*Some resolutions of COP24 have not been implemented in Nigeria
*Says President Tinubu should give hope to people of N-Delta
By Jimitota Onoyume & Chancel Bomadi Sunday
Comrade (Chief) Sheriff Mulade is the national coordinator of the Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice, CEPEJ, and the Ibesorimowei of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West local government area of Delta State. In this interview, the environmentalist speaks on issues militating against the progress of the oil-rich Niger Delta, the federal government’s alleged neglect of the region, environmental pollution and degradation, as well as peace in Warri and environs. Excerpts:
Question: What are your observations on Ghana’s recent national elections?
Well, first and foremost let me congratulate the good and peace-loving people of Ghana for the peaceful and successful election that was conducted recently, won by former president of the country, John Dramani Mahama, who contested against the ruling party’s vice president. As a result of transparency, accountability, trust and confidence of the people of Ghana on the electoral umpire, and because of the capacity and competence of the electoral umpire, it was a win-win situation for the country of Ghana.
Ghana, from the recent election, has shown to Africa, not only to Nigeria, that other African countries can emulate from her electoral process. In Africa, whenever elections are conducted, particularly in Nigeria, there are criticisms and counter criticisms, condemnations and counter condemnations. But in Ghana’s case, it was a free, fair and credible election that was unanimously accepted by the entire people of Ghana, including the ruling party. Beyond that, it also gives me joy when our own President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is aslo chairman of ECOWAS, commended Ghana, saying that Ghana had shown the part and which tells Nigeria that there is a great responsibility ahead of us. The giant of Africa, the hope of Africa cannot afford to lose, cannot not afford to give the best to our elections.
Every election conducted by INEC in Nigeria is being criticized, it’s being condemned which is unfortunate. Ghana has said that Nigeria should come and learn from her, Ghana is saying that no matter our size and pride we can learn from her and pride cannot deprive us from learning from Ghana. We must rejig our electoral system, President Tinubu should do everything possible to allow INEC conduct free, fair and peaceful elections in 2027. Nigeria should show the part in 2027 that we can conduct a free and credible election. However, former president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan showed the part in the 2015 general elections, and that the Nigeria of today can emulate that same gesture in future elections.
Question: As an organization, what what are your views on the prevalent effects of the climate change, particularly on the Niger Delta?
When we talk about climate change, we are referring to our ecosystem, we are referring to our environment. When you narrow it to the Niger Delta, a lot of issues were raised at COP 24. Some of the resolutions from that COP 24 have not been implemented in Nigeria, and government has not even deemed it necessary to take some decisive steps to curtail some of these climate change challenges. For example, since in the 1980s the Nigerian federal government has been placing embargo on gas flaring, and until today we are still flaring gas in this country. Gas flaring is one of the greatest disasters to man’s earth, gas flaring contaminates the entire air we breathe and that automatically shortens the life span of many Nigerians in the Niger Delta, coupled with the continuous degradation of the environment as a result of the pollution emanating from oil exploration and exploitation activities in the region.
Niger Delta is the region that lays the golden egg for the entire nation, and this region lacks all social amenities, this region lacks all that are supposed to make it a beneficiary of its God-given resources, Niger Delta has indeed suffered from all the environmental hazards. Today, if you want to eat fish in this region, it is contaminated fish you will find because of oil exploration and exploitation. Now the people can no longer kill fish but import it from outside the region because of the activities of oil exploration and exploitation.
Climate change has had a devastating effect on the people of Niger Delta as a result of oil exploration and exploitation which polluted the region, and which has triggered a lot of diseases such as cancer and other liver related and respiratory ailments.
Question: Illegal bunkering is also a major challenge in the Niger Delta region, where security operatives are also alleged to have been deeply involved in it: What is your view on this development?
Illegal bunkering is one of the major problems in the Niger Delta. But, the good development is that few years ago, former President Muhammadu Buhari, after thorough consultations, found out that one of the greatest challenges of the fight against illegal bunkering in the Niger Delta is the involvement of some highly placed Nigerian security agents, who are deeply involved in the business. So, the nation’s security architecture worked with the presidency to rejig the surveillance contract and which was awarded to Tantita Security Services owned by High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, a.k.a. Tompolo and some other security companies.
That singular decision of the federal government has now changed the situation. It has saved the Niger Delta environment to an extent, though not completely. The efforts of Tantita Security Services has almost stopped illegal bunkering in the Niger Delta region, which has also reduced oil pollution and degradation of the environment as I’m speaking with you. I can tell you that our entire ecosystem is gradually recovering as a result of the dedication of Tantita Security Services in the discharge of their assigned duties.
Tompolo is seen as not just after the surveillance contract, he is seen to have decided to save the Nigerian Delta’s environment from further degradation, as well as securing the crude oil for the federal government. If you can travel across the Niger Delta, you will observe that the ecosystem is gradually recovering.
So, those of us who are passionate about the Niger Delta’s environment will always want our ecosystem to recover from the many years of degradation. As an environmentalist, I am not just commending Tantita Security Services for the good job done for the federal government, we are also commending them for securing, protecting and preserving the Niger Delta’s environment for the yet unborn generations. It is important to note that our environment is our pride, our environment is our heritage and our environment is our right and we cannot allow it to be devastated, to be bastardized and destroyed. That is why we will continue to commend and appreciate our president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who sustained the contract for Tantita Security Services and others.
