URHOBO YOUTH COUNCIL

 

Open Letter To The President Of Federal Republic Of Nigeria On Gross Marginalization Of The Urhobo By Your Administration And Undue Appropriation Of All Empowerment By The Ijaws
By Urhobo Youth Council (UYC)

June 2012





We are constrained to write this open letter to bring to your notice and necessary action the gross marginalization of the Urhobo people and the appropriation of all appointments, projects and empowerment by the Ijaw nationality to the detriment of their neighbors and other ethnic nationalities in South-South geopolitical zone, as your kith and kin from the South geopolitical zone.

We are not unmindful of the serious security challenges buffering your administration including the Boko Haram insurgence and the spate of kidnapping and crime that are defying the road map of “The Transformational Agenda”. As your kins men, we empathize with you in the struggle to steady the ship of the state.

 Indeed, we have borne our pains in silence electing to convey our distress through peaceful and dialogue as opposed to violence in order not to heat the polity.

It thus seems to us that our recourse to the path of peace is now being taken to be weakness on the part of the Urhobo people.

The Urhobos occupies Delta Central Senatorial district and also from majority population in Warri South and Patani Local Government areas in Delta State. For good measures, 

The Urhobo in Delta Central has total registered votes of well over 920,000 out of these figures; over 860,000 votes were delivered to you during the Presidential election. A figure that far outstrip your home state of Bayelsa with less than 500, 000 voters and several other state including but not limited to Taraba State.

 [b]It is thus amazing that your home state of Bayelsa with such a number of votes in addition to your high office as president and commander in chief also produced some of the following: 

[b]1.Minister of Petroleum. 2. Chairman of NDDC etc. to give vent to the rumored ijaw agenda at the expenses of other nationalities, your administration went further to patronize the Ijaws of Delta State who are less than 12% of the state population.[\b]

Your administration brazenly took the ministerial slots zoned to the Urhobos by Alhaji Musa Yar’Adua and handed it to the minority Ijaw kinsmen. Elder Godsday Orubebe. 

The Executive Director of Finance and Administration is also headed by another Ijaw who share same ancestral root with the minister for Niger Delta.

While other nationalities are groaning under the weight of this lopsided empowerment, The DG of National Maritime and Safety Administration (NIMASA) occupied by an Itsekiri folk was removed and pronto another Ijaw man was appointed with dispatch.

Mr. President is aware that the Urhobos and other nationalities who subscribed to the Amnesty Programme were excluded from the programme, while the few that are enlisted are shut out from the training programme. 

It will not serve any purpose if we point out the Multi Billion Naira Presidential Amnesty Programme headed by another Ijaw folk from a fringe riverine community in Ondo state. The Amnesty programme is now exclusive preserve of the Ijaws who has appropriated Niger Delta as their Anglophones appellation.

The Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, FUPRE approved and sited in Urhobo area is grossly underfunded. The University due to paucity of funds is yet to fully take off.

Despite being about the highest producer of natural gas and host to Utorogu gas plant, the Urhobos were painfully excluded as beneficiaries of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Federal Government and the gas producing community. 

Furthermore, the Urhobos are also shut out from the contact from Oil Pipeline Surveillance in spite of the fact that majority of the pipeline are in the Urhobo area.

OUR DEMANDS
We demand as we wallow in the wallow in the depth of political low tide which this administration has plunged our people are modest and reasonable which are:

1. Appointment of a qualified Ministerial from Urhobo (A slot that was zoned to the Urhobo)

2. Inclusion of the Urhobos who subscribed to the Amnesty programmes in the training of ex militants and partaking in the benefit thereon.

3. Adequate funding of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, FUPRE to enable the institution takes off properly.

4. Appointment without delay of qualified Urhobo son or daughter into key and strategic offices, which include but not limited to; NDDC, NNPC, NPA, NIMASA, ETF, PTDF etc. to enable our people have a sense of belonging to justify their huge support to your presidency.

We implore you to address our grievance and grant our modest demands in the spirit of the transformational agenda.


