowledged fundamental misrepresentations, the RMAFC surreptitiously released all revenue accruing from Soku Fields and Wells , previously kept in an Escrow Account to Bayelsa State without recourse to Rivers State.

    “In spite of every meaningful effort by the Rivers State government to seek justice in this extremely provocative matter, no progress from the NBC has been made to date. It was however, rumoured that, the assurances given disappointingly, will not reflect the promised correction but rather the provisional 12th Administrative Map said to be under production will nakedly usurp 80 per cent of Akuku Toru LGA in Rivers State by further shifting the boundary line from SAN BARTHOLOMEW River SOMBEREIRO River.

    “Let us, in the light of the above, state without mincing words, as inhabitants of the area under reference, that this position is totally unacceptable as it is clear manifestation of political manipulation intent on balkanizing Kalabari territory and ceding same to Bayelsa state.

    “This premeditated and strategically executed action is intended to sustain and legitimize the injustice and brazen act of aggression meted out to the Kalabari Kingdom and rivers states, with the connivance of various federal government agencies, under the watchful eyes and supervision of his Excellency, Mr. President, whose home state, most ingloriously, is the direct beneficiary”.