SENATOR (GBENE) BARRISTER CYRUS NUNIEH
Senator (Barr.) Gbene Cyrus N. Nunieh, PhD. is a native of Nyogon Beeri in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State. Khana is one of the five (5) Ogoni Local Government Areas of Rivers State. Others are Gokana, Tai, Eleme and Oyigbo. Ogoni Ethnic Nationality can proudly boast of six (6) Kingdoms viz. Nyo-Khana, Ken-Khana, Babbe, Gokana, Tai and Eleme. The 5 Ogoni LGAs and the 6 Ogoni Kingdoms enumerated above were originally in the Opobo Division in the Calabar Province while the other areas of Rivers like Port Harcourt, Ahoada, Degema and Isiokpo were originally in the Owerri Province. This was the political arrangement before Rivers State was created on March 27, 1967.
Barrister Nunieh graduated from the prestigious London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, England and was called to the Bar at the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple in London, England on February 5,1963. He was later called to the Bar in Nigeria as Barrister-at-law and Solicitor on January 17,1964. After the LL.B; he went further to acquire an M.A; and a Ph.D. from the California University for Advance Studies. He is the Doyen of the Nigerian Bar Association, Port Harcourt and Rivers State Branches. Senator (Barr.) Cyrus Nunieh is the first lawyer and Senator from Ogoni who represented all the Local Government Areas in Ogoni, Bonny, Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro, Okrika and Ogu/Bolo LGAs.
Senator Nunieh had made so many political and economic contributions to the growth and development of Rivers State. It was he who brought Oyigbo to Rivers State through the Justice Nasir Boundary Commission in 1976 and by implication the Afam Power Station. He was the sole solicitor that represented the Ogoni people in the land dispute between the Ogoni and the Igbo people from Imo State (Abia State was yet to be created) who were massively represented by Chief (Barr.) Jaja Nwachukwu (a very senior lawyer and the first Nigerian foreign Minister and a member of the 1st and 2nd Republic Senate), Chief Sam Mbakwe (also a senior lawyer who later became the Governor of Imo State), and Mr Kalu K. Ogba (a law graduate from Oxford University and who was then the Attorney General of Imo State).
The case of the eminent Igbo lawyers was that the land in dispute was an Igbo land which they called “Obi-lgbo” meaning “the heart of Igboland”. To this, Barrister Nunieh disagreed and made a submission to the effect that the said land rather belongs to the Ogoni benevolent landlords who merely accommodated their Igbo friends. He submitted further that the Commission should change the name from “Obigbo” to “Oyigbo” which in Ogoni language means “Oyi” (“to enter”) and “Gbo” (“friendship”). The Federal Government Boundary Adjustment Commission headed by Justice Nasir accepted the brilliant submission by Barr. Nunieh and consequently rejected the name “Obigbo” put forward by the Igbo usurpers and accepted “Oyigbo” the name given by the Ogoni landlord, Barr. Cyrus Nunieh, as the authentic name of the people.
Senator Nunieh was one of the brains behind the establishment of the Bonny Liquefied Natural Gas Project at Bonny and the Petro-Chemical Project at Eleme. During the Senate Debate on January 20, 1982, he vehemently argued in favour of the two economically super viable projects. Hear him:
“The need to industrialize our society is a revolution in the direction of true political and economic independence. We must ensure that both quality and quantity go together in a country like Nigeria with her teeming population in the production of our finished products.
“It is wasteful and it will amount to the burying of capital, if we invest in projects which cannot take off. The Liquefied Natural Gas Project (LNG) should be started immediately because a large population of people from Bonny in my constituency have moved and have been informed that the project would soon be started. The Petro-Chemical Project is very important in the development of our economy. If we have no money to start the project, we should do everything possible to get money with little string to establish this industry, because it will stabilize our unstable economy. These two projects are essential vital industries.
“The Petro-Chemical industry will maximize our advantages from oil and make Nigeria indeed an oil producing state. Until this is done, this nation remains a fuel-seller state. For the uses of products from oil are unlimited in these days of modern science and technology, hence the Petro-Chemical Industry must be placed on our priority list.”
He also influenced the construction and establishment of the following projects by the Federal Government in Rivers State.
•The construction of the East-West Road.
•The construction of the three (3) bridges linking Bonny, Andoni, and Opobo through Ogoni villages to enable our people in the Riverine Communities of the three said Local Government Areas which were in the South-East Senatorial district to travel by land to Port Harcourt, the State capital.
• The Onne Sea Port which is the deepest sea port South of the Sahara in West Africa.
•The Fertilizer Company at Onne-Eleme.
• The discovering of oil especially in Ogoni land and in other areas in Rivers State.
Senator Cyrus Nunieh was in the Senate from 1979-1983 and used his Senatorial influence in attracting most of the Federal Government mega-projects that had made Rivers State truly “The Treasure Base of the Nation” to the State.
On Saturday, June 13, 2015, Senator Barr. Dr. Cyrus Nunieh was corronated “The Gbene” (The King) of Ogoni Ethnic Nationality by the Chiefs and Traditional Rulers of Ogoni, members of Ogoni National Union (O.N.U) and Ogoni Leaders of Thought. However, Rivers State Government recognition is still awaited. TO BE CONTINUED
http://thebeaconewsnigeria.com/2018/08/are-these-rivers-patriots-and-revered-eminent-personalities-not-qualified-for-state-honours-4/