 Signed
 
Hon Henry Minabowanre Baro        Olorogun Jaro Egbo 
Mr. Hope Emore

National President                                    Deputy National President               National Secretary  



http://economicconfidential.net/new/focus/1004-a-letter-to-president-jonathan-on-ijaw-by-urhobo-youths

The Urhobo in Delta Central has total registered votes of well over 920,000 out of these figures; over 860,000 votes were delivered to you during the Presidential election. A figure that far outstrip your home state of Bayelsa with less than 500, 000 voters and several other state including but not limited to Taraba State.

In Nigeria, Votes and population are overrated. . The usurper does what the usurper wants.

OUR DEMANDS
We demand as we wallow in the wallow in the depth of political low tide which this administration has plunged our people are modest and reasonable which are:

1. Appointment of a qualified Ministerial from Urhobo (A slot that was zoned to the Urhobo)

2. Inclusion of the Urhobos who subscribed to the Amnesty programmes in the training of ex militants and partaking in the benefit thereon.

3. Adequate funding of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, FUPRE to enable the institution takes off properly.

4. Appointment without delay of qualified Urhobo son or daughter into key and strategic offices, which include but not limited to; NDDC, NNPC, NPA, NIMASA, ETF, PTDF etc. to enable our people have a sense of belonging to justify their huge support to your presidency.

We implore you to address our grievance and grant our modest demands in the spirit of the transformational agenda.

How this will solve the problems of hundreds of thousands of poor Urhobos, I'm yet to see.


~Oh we feel marginalized but just appoint our elites to go chop money and our problems will be solved~ LOL


Unparalled idiocy. .SMH

Kilode?!:


How this will solve the problems of hundreds of thousands of poor Urhobos, I'm yet to see.


~Oh we feel marginalized but just appoint our elites to go chop money and our problems will be solved~ LOL


Unparalled idiocy. .SMH

Exactly what I was about to ask! What contribution did previous Urhobo appointments do to the development of Urhobo communities. Even Ijaws that have the President, how has Bayelsa state or other Ijaw enclaves changed in the last 5 years? All these are political trollers with no interest in development.

Demdem: the battle for the control of the soul of the creeks has just commenced.

When you people where jumping like Monkeys that "our South-South" brother must emerge as President you forgot that it will be "to your tents" I laugh in Nepotism.

onthefence:

When you people where jumping like Monkeys that "our South-South" brother must emerge as President you forgot that it will be "to your tents" I laugh in Nepotism.

He's not Ijaw, abeg.
If you need to post this, direct it at your Ijaw brothers on NL. Don't come here insulting my kin with your half-baked posts

It thus seems to us that our recourse to the path of peace is now being taken to be weakness on the part of the Urhobo people.

Just like the way this riffraff Igbos on NL take Yoruba kindness/tolerance as weakness.

One day, everybody will head back to their jungle to bear their father's name.

PapaBrowne:

Exactly what I was about to ask! What contribution did previous Urhobo appointments do to the development of Urhobo communities. Even Ijaws that have the President, how has Bayelsa state or other Ijaw enclaves changed in the last 5 years? All these are political trollers with no interest in development.

C'mon, don't be a hypocrite.
You were among those who believed that having a "son of the soil" means Niger-deltan will be prosperous.

The DG of National Maritime and Safety Administration (NIMASA) occupied by an Itsekiri folk was removed and pronto another Ijaw man was appointed with dispatch.

Mr. President is aware that the Urhobos and other nationalities who subscribed to the Amnesty Programme were excluded from the programme, while the few that are enlisted are shut out from the training programme.

It will not serve any purpose if we point out the Multi Billion Naira Presidential Amnesty Programme headed by another Ijaw folk from a fringe riverine community in Ondo state.

SMH! Mchew

I dey laff ooo

Ileke-IdI:


He's not Ijaw, abeg.
If you need to post this, direct it at your Ijaw brothers on NL. Don't come here insulting my kin with your half-baked posts

Where the Urhobos not part of the chorus? Because the guy no look una side now una wan make noise. Enjoy your fresh air till 2015 abeg. Nonsense.

Where is the [b]"our son must be president so we can chop like hawusa people" [/b]crowd now?

How far with the chopping?

24 hour electricity don reach una village?

PapaBrowne:

Exactly what I was about to ask! What contribution did previous Urhobo appointments do to the development of Urhobo communities. Even Ijaws that have the President, how has Bayelsa state or other Ijaw enclaves changed in the last 5 years? All these are political trollers with no interest in development.

