Emma Amaize
11 October 2008
(Page 2 of 2)
The other structure that is working like magic in the issue of security, peace and development in the state is the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC). When the governor dissolved the board of the commission and reconstituted on assumption of office, many thought he did not know what he was doing, but, the appointment of an Ijaw leader, who is well grounded in the struggle, Chief Wellington Okirika as the chairman has worked wonders.
In the words of a respected MEND leader in Delta state, "Chief Okirika is a man deep in the struggle; he is a grassroots man, appointing him as the chairman of the oil commission is like removing the wind from the sail of criminally-minded activists.
"One of the first things Okirika who has been in the struggle for development of oil communities before some of the today activists were born was to visit the known militant leader in the state, whose sphere of influence is the entire Niger-Delta and solicit his support for the activities of the commission", he added.
Chief Okirika himself told Saturday Vanguard in an earlier interview that he started that struggle years ago and there was nothing anybody could tell him that he did not know. So, he went to meet with the boys and tell them that the government has created an oil commission to bring to the oil communities the development they were fighting for.
He said he told them that it was not going to be the case of government throwing money at people begging for peace to develop the state, but, a case of them knowing that a commission, made up of indigenes of the oil communities like themselves, had been set up to manage 50 per cent of the 13 derivation fund accruing to the state for the development of the communities, and what they require from them, as a matter of urgency, is peace.
Several other meetings were held and thereafter, the MEND in Delta state issued a press statement, saying it was suspending all further hostilities in the state to enable the DESOPADEC to execute the laudable projects it has assured it would execute in the state if an atmosphere of peace was created.
Since then, the DESOPADEC has been doing its best and Chief Okrika has taken scores of foreign investors to the creek communities of the state to douse the negative impression that the people were hostile to investors. Some of the investors are partnering with the commission in its impressive bid to establish 10 modular refineries and a gas gathering plant in Delta state.
Aside the official security network of the DWSC, the commanding Niger-Delta activist whose base in Delta has also put his structure at the disposal of the Delta state government to rein in militants that engage in criminal activities.
Unofficial arrangement
A member of the group who spoke with Saturday Vanguard in Warri said that, "Before now, in 2005, we raided some sea pirates, arrested about 24 of them and handed them to the JTF. We did this because they were denting the struggle by embarking on criminal activities. The struggle is not about oil bunkering, sea piracy and all that, and even hostages were taken by us in the name of the struggle.
It was for a reason, to serve as a human shield following attacks on some Ijaw communities by security agents. We warned the pirates to stop their criminal activities severally and when they refused, we arrested and handed them over. So, the struggle is not the criminality that a lot of people think it is."
He said that those who arrested the pirates and handed them over to the JTF were still in the struggle when Uduaghan came on board and that same structure, which was utilized in 2005, was available for use in 2007 when he became governor.
"You will recall that there was an attack on the pipeline of an oil company shortly after Uduaghan took over, and because he contacted us on his mission for the state, and we pledged our cooperation, we sent out a team to get those that committed the act and we brought them to our camp for punishment.
You are also aware of the recent incident at the Batan and Chanomi creek areas. We went after the bunkerers, some of them were tied up here for some days and flogged before they were released and warned not to try such thing next time in Delta State", he added.
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I am surprised to hear that Gbanran people are in Delta State. When I was a Kid, my father took me around almost all Ijaw areas with his engine boat and told me that they (the Gbanrans)were my people. I am from Akassa at the tip Of Bayelsa State. What I am asking is, why are the Gbanrans in some state called Delta State? One more thing, why do some ishekiris and Urhobos answer Ijaw names if they are not our Children?