By Francis Ewhrido

Some people claim that Urhobo interest is not being protected by the current Delta State Government because government officials of Urhobos extraction are being relegated and contractors of Urhobo descent do not get reasonable patronage. Some people also feel that an Urhobo must become governor before Urhobo interest can be protected. Consequently, they canvass for a governor of Urhobo extraction in 2019. And I ask what Urhobo interest is? Is Urhobo interest hinged on only Urhobo elite, who probably make up less than five per cent of the population of the Urhobos? That is not to say the interest of Urhobo elite does not matter, but protecting Urhobo interest, to me, consists in government policies that will help return the mentality of Urhobo youths toward meaningful and sustained economic activities that will take them off the streets. Urhobo interest is protected when a peaceful environment is created in Urhoboland to encourage Urhobo sons and daughters outside Urhoboland to come home and set up industries and other economic activities to stimulate socioeconomic growth in Urhoboland, without let or hindrance, aka deve (a form of extortion) or kidnap.

Right environment

Urhobo interest is protected when Warri Port, Sapele Port, Koko Port (yes, Koko Port; it is close to Urhoboland and Urhobos in Oghara and its environs will benefit from economic activities there), Delta Steel Company and other major drivers of economic activities in and around Urhoboland roar back to life. Urhobo interest is protected if the right environment is created to enable companies in the oil and gas sector bring back their offices to Urhoboland and its environs. Urhobo interest is protected when schools in Urhoboland and other parts of Delta State where Urhobos are students and teachers are designed and equipped to turn out products that are worthy in character and learning. The Urhobo interest is protected when the will of majority of Urhobos is allowed to prevail during elections, starting from the forthcoming local government election.

Urhobo people travel to Asaba to sort out one issue or the other. Also, Urhobo traders and businessmen/women cross the River Niger Bridge into Onitsha to buy goods. Some have died in the course of these trips due to the bad state of the Ughelli-Asaba Road. Fixing that road, which is mainly in Delta South and Delta North Senatorial Districts, protects the Urhobo interest? Good roads, peace and security in Asaba, which is outside Urhoboland, protects Urhobo interest because many Urhobos work and live in Asaba. Improving the welfare of lecturers in Delta State University Campus in Oleh, Ozoro Polytechnic and College of Education, Agbor, protects Urhobo interest because Urhobos teach there.

What about Urhobo women, who are married to Itsekiris, Ijaws and Delta North men? They are part of the Urhobo interest unless we are still following the negative and outdated mentality of omot’ohwofa (a woman belongs to another family)? Their spouses are also part of Urhobo interest, unless we want to put asunder what God has joined together? The Urhobo interest also covers their children, even though they are technically non-Urhobos, because in Urhoboland, we claim our paternal roots. Can we really separate Urhobo interest from the interests of the other ethnicities, especially those we share boundaries with (forget about the occasional conflicts). How do you separate the interest of Abraka from Ubiaruku’s? My friend’s wife answers Nkechi, but the sister is Ese. How come, I asked? That was when my friend, an Itsekiri, told me that the wife is paternally from Abraka and maternally from Ubiaruku. Now, how do you define Urhobo interest and exclude Nkechi’s, her husband’s and her children’s? Urhobo Patriot, Chief Johnson Modika Barovbe, recently advised the Urhobo Nation to see and treat her sons-in-law as Urhobos, no matter their ethnicities. Son-in-law minus in-law = son.

Next, I ask do Urhobos need a governor of Urhobo descent before the Urhobo interest can be protected and promoted? Not necessarily. What we need is a governor who is fair, just and equitable; what we need is a visionary governor, we need a transformational governor. Chief Bola Tinubu came to power in 1999 and  laid the foundation of the transformation currently going on in Lagos State. Mr. Babatunde Fashola, guided by the blueprint, built on and consolidated what Tinubu did. Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode is continuing from where Fashola stopped. How many people outside or even in Lagos know Tinubu’s, Fashola’s and Ambode’s local governments of origin and senatorial districts? If the only way the interest of Urhobos, Isokos, Aniomas, Ijaws and Itsekiris can be protected is to have their son/daughter as governor, it means the system we operate is structurally defective and needs replacement.

Competence and vision

I have always believed, and more strongly now, that the ethnic groups in Delta are like the male organ: we know the penis and the scrotal sack are distinct, but who can draw the dividing line? Can you separate the interest of the penis from that of the scrotal sack? The dividing lines of the various ethnic interests have become blurred and the interests are now intertwined. The earlier Deltans internalized this, the better for all of us.

Wake up, Deltans, when we have a visionary leadership that is fair, just and equitable, like Lagos, where the governor comes from will be inconsequential. But if we must smuggle in ethnicity, zoning and power rotation to suit the interest of the elite, who are clearly in the minority, it must be secondary or even “university,” not primary, as we currently have it. Competence and vision must reign supreme. Much of the arguments going on – Urhobos should take a shot at the governorship in 2019, Urhobos should wait till 2023, Anioma want their eight years – have nothing to do with the general interest of the Urhobo people or Deltans. They are personal ambitions and individual interests clothed in ethnic garb to make them attractive to the majority. On political issues in Delta State, ethnicity, not religion, is the opium of the people. But time is running out for this paradigm. Anybody who wants to be governor should present his blueprint (manifesto) to Deltans for scrutiny.

Francis Ewherido is a chartered insurance executive and Saturday Vanguard Columnist.