Urhobo Nation: Tale of greed and the prodigal sons (Part 1)

                                                                      

                                  Late Chief Benjamin Okumagba 
                                              image: waado.org                                                

That the Urhobo Nation is the most divided tribe in Nigeria today is to state the obvious!  Every day one is confronted with a deluge of divergent views of some prominent Urhobos who supposed to give direction to the young ones on how to unite the Urhobo nation but are rather creating division among the Urhobo people for no other reason than selfish gains and self-aggrandizement. Thus, the Urhobo nation is currently factionalised into varied political groups as Urhobo Political Forum (UPF) Urhobo Political Congress (UPC) Delta Central Political Movement (DCPM), etc just to mention a few. These political groups have not been able to harmonise their differences and unite for the common good of the Urhobo nation!

Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru lost the 2011 governorship election in Delta State partly due to the awful roles played by some prominent Urhobos who saw nothing good in producing a governor of Urhobo extraction that will not line their pockets with silver and gold but a governor from other tribe that will enrich them. Thus, the Urhobos tear and pull themselves down for personal gains than the collective good of the Urhobo people. But the question agitating the minds of many right-thinking Urhobos is, must any Urhobo person pulls down the Urhobo nation before he or she can be relevant politically in Delta State?  The Vice-Chairman of Urhobo Political Forum (UPF), Hon. Monday Igbuya said that the Urhobo in Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would follow the directive of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in choosing the next governor of the state. Igbuya said, “….For the avoidance of doubt, and for more emphasis, Uduaghan is the leader of our party in the state, where ever he directs us, we will surely go as members of PDP and UPF….”. Was that the reason Chief Amori who chairs the UPF, took the immediate past Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe to London to consult Chief James Ibori and possibly be anointed for the 2015 governorship election in the state? Is that the political permutation of Governor Uduaghan for Orubebe to become the next governor of the state so he could have easy access to the Senate at the detriment of Delta North and Delta Central Senatorial Districts?

These Urhobos have indeed become albatross to the political progress of the Urhobo nation. They styled themselves as PDP stalwarts but have never occupied any public office outside the state and cannot project any Urhobo person for national assignments. They should without further delay bury their faces in shame! The Urhobos who helped to scuttle Great Ogboru’s governorship ambition with promises of appointment as ministers and senior special assistants have become irrelevant politically as they have been used against the Urhobo Project and dumped! But why will a man pull down his tribe just for a morsel of bread? Those pulling down the Urhobo nation politically should realise the fact that they will be accorded disdain if the Urhobo nation which they belong does not attract the desired honour as a result of their nefarious activities. 

Where were Chief Amori, Magege, Hon. Igbuya and other Urhobos who called themselves PDP stalwarts when Urhobos are utterly excluded from leadership positions at the national level? Chief Kenneth Gbagi was relieved of his appointment as the Minister of State for Education but till date, he has never been replaced by any Urhobo person. Dr. Otive Igbuzor who hitherto represented the South-South geopolitical zone in the Police Service Commission was not sworn into office for a second term due to a petition against him but he has not been replaced by another Urhobo person! Are these so-called apostles of equity saying there is no other qualified Urhobo person who can occupy the position formerly occupied by Dr. Otive Igbuzor an Urhobo person? One would have expected Chief Amori, Magege, Igbuya, etc as PDP stalwarts to have visited President Jonathan and presented another Urhobo person to him for appointment into the Police Service Commission. Somebody from another tribe might have taken over that position from the Urhobos!  

The true Urhobos are convinced beyond every reasonable doubt that these Urhobos that are clamouring for the Delta State governor from other senatorial districts in 2015 under the guise of equity are not true Urhobos; they must be people from other tribes who adopted Urhobo names in order to destabilize the Urhobo nation! If the opposite is the case, why will any Urhobo person be struggling to enthrone a non-Urhobo as governor in 2015 for the sake of equity when the Urhobos are obviously side-lined in political appointments at the federal level? The Delta South Senatorial District which produced Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan also have the following appointments: Executive Director Project, NDDC, Eng. Tuoyo Omatsuli, Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Patrick Z. Akpobolokemi, Secretary to Delta State Government, Mr. Ovuozorie Macaulay, until recently, Minister for Niger Delta Affairs was Godsday Orubebe, commissioner representing Delta State in the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Barr. Rita Irone Begho. Justice Tabai of the Supreme Court who was suspended sometimes ago also hails from Delta South Senatorial District.

Here are the appointments from Delta North: Nigerian Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador Joy U. Ogwu, Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Prof. Sylvester Monye, Chairman, National Social Insurance Trust Fund, Mrs. Ngozi Ojelem, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Director General, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Prof. Epiphany Azinge, Director General, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Mr. Peter Idabor, Chairman, Export Processing Zone (EPZ), Calabar, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, Speaker, Executive Vice-Chairman (Chief Executive Officer), Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah and Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele.  

But the Delta Central Senatorial District that is home to majority of the Urhobo people that are crying for equity because of their individual selfish lucre, has Chief Tom Amioku in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), as the only Urhobo person in any federal agency!