By Tola Adeokun
The leader of Egbesu Supreme Assembly, (SEA), Chief Werinipre Noel Digifa as described the Oodua Peoples Congress, (OPC) founder, Dr Fredrick Faseun as a bridge builder who saved the Yoruba and Ijaw from needless clashes.
In his tribute on Faseun’s 80th birthday, made available to Irohinoodua today, the Egbesu leader said Dr Faseun remains a ‘bridge of hope’ among the often quarrelsome nationalities in Nigeria.
The full speech is reported below: I stand before you as one of the living testimonies to the glorious life of a legend. I stand here to speak on behalf of the Ijaw Nation and to share the grace of our historic relationship with Dr Fredrick Iseotan Faseun who marks his 80 years on earth today.
On behalf of the ijaw Nation, I stand here to pay tribute to a leader, a bridge-builder, a man of peace, a storming petrel, a humanist and an outstanding nexus between the Yoruba and over 20 million Ijaw people all over the world.
At 80 years, with your grey hair I look at you with a lot of respect and admiration. I met Dr. Frederick Iseotan Fasehun more than 20 years ago. Since this historic meeting between two nations, two peoples of diverse culture and heritage, we have never looked back.
We met at a time of great national tremor in the annals of Nigerian history. It was a turbulent era. Soldiers were in charge of the country. Instead of a parliament of lawmakers, we had a parliament of gun-runners, a clique of armed men that defined truth from the barrel of the gun. Dr Faseun was one of those few icons that stood like a rock, solid and unflinching.
The time we met was turbulent. Our future had been ambushed Democracy was assaulted. Free speech was caged. The June 12 election had been annulled. For some people it was purely a Yoruba affair. But for some of us, the annulment of the June 12 election was an assault on humanity.
Together on the streets, in the creeks, in the valleys, in the hilly villages, in the creeks and across the oceans, up to the secluded islands that dot the Niger-Delta. Dr Fasehun stood with the people, in the resistance against military despotism.


What brought us together was neither money nor profit; what drew us together like a magnet was the search for truth not for its own sake but for the sake of our long suffering people. Dr Faseun remains one of the few sources of inspiration in our desire to find a common cause with the Yoruba Nation and to create the bridge of peace for generations.
His sterling qualities, his boldness, his courage even in the face of life-threatening challenges posed by the then military dictators was one of the events that drew the attention of the Ijaw Nation into this man of valor.
I’m glad to say that the Ijaw Nation and the Yoruba people have fought together, in recent history, unlike before, for a common cause of liberty and freedom. Dr Faseun made this possible. We stood together, our hands united in a bound of friendship and solidarity. Between the Ijaw Nation and the Yoruba Nation, Dr Frederick Fasehun taught us that peace is possible; he lectured and taught us that an enduring alliance is possible between the Ijaw and Yoruba people and in fact between all progressive ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.

In his campaigns, Dr Fasehun reminded us that there cannot be a better Nigeria when his own people, the Yoruba and our own people the Ijaw, remain in bondage.
Dr Faseun is an outstanding friend of the Ijaw Nation. He has demonstrated to us that peace is impossible in Nigeria as long as the Ijaw Nation and the entire oil producing communities remain the wretched of the earth.
It was not surprising that when the Oodua Peoples Congress, (OPC) was established around 1995, at least there was one Ijaw man, Mr Tony Eguribe who was involved. This was a clear demonstration of the bound and affection between the Yoruba and the Ijaw Nation. Dr Fasehun remains one of the motivators of peace among the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. He has, on many occasions, risen to nip in the bud, possible inter-ethnic conflict that would have occured between the Ijaw and the Yoruba people. If you recall the bitter acrimony that existed between the political leaders, of the Niger-Delta and those in the South-West in the early part of Nigerian independence, you will agree with me that there is a greater alliance between the Ijaw Nation and the Yoruba Nation today than ever before. This credit in part, goes to the countless meetings and solidarity Dr Fasehun has been able to nurture in the past decades.
The violent conflict that took place between the Ijaw and the Yoruba some years ago in Ondo state was not resolved by the political authorities, but by the practical actions of the people and their leaders, with Dr Faseun playing a crucial role in putting an end to the unfortunate blood spilling. Some years back, there was crisis between the Ijaw and Yoruba at Ajegunle in Lagos, the role of Dr Faseun in putting off the glowing light of discord remains evergreen.
Many people may not be aware of the series of meetings he facilitated to frustrate violence and blood-letting that may have arisen between the Yoruba and other nationalities in Nigeria through the Conference of Ethnic Nationalities of Nigeria, (CENN) which he leads.
For instance, I recall with nostalgia the wicked and malicious attack in 1999 on Odi by President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government. Naturally, one would have expected an ethnic backlash in the Niger-Delta. But through the efforts of Dr Fasehun, we had sleepless nights holding consultations, meetings, day and night to prevent the raging fury from boiling over.
In 2011, I believe that the support Dr Goodluck Jonathan enjoyed in the South-West was not because of his party, the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) but simply because of the special relationship the Ijaw Nation and the Yoruba have developed these past years, with Dr Fasehun being a prime mover.
Dr Faseun has no doubt created a new cultural and sociological solidarity between the Yoruba Nation and the Ijaw Nation, a relationship that is bound to transcend politics, but rather establish an enduring affection that will continue to oil peace and stability between the two nationalities.
I commend your courage, your kind-heartedness, your will, your passion and the estimable ways you have brought a new spirit of camaraderie and alliance between the Yoruba and the Ijaw Nation. On your 80th birthday, we the Ijaw Nation wish you long life, perfect health and the everlasting grace of the creator of heaven and Earth.

JUNK