By Jimitota Onoyume

Ijaw Leaders of Thought, ILoT, has dismissed as untrue impression that Opobo, hometown of governor Sim Fubara of Rivers state, is not ijaw.

Speaking against the backdrop of a fragmentary reference by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Chief Nyeson Wike at an event in Rivers state, that some persons had said Opobo people were not Ijaw, the Ijaw Leaders in a statement made available to Vanguard in Warri, Delta state and signed by the duo of Comrades Jackson Agbor, Chairman and Moses Omare said the account was like twisting historical facts. 

The group further condemned the comment by the Minister, stressing that as a former governor of Rivers state he was in a right position to know the historical ties of various ethnic groups in the state, adding that the reference he made at such event on opinions by others was unnecessary.

“All Ijaws aware of their ethnic identity would agree that almost all other parts of Ijaw had their dispersal from the Central Delta, where Bayelsa State currently occupies. Like the Mein in Delta State, Tarakiri in Bayelsa State, and Karlabari in Rivers State, the Ibani (Bonny) people migrated from Igbedi Creek, Central Delta’s most significant dispersal centre. The ancestry of Ibani is indisputably traced to Kala-Okun, the eponymous ancestor of the ancient Kolokuma kingdom of Bayelsa State. 

“One of the undisputed sons of Kala-Okun is Isedani, and Ibani is directly from this bloodline.

Perhaps those interested in the details should go on a fact-finding mission to Bonny (Ibani) to know that Jaja, who led the migrant group from Bonny to establish in Opobo in 1869, was the head of Annie Pepple House of Bonny and a direct descendant of King Opubo. Opubo and Fubara were brothers from a union between King Perekule and Okuru, the daughter of a previous king, Amakiri. Perekule (Pepple) became king of Bonny around 1695, and Fubara and Opubo succeeded him. Precisely, Fubara ascended the throne in 1792. Kingship in Bonny still resides with the lineage of Perekule.

“Bonny (Ibani), from where Opobo migrated, is still known as Okoloba in the Kolokuma axis of Bayelsa State. As stated before, the Bonny people are known to come from the Isedani lineage of the Kolokuma, and by default, the Opobo people are from Bayelsa State. Opobo is an original Ijaw town and a pride of the Ijaw nation.

“Governor Sim Fubara sprang from that untainted ancestral bloodline. As a blue-blooded Ijaw son who understands the principles of provocation and retaliation in Ijaw warfare, he will not fight against a benefactor unless prompted by divine justice. He will also not allow the house, with all the structures, to collapse over his head.

” The asa-wana chant that Nyesom Wike referred to is a reminder of the fact that the Ijaws fight only

justifiable causes. Ijaw wars are always against oppression, injustice, and intimidation.

Asa-wana is never shouted to threaten anyone but encourages youths to stand for truth and justice. That is why provoking the sleeping tiger into rebellion will be dangerous.

“Anyone who thinks the governor will sit back and allow enemies to capture him and pluck his crown is daydreaming.

“Chinua Achebe enlightens all politicians with a defense strategy in his Things Fall Apart. He wrote, “Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.”.

A word is enough for the wise!”