I want to also use this medium to appeal to Mr President to continue to sustain the surveillance job with Tantita Security Services and others to eradicate illegal oil bunkering from the Niger Delta region because we are concerned about our environment.
President Tinubu should also give some sort of hope to the people of the Niger Delta in the area of performance. The Renewed Hope should reflect in the lives of the people of the region and he should ensure that Niger Deltans benefit from the oil proceeds.
Question: Can you tell us some efforts made by CEPEJ in the fight against oil pollution in Niger Delta?
As a civil society organization, as an indigene of Niger Delta and as an Ijaw, I’m a victim of oil pollution because of my community and because of my area. My organization deemed it necessary to carry out sensitization programmes to create awareness for our people to know the impact of oil pollution on our soil and environment. At that time, some of our people, mostly the youth, believed that the only way we could draw the attention of federal government to our yearnings or cry of marginalization was to destroy the oil facilities within the region, and that was the peak of the agitation in the Niger Delta region. Then, vandalization of pipelines were ongoing and we began our sensitization, telling them that when you vandalized a pipeline, it will take over 30 years for that area to recuperate itself. Also preaching to the aggrieved youths that while you destroyed the oil facilities to draw government attention, you are destroying your future and future of the unborn generations.
So, we continued our sensitization programmes in the region but we became targets for our own people because they saw us as betrayers, calling us all sorts of names as a result of the non-violence gospel. Our situation became worse with the negative activities of the multi-national oil companies operating in the region. We continued with our programmes undeterred and we have been at the forefront of the advocacy, campaigning for environmental justice. We were tagged as betrayers, saying that we were exposing them. But, we told them we are not exposing you and as we continued to an extent, my people began to realize the importance of our advocacy.
It was then that we introduced the Martin Luther King Jr’s philosophy of the non-violence approach, the antidote to violence. At that time I was using the organization, Foundation for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria, FEHN, and the president and chairman then was Barr Allen Onyema. It was this NGO we used to send some Niger Delta youths abroad for capacity training through the sponsorship of Shell, Chevron and others and which initiative later metamorphosed to the Presidential Amnesty Programme and we signed into it.
So, CEPEJ in collaboration with FEHN has been working for a number of years to achieve peace in the Niger Delta, and our achievements and gains for the relative peace we are currently enjoying in the Niger Delta are enormous. We may not enjoy the benefit today as an organization but I’m very happy that my little contribution made little impact in the relative peace in the Niger Delta today.
Question: What’s your position on Kemi Badenoch’s comments on Nigeria, who is the leader of the UK Conservative Party?
Nigerians are good in condemnation, we have no image, we have no morals. Even our leaders have exposed Nigeria to the world that we are a very corrupt people. Today we are condemning her because of her statement. She is not far from the truth; where a sitting president, governor, senators and ministers will loot the nation and would go and buy property all over the world, and when you are wanted by the anti-corruption agencies you run out of the country.
For me, I don’t want to condemn her for that statement, it is a call to the country’s leaders to do the right thing. This is a challenge to Mr President to ensure that relevant security agencies should sit up.
Question: How do you see the autonomy granted the third tier of government in the country, the local governments, as regards its effectiveness?
The local government autonomy is a welcome development in any developing or developed country. The bill was signed into law recently and the supreme court gave a nod to it. So, it’s a welcome development. However, the recent elections that brought in the council chairmen made them to be puppets.
Question: Is Niger Delta getting enough attention from the federal government?
Niger Delta as a region is not getting enough attention from the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu federal government. Some individuals who have been given one or two political appointments may think or feel that something has be done for us. What we are talking about here is significant developmental projects because we need to relate it with our contributions as a region.
The Niger Delta region contributes over eighty to ninety percent of the revenue of the country, therefore, we expect to see significant projects from the Tinubu-led administration. If you go to some other parts of the country, you will see gigantic ongoing projects and there is no ongoing projects here. The federal government should look into the Niger Delta in 2025 for sustainable, developmental projects to take place here. I also want to use this medium to appeal to Mr President to take it as a deliberate step to ensure Niger Delta is accommodated in the developmental projects in 2025.
Again, Mr President should consider appointment of indigenes of oil producing communities to man intervention agencies, such as NDDC and others to give them a sense of belonging in the polity. They should not use political divide on us, they should address this issue properly so we don’t have confusion among us. This is also applicable to the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC. Government should give a sense of belonging to indigenes of oil producing communities by appointing them to head these agencies and parastatals in 2025.
Question: How far have you gone with your Peace Cup tournament, are you achieving your vision?
Well, we give God all the glory for giving us the grace, strength and ability to stand firm for these ten years. We have successfully organized this peace tournament for ten years and the 2024 tournament is the tenth year and 5th Edition because it holds every two years. Initially, the concept of this tournament was to promote peace and peaceful coexistence between the Ijaws and the Itsekiris. You will agree with me that, since the beginning of the Warri crisis, the Ijaws and the Itsekiris have been at loggerheads, even after the conflict has been suppressed. Those in the cities seem to be relating partially, playing politics together at some level. But, at the grassroots, there is still a big divide, a big division that these two ethnic groups cannot relate together, cannot communicate together and they live side by side in the creeks, and at every point there is always trigger of conflict.
