Commissioners: Ijaws in Warri North Vow to Resist Oborevwori

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

Ijaw people of Warri North Local Government Area have expressed dismay about their exclusion from the list of nominees presented by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to the Delta State House of Assembly on Wednesday for consideration and confirmation as Commissioners and members of the State Executive Council.

The Egbema Ijaw, who form the two main ethnic groups in Delta North alongside the Itsekiri, said it amounted to barefaced injustice against them for the governor not to have included an Ijaw in his list of nominees but instead settled for two Itsekiri for the two slots given to the local government area.

A statement, signed on behalf of leaders of the Egbema Integrity Group (EIG) by Barrister Francis Abulu, and made available to THISDAY in Asaba yesterday, said that a similar scenario has played out regarding representation in the Delta State House of Assembly since the creation of the state in 1991, whereby no Egbema Ijaw has been allowed to represent the area as a lawmaker.

Titled: “Oborevwori Erecting a Government of Injustice? Appointment of Two Commissioners From Warri North Excluding Ijaw Is An Act of Injustice”, the statement warned of dire consequences, particularly around oil  and gas exploitation in the area,  for what they termed a deliberate state policy to keep down the Ijaw people of Warri North.

They  announced  that they  would commence series of protests in parts of the state very soon.

The press statement by EIG read in part: “The news of the nomination of names for Commissioners and members of Delta State Executive Council by the Delta State Governor, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori, should ordinarily be a thing of joy but for the Egbema people of Warri North Local Government Area it is a sad day.

“We the Egbema people have suffered political injustice in Warri North for too long. The Ijaws of Warri North have been denied the position of House of Assembly member since 1991 when the Local Government Council was created (inclusive of the inception of democracy in 1999) till date. We thought that a governor, whose emergence was only by divine grace, would give serious thought to the Egbema political situation; yet not so!

“Justice demands that if there should be an appointment of a Commissioner from Warri North, then that person must be an Ijaw. This is because, since the creation of Warri North Local Government Area, it has always been Itsekiris occupying the position at the State Executive Council. Not until towards the end of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s second tenure that an Ijaw, Hon. Joel Bisina, was made Commissioner for six months.

“Egbema leaders wrote the governor, H.E. Sheriff Oborevwori, a letter for a meeting but it was not considered because we are only good at voting but cannot share in the proceed therefrom. The disposition of the governor in alienating the Ijaws of Warri North from executive office shows he does not understand the political calibration of the State he is voted to govern.

“Warri North comprises the Itsekiris and Ijaws who are equal stakeholders in the Local Government. It would have been a thoughtful act to appoint two Commissioners from the Local Government inhabited by two ethnic groups of equal footing to achieve political balance but sadly, the two Commissioners selected by the governor happen to come  from one of the groups and the other ethnic group is told to go to hell. This action by the governor is to perpetuate and escalate the political overpowering of the Ijaws of Warri North so that they can be kept under by the other ethnic group in the local government area.

“The votes that he got in Warri North did not come from the Itsekiris alone. The Ijaw Four Federal Wards as against Itsekiri six Federal wards were claimed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The Ijaws overwhelmingly voted for H.E. Sheriff Oborevwori as governor. So, on what basis was this decision to exclude the Ijaw completely in Warri North made?

What we see is that the governor pleasing two contending forces of Itsekiri ethnic group, between the former Gov. Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and Michael Diden (a.k.a. Ejele) whose case is in the tribunal by unwittingly making the Ijaws the guinea pig or scapegoat. We are equal owners and stakeholders of the council area with four wards! So, rewarding a people with six wards with two Commissioners without considering the people with four wards is an act of injustice and roundly condemnable. We demand to know the rationale for this unholy decision.

We had earlier alerted Nigerians to the Itsekiri policy that is akin to the Apartheid era in South Africa and what the Governor has done has only affirmed it as a State policy in Warri North.

“Consequently, we call on sons and daughters of Egbema to come out in the coming days and weeks to protest this brazen injustice with every legitimate means. The Egbema Integrity Group cannot guarantee the smooth operation of Oil Companies in our domain anymore as this action has overheated the fragile peace we are experiencing in Warri North. We have consistently assured our people that are agitated by the injustice in our area that this administration will make a difference. But what we have seen is even worse than previous administrations. So, we are in doubt our people can allow oil operations to go on smoothly. This unjust decision must not go unchallenged by all lovers of Justice.”