Issues
Towards Sustainable Peace, Dev In Ogoni
When the historian and philosopher, Will Durant wrote that, “Eternal vigilance is the price of order as well as liberty,” he was drawing attention to the degradation of our public order by increase in the anti peace forces.
Unfortunately, the pursuit of economic freedom and mutual co-existence in our society today is greatly threatened by the growth of an intolerant spirit which debases our humanity.
In Nigeria, the Niger Delta region has remained in focus because of the prevalent agitations accruing from decades of perceived injustices meted on the people.
There have also been multifaceted approaches to these seemingly intractable issues of insecurity in this part of Nigeria but not much has been achieved.
As part of measures towards addressing the issues of insecurity in the Niger Delta, Non-Governmental Organisations and other stakeholders have continued to map out modalities of bringing lasting solutions to identified problems.
An international NGO, the Academic Associates Peace Works, recently organised a one day Ogoni Dialogue Forum under the theme, “Peace and Stability in Ogoniland: The Current Contexts, Challenges, Solutions,”
The event which was held at the Atrium Centre in Port Harcourt last December was organised by the NGO in collaboration with the United Kingdom (UK) Government as part of measures to addressing the issues of insecurity in Ogoniland and the Niger Delta region in general.
The programme which was administered by the Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) in line with the UK Government’s Niger Delta stability programme, was targeted at a proper diagnosis of the problems through stakeholders’ involvement with a view of addressing them.
One hundred and fifty (150) respected leaders (sons and daughters) from across the six kingdoms and two special areas of Ogoniland, cutting across four local governments in Ogoniland, namely, Tai, Eleme, Gokana and Khana.
The focus of the dialogue and roundtable discussion was to critically examine the deteriorating human security situation in Ogoniland which has led to the clashes, killings, injuries, population displacement and stalemate of the Ogoni clean-up exercise which has grave implications for stability and development.
A key participant and moderator of the event, Dr. Nuka Gwara called on the participants to see the first Ogoni dialogue forum as an avenue for sober reflections and to critically evaluate the security situation in Ogoni land.
He commended the organisers of the dialogue forum for their initiative and called for greater collaboration among relevant stakeholders towards tackling the challenges of insecurity in Ogoni, nay Niger Delta.
In his keynote address, an educationist, Dr. Lebatam Ndegwe, said the root cause of crisis and insecurity in Ogoni were as a result of both internal and external forces. He identified a missing link between the Ogoni traditional elites and the new breed and called for a convergence of ideology between the two forces.
He noted that the drive for the prime objective of Ogoni, by the nation’s political class was not genuine, arguing that “Ogoni has burn the brunt of oil politics in Nigeria despite its enormous economic contributions to national development.” Another guest speaker, Chuks Ofolue, identified the lack of a productive economy as major cause of conflict in Ogoni and the Niger Delta.
He decried the absence of law to promote local ownership of oil in Nigeria, stating that the presence of oil in Ogoni and the Niger Delta has not created the desired economic impact in the area in terms of capacity building and sustainable economy.
He also canvassed for the diversification of the economy by taking advantage of the mass arable land in Ogoni for agricultural activities. “Ogoni has a beautiful landscape suitable for agriculture, I want to recommend that this natural endowment should be put into the fullest use to promote a thriving rural economy, oil at the point of extraction is useless, because they are refined without the input of the oil bearing communities and sold back as finished products,” he stated.
He said, “over 200,000 people enter into the Rivers labour market from all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria because of the strategic economic disposition of the state among the comity of Nigerian states.”
Regrettably, he noted that the State has been yoked by such economic burden as the State was battling with nexus of accommodating such yearning interests.
Ofolue who is also a chief economist with the BRACE Commission said the absence of an articulate economic plan was a major disincentive to the development of the entire Niger Delta Region.
In his view, the Anglican Bishop of Ogoni Diocese, Rt. Rev. Solomon Gberegbara, who chaired the event accused the federal government of Nigeria and Shell over the gross underdevelopment of Ogoni land.
He noted that the federal government and Shell’s disdain for Ogoni was demonstrated in “the level of indifference and lack of sincerity of purpose shown in the implementation of the United Nations Environmental Project, UNEP report in Ogoni land.”
Earlier, Comrade Uche Ifukor of the A A Peacework, has urged the participants at the event to make meaningful contributions towards the promotion of peace in Ogoni land. Some of the basic issues identified by the participants as the driving force of conflict in Ogoniland includes; conflict of expectation as a result of the Ogoni clean-up exercise, political dimension to trends of cultism, communal crises and armed violence, excessive high rate of unemployment among the youths and lack of alternative economic livelihood.
The participants also noted that core Ogoni values and beliefs have been eroded as a result of globalisation.
The dialogue forum also came out with a 12- point communiqué and recommendations. Highpoints of the recommendations were that; “the bureaucratic bottleneck hampering the Ogoniland clean-up should be removed; the Federal Ministry of Environment should provide a supervisory role rather than managing the Ogoni clean-up exercise; the legal framework for the implementation of the UNEP Report should be reviewed; Federal Government should establish entrepreneurial skill acquisition centres and ensure an enabling environment for agricultural development; the Rivers State government should commence the second phase of amnesty programme in Ogoniland, which involves training and empowerment of repentant cultists.”
The communiqué also urged traditional rulers to remain politically neutral and not support any cult group, but establish a central coordinating body for the Ogoni Council of Paramount Rulers, a sub-group of Ogoni Traditional Rulers, a sub-group of Ogoni Traditional Rulers Council.
The participants also advocates for the setting up of a peace building committee in Ogoniland with the capacity of Ogoni citizens built in conflict prevention and management, and urged the political representatives of Ogoni to be accountable to the people.
The participants condemned the prevalence of “polithug violence” in Ogoni, and urged youths to embrace peace and chennel their talents towards creative endeavours.
Taneh Beemene
This is an open letter to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Your Excellency,
Sir, ordinarily, I would not be writing an open letter to you, but like a wise man once said, “Silence would be Treason.” So I prefer to stay alive than face the consequences of silence in the face of crime. With each passing day, and as the socio-political tides continue to turn, it has become more pertinent that more people speak up in a concerted MANNER to prevent the death of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as we appear to be, in the words of W. B. Yeats, “turning and turning in the widening gyre” heading for an end where the falcon will no longer hear the falconer
It is unfortunate that since losing control of the Federal Government, with the loss of President Goodluck Jonathan at the poll in 2015, our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has continued on a downward spiral. It is much more painful, that where it is expected that leaders within the party should rise to the challenge and put an end to this decline of our great party, some have instead taken up roles as its undertaker.
It will be hypocritical to claim aloofness to what I believe is your grouse with the PDP and I am not a hypocrite. It will be uncharitable on my part to discountenance the role you have played in strengthening the PDP from 2015 up until the last Presidential primaries of the party. It is my belief that your grouse against certain members of the party who you perceived worked against the party and abandoned it in 2015 and then came around much later to take control of the party, is justified. Also know that your decision to remain in the Party and stifle its progress on the other hand, as a sort of payback, stands condemned. For a man of your pedigree and stature, it is a dishonorable act, highly dishonorable and stands as testimony against all you claim to stand for.
At least, it can be argued that those who you hold this grudge against, abandoned the party completely and did not sit back while actively working to destroy it from within. But what then can be the argument on your own part, seeing that those you are currently working with against your party are the same people who set in motion, and executed surgically, the plans that not only ended our Party’s leadership at the centre, but ended up dislodging the first Niger Deltan to occupy Aso Rock as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Is this not akin to “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face?” That will be worse than folly. Let us not throw away the baby with the bath water because we do not like the soap used in bathing the baby. It will be a grave mistake.
Honourable Minister, sir, it is rather unfortunate that of all people, you have also decided to play the role of an undertaker not only for our party, but for our dear Rivers State.
I will like to take you down memory lane a little. Let me remind you of your emergence as Guber candidate of the PDP in Rivers State, against all fairness and justice in 2014. You will remember that despite the reality being that you as an Ikwerre man was poised to replace a fellow Ikwerre man in Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in our multiethnic state, Rivers people overwhelmingly stood by you and pushed for your emergence as Executive Governor of Rivers State in 2015. I dare say that your popularity in the entire Niger Delta region was at an all-time high at this point.
I want you to understand why you were loved across board leading to your eventual emergence as Governor of Rivers State in 2015; it was because when it looked like all were against the second term ambitions of the first Niger Delta man to emerge as President of Nigeria, you became not just a pillar but a beacon of resistance by standing for Goodluck Jonathan. Rivers people, as grateful and rewarding as they can be, paid you back by ensuring your electoral victory against the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) led by your predecessor. On your emergence, where there were second term Governors in the region, you, a first term Governor, was seen by the people as not just the leader of the PDP, but the leader of the entire Niger Delta region. You earned it, and no one could dispute it.
In 2019, when your re-election bid was being challenged ferociously, Rivers people once again stood solidly behind you. Many were killed in the process of defending your votes. Do you remember Dr. Ferry Gberegbe that was shot and killed while trying to protect your votes in Khana Local Government Area? There are many more unnamed and unrecognised sons and daughters of Rivers State who sacrificed their lives so that you could emerge as a second term Governor of Rivers State.
In 2022/23, Honourable Minister, you oversaw a party primary across board that saw some candidates imprisoned and internal party democracy jettisoned for your wishes, leading to the emergence of flag bearers of our party all singlehandedly picked by you. You have on more than one occasion publicly stated that you paid for all their forms. Even those shortchanged in this process licked their wounds and continued to play their roles as party members to ensure the success of the party at all levels. In what will go down as one of the most keenly contested elections in recent Rivers history, with formidable candidates like Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the vibrant youth driven Labour Party (LP), PDP emerged victorious across board except for Phalga Constituency 1 that was lost to the Labour Party. (Not that you did not loose in some other LGA’s but let’s stick to the official figures declared by INEC).
It begs the question, why then do you want to burn down Rivers State, when everyone who now holds political office emerged through a process designed and endorsed by you? Is it that you do not care about Rivers people and you are all about yourself? If so, I am forced to believe that those around you are not telling you the truth. The truth being that in a state where your words were law; where houses and businesses could be demolished or closed down without any recourse to legalities, where Executive Orders could be deployed to stifle the opposition, that your popularity is now at an all-time low. Probably because they are afraid of you, or of losing the benefits they gain from you, they fail to tell you that what you might perceive as a battle against your successor, has slowly but gradually degenerating into a battle against Rivers State and Rivers people. You know, there is a popular saying that, a man can cook for the community and the community will finish the food, but when a community decides to cook for one man, the reverse is the case.
LEAVE FUBARA ALONE
You have gone on and on about being betrayed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. You point fingers forgetting that some of those same fingers quick to spot betrayals point straight back at you. It is not Governor Fubara that has betrayed the PDP by working against it in the just concluded General Election, and working with the opposition at the State and Federal level to destabilise the party. It is you, Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that betrayed Rivers people by instigating a political crisis with propensity to escalate ethnic tensions in Rivers State. It is you Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that has declared himself God over all in Rivers State and has no qualms with burning the state to the ground to prove a point. It is you Honourable Minister. It is you Honourable Minister who told the world that the APC was a cancer and you can never support a cancerous party. It is you Honourable Minister who ended up facilitating the emergence of the same “cancerous” APC that has accelerated the economic decline of this country and further impoverished our people with no remorse. All so you can be a Minister of the Federal Capital Territory? The lack of self awareness is gobsmacking.
Some days back I came across a video where you talked about death and how you do not cry when you hear about the death of some people because you have no idea what might have caused it considering many a politician swear “over dead bodies” and still go back on their words. Those words made me think, and I could see the reason behind them. You see, in chosing to be God in the affairs of Rivers people, you have closed your eyes and ears to reason; you see nothing and hear nothing that can cause you to rethink on the path you have chosen. In your quest to “show Fubara” you have unwittingly united a vast majority of Rivers people behind him, so much that even those who despised him because of you, now like or love him, because of you too. In your scheming, I will advise you not to forget that “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Note that the war which you have or are waging against Governor Fubara, has gone beyond being merely political as you might see in your minds eye. It is now one that, fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, has evolved into a war against Rivers people. It is good to point out that no one has taken a stand against Rivers people and won. No one has gone against God and won. In your defiant characteristic manner, it will be unfortunate if you believe your own hubris and that of those around you on the possibility of you being the first to successfully go against Rivers people. It will be a needless gamble; one where if you win you create more enemies for yourself than you can withstand on your political journey, and if you lose, your legacy becomes an inglorious and irredeemable one in Rivers State, the Niger Delta, and Nigeria at large. For your sake as regards posterity, it is my greatest wish that you have a moment of sobriety and a deep reflection and introspection on this path you have chosen.
Honourable Minister, sir, what is left of your legacy is on the brink of being completely desecrated and relegated to the dustbin of our political history, and it will be a sad end to what I will say has been a wonderful political career that many can only dream of. The ball is in your court, and may God Almighty have mercy on us all and forgive us for our shortcomings.
Gabriel Baritulem Pidomson
Dr Pidomson is former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and former member, Rivers State House of Assembly.
In 2015, I made a conscious decision to invest my financial resources, my time, and energy into supporting Nyesom Wike’s gubernatorial campaign. I poured my heart and soul into ensuring Nyesom Wike emerged victorious even at the risk of my personal safety.
Again in 2019, I doubled down on my commitment. I invested a significant amount of money to procure campaign outfits for all twenty-three Local Governments Areas of Rivers State. I spared no expense in supplementing Wike’s election efforts in my own local government, and once again putting myself at great risk to safeguard the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
However, despite my unwavering loyalty and sacrifices, I found myself abandoned and forgotten by Wike. Throughout his eight-year tenure, he failed to acknowledge my contributions or fulfill his promises and agreements. Even as a former Deputy Governor, Wike denied me my severance benefit.
My investment in Wike’s governorship was not just financial – it was a commitment of passion, dedication, and belief in a better future for Rivers State. Yet, his leadership style of dishonesty, greed, drunkenness and rash abuse of senior citizens brought me nothing but disappointment, misery and losses.
By the grace of God, today I speak not as a victim, but as a hero. I have accepted my losses, and I have moved on. And as I reflect on my experience, I cannot help but urge Wike to do the same and allow peace and development to reign in Rivers State.
Nyesom Wike, when you speak of investing in Governor Sim Fubara’s election, remember those like me who also invested in you. Remember the sacrifices I made, the risks I took, and the promises and agreements you left unfulfilled.
It is time for you, Wike, to let go of the past and allow Governor Sim Fubara the breathing space he needs to lead Rivers State forward. Allow him to focus on the challenges of good governance and the aspirations of the people. Spare him these unwarranted and ill-conceived political manoeuvrings founded on personal agenda and not for general good of Rivers State and her people.
I may have lost my investment on Wike, but I have not lost hope in the future of Rivers State. And together, we will continue to strive for a brighter tomorrow.
Long Live the Governor to Rivers State, Sir Siminialayi Fubara!
Long Live the Good People of Rivers State!!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Engr Ikuru is former Deputy Governor of Rivers State.
Tele Ikuru