So, my organization decided to work on cementing the relationship. We embarked on several peace building and capacity training programmes for these ethnic groups, and the first among these efforts was the Riverine Area Quiz and Essay Competition where we took both Ijaw and Itsekiri secondary school students in Warri South-West local government area to Ogidingben, an Itsekiri community, to conduct the programme.
We took another venue, an Ijaw community, for the Quiz and Essay Competition and the Itsekiris also came there to participate in the competition. We started the peace building process with the initiation of this Quiz and Essay Competition for Secondary School students of both Ijaw and Itsekiri, changing the venues among communities of both ethnic groups in Warri South-West local government area. Though, initially both the Itsekiri and the Ijaw were afraid of our peace building move, they were scared of going to each other’s communities and parents of students never allowed us to take their children to the competition, we surmounted this challenge and were able to convince parents of these students of our motive.
This situation was so serious to the extent that both Ijaw and Itsekiri never attended social occasions and ceremonies such as burial and marriage ceremonies in each other’s communities out of fear and suspicion among themselves.
At this point, we initiated the football tournament approach. Now, as we started this football tournament between Ijaw and Itsekiri youths, it gradually cemented the relationship. The Quiz and Essay Competition was a bit limited in terms of building the relationship because it was just a students’ affair. As we started the football tournament between youths of these two ethnic groups, many people embraced it, including the Illajes in Delta State. When we saw that the football tournament approach is being celebrated by both young and old of these ethnic groups, we rotated the venues round communities of both ethnic groups.
This year, which is the 5th edition of the tournament, we observed that the Ijaw and Itsekiri relationship has been cemented with some strong ties, and there are still some pockets of conflicts between Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo in the cities. You can recall that Ogbe-Ijoh and Aladja have been in conflict for years and we intervened in the last two years through this football strategy, where Aladja and Ogbe-Ijoh participated and played together.
At that point, some political office holders also tried to hijack the process to see how they could use it to siphon resources from the state government. At that tournament, there was some unity between these two communities where Ogbe-Ijoh people could go to Aladja and Aladja people to Ogbe-Ijoh. The relationship between these two communities was almost cemented through this football initiative when some political triggers triggered this conflict again.
We discovered that whenever the crisis erupted, there are political triggers and there are people who are using it to siphon from the state government . But, since it’s a conduit pipe for some politicians to drain the state treasury, it becomes a steady investment for them and that’s why that crisis persists. If not, it is a minor issue that an ordinary Special Adviser to the governor can settle.
Now back to our own football, we expanded it to include the entire state in this year’s edition and that is why we called it “Delta State Ethnic Peace and Unity Cup”, DESEPUC, which has now embraced ethnic groups in the three senatorial districts. The last tournament ran for three weeks and the Itsekiri ethnic emerged winners of this fifth edition.
Question: Your assessment of Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration in terms of performance?
Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori has been in office for about two years and he has embarked on some vital infrastructural projects, which is a welcome development. If he continues in this direction that he is going, I believe by the end of his four years, Warri and environs will gain a luxury status. I want to encourage him to stand firm and be focused and not be distracted by political sycophants and blackmailers.
Gov. Oborevwori should also think of how he can develop other parts of the state because Delta is a multi-ethnic state. He should spread development to other parts of the state. It is good that he is focusing on developing Warri because it is the commercial nerve of Delta State.
One thing I want to appeal, and will continue to appeal is that, Gov. Oborevwori should look into the oil-rich Ijaw riverine area in 2025. The previous administration deprived and neglected the riverine area of developmental activities. The internal roads linking various communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom need urgent attention, the completion of the Ayakoromo Bridge project is of essence, which will open up the riverine area of the state. Another one is the Delta State Polytechnic Burutu that is on paper should be translated to reality because Burutu is one of the oldest local government areas in the federation. I am appealing that, the Marine School at Burutu should be converted to a university because Burutu is worthwhile to have either a federal or state university as the local government area has the resources to warrant the presence of the institution.
Question: Your advice to the federal government on the prevailing economic hardship?
The prevailing harsh economy is a global phenomenon and we cannot blame or condemn the federal government or state governments. However, Nigeria has its own peculiar challenges as a result of the unplanned statement made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who stated that fuel subsidy was gone during his inaugural speech at the nation’s capital, Abuja. As a leader, you must have a short-term, mid-term and long-term plans or measures before you take such a drastic decision, and many are gone because of this hardship.
I will appeal to Mr President that there is need to revisit the 2025 budget to see how the country can use internally generated resources to run it to make our economy stable.
If President Tinubu means well for Nigeria, he should sit down again with his think-tank and replan the nation’s economy so that in 2025 things may go better. If things are not better in 2025, then Nigeria is heading for doom. So, I will appeal to Mr President to sit down with his economic planners and replan the economic system in 2025.
Disclaimer
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