PAPA, na you yarn this one abi na ya clone? Hope you know this is a verdict of failure upon mr presido

My urhobo people!!!!
When the itsekiris and ijaws were clamouring for recognition you were forming gentlemen
Now the ijaws in particular are benefitting from the struggle they fought for.

As regards NImasa,
Former DG Temisan Omatseye was removed because of Iboris wahala because he put him there in the first place during Yaradua's regime. When GEJ discovered Ibori gained access via the waterways,he questioned the loyaltty of Temi and subsequently suspended via the office of the Transport ministe. But why did he replace temi with another ijaw man since his special adviser on Niger delta affairs is an ijaw,minister for niger delta affairs is an ijaw,and ofcus the current DG is an ijaw man aswell.

My take here is that the Urhobos are not proactive enought to hold key positions in the presidency.

Urhobo we are the originator of our problem stop making noise and prepare our self fo r 2015 um

jason123:

C'mon, don't be a hypocrite.
You were among those who believed that having a "son of the soil" means Niger-deltan will be prosperous.

Next you will tell a tiger to change its stripes

Anyway, a piece of small advice to GEJ and his handlers.

Being a douche to other ND communities is probably not a good idea.

I think what Ijaws are doing to other ND groups will come back to hunt them. So much for one niger-delta.

Mtchewwwwwwwwwwww. Shiorrrrr. Nonesense. Awon ode

yawns and moves to the next tread.

Viewing this topic: Nert(m), Beaf, spade(m), hardywaltz(m), Ejiné(m), space01, Mr Yanka and 15 guest(s)

boys, how far naa?
una no wan come talk again? abi una tongue don tie up out of shame?

This is the problem with nigeria that everybody wants a high office attributed to their tribe. First of all its a democracy, everyone get an equal chance, but some get more support to achieve what they want, for all fingers are not equal.

ekt_bear: Anyway, a piece of small advice to GEJ and his handlers.

Being a douche to other ND communities is probably not a good idea.

I think so. It's not too late to either debunk the story or correct the lapses, if true.

spade: Viewing this topic: Nert(m), Beaf, spade(m), hardywaltz(m), Ejiné(m), space01, Mr Yanka and 15 guest(s)

boys, how far naa?
una no wan come talk again? abi una tongue don tie up out of shame?

Lekwenu'm anya biko nu
I tell you say I be Urhobo man? Which wan concern me kwanu? Achorom ima?

Na for dia own pocket!

Shell is still a pain on my community and we have a man from the Niger Delta as President for over two years. We have Oronto Douglas who was a Niger Delta 'rights activist' as his Special Adviser on research and strategy- whatever that means- yet we cannot guarantee the safety of our environment. How do we push our cause when Jona eventually leaves power? Who would listen to us? Sack Oronto Douglas now!

Hmmm

As an Urhobo man, I cried to everyone within my circle of influence that a man being from your village as a governor or president is not a guaranty that better life has come (especially when they belong to PDP)
Rather let's settle for someone with character.
Well it has happened and all I can say its the 'Fresh Air' we were promised.

GEJ is conscious of what his Presidency means for the Ijaws. They have struggled for many decades, along with the Ogonis, to correct the systemic economic discrimination against their land and peoples.

In developed countries, landowners are issued monthly checques for use of their land (land lease) to explore and mine oil. In addition, they are also issued monthly checques as rolyalty (sometime as high as 15%) for sale of the mined product. Furthermore, the leasing oil enterprise is responsible for all the land management (waste disposal, toxic control, water quality test, etc. . . )

Why can't the landowners in Niger Delta enjoy the same rights as their counterparts in other parts of the globe?

In the helm of governmental control and authority, GEJ is trying to correct the wrongs. However, he also realise the consequence of his actions. . . .the Ijaw nation will never smell the corrider of power for perhaps another 50yrs after him. So it is imperative that while it lasts, he sqaunders the largese on his ethnic people by giving them posts and power.

ENZO SCIFO: As an Urhobo man, I cried to everyone within my circle of influence that a man being from your village as a governor or president is not a guaranty that better life has come (especially when they belong to PDP)
Rather let's settle for someone with character.
Well it has happened and all I can say its the 'Fresh Air' we were promised.

Waado !!!

I admire your courage and the ability to stand for the truth. I hope others would see it